Well, that was like fun, but different.
My memory of the Essex Bridge was that effort is required on the first 45km out to Bramshall, which is full of annoying little hills designed specifically to sap the energy of recumbent riders (which is more of an issue on the 200), followed by a nice mostly-flat ride.
This time I did it with a lot less fitness, and a bastard headwind that put my lack of fitness to the test. TBH, I was having a bit of a sense of humour failure by the first control. Fortunately the answer to the subsequent info control question restored my sense of humour, and the wind was somewhat more cooperative on the way back.
In other weather news, it was a proper downpour when I left the house, so I think I used the full gamut of available clothing combinations over the course of the day. We also got a surreal moment when we were at the top of a hill surrounded by blue sky, apart from one big dark cumulus directly overhead chucking high-velocity hailstones at us.
Seemed weird to be at the Strawberry Garden centre without jogler.
Some tactical faffing on the final section meant that gerwinium and I finished with a bit under 20 minutes to spare.
