Yesterday's day was full of optimism but the day that was born the day after the day after is full of woe, anxiety and lactic acid.

5.30 was too early and so was 6 so I settled for a recovery ride to work with full panniers and enjoyed every low sun, silvery sea moment of it.

Heading home I dreaded the ride on account of the drizzle that had been consistently falling all afternoon and the fact I couldn't get warm in my office no matter how high I set the heater.

I finally left with the last rush to catch the shuttle bus that all the poor plebs without management positions or bikes have to use. I expected the traffic to be busy.

I had a chat with the cute lady MPO outside site. We talked cycle touring and swimming.

Then I joined the road, higher in spirit after a friendly conversation and immediately overcome by the quiet road. It was like the fog cast the same blanket of quiet as a good coverage of fresh snow.

I passed the MPO range rover parked in its obs position then continued on narrow lanes seeing only 3 more vehicles in 40 minutes.

Once I had shaken the blood down into the tips of my fingers, I enjoyed the whole thing rather a lot.