That was a great adventure. Despite the weather, I pushed ahead with my plans to ECE from Southborough. This entailed a very early start to drive down to Southborough, and then enduring -2 conditions at 6am when I set off on the bike. After 1.5km I heard a clicking and thought some grit may be stuck to the back wheel. I stopped, and discovered that in stopping my rear disk brake stuck solid. I loosened and then retightened the blocks, which seem to free it up. But when I checked the brake it did the same thing, locking up. So I freed it once more, and resolved to just use the front brake, with the rear for emergency stops only. I was therefore keeping the speed slow on the downhills.
Little ice on my ECE route, as I had selected mostly gritted roads. At Hailsham I checked the rear brake, and it was now working fine. It had probably resolved itself earlier, perhaps being frozen at the start, and thawing on route.
The calendar ride was lovely, if a little icy on some of the lanes. Excellent company with a combination of Essex/Kent riders I know, although I pushed ahead after Fairlight as I was getting worried about finishing the ECE in time. Turns out I was back in Hailsham only 10 minutes before the others.
The return ECE route took me via Crowborough. On one of the descents my dynamo light switched to what I would think is daytime mode. Very little light emitted, just as I approach a section of slush. Very disconcerting. After that I used a spare front light, and with the dynamo light switching off and on quite often, I ended up switching it off completely. Perhaps a loose wire somewhere.
So a long day, but I'm pleased to have a nice hilly ride completed so early in the season. Thanks to the organisers and helpers - every stop was a pleasurable experience with smiles and banter galore.