What a day! It started with a daft mistake. I thought the meeting time was by Dave Farmer's house at 8.15am when it was actually 7.45am. Doh! I got there at 8.10am, quickly discovered the error by checking FB and so decided to try and get to Audlem on my own in 45 minutes. 11 miles to cover into a headwind... I got there at 9am on the dot to find all the guys outside the bike shop. I knew I'd suffer for the effort later in the day. So the four of us left in the slower of the two groups at 9.20am - myself, Dave, Ben and Joe Morris. The pace was incredibly fast for the first 15 miles - it seemed top be 25mph, rarely dropping to below 20mph. This soon took it's toll and the group splintered irrevocably at about the 20 mile mark after a small climb. Unfortunately, Joe had a problem with the seat on his new steed (a Longstaffs hand-built special) so dropped out too. That left about seven of us on the front, into the never-ending head/cross wind. Luckily, we pulled into the cafe at the 26 mile mark for well deserved fuel and beverages. Getting back on the bike made me realise that my legs were no longer cooperating ( a mixture of yesterday's ride, the high pace, the wind and the stupid starting effort to Audlem). So I was resigned to wheel sucking all the way back home - a testing 33 miles of more wind. A heartfelt thank you to Dave and Ben for doing ALL he work on the home stretch - I don't do a single turn. Shameful, but the tanks were empty. Even my forearms are now aching! All in all, a testing day where I would have appreciated some soft furnishings and mood lighting in that damn cave.... I can't hear any bloody violins though!