New Year's Day 2016

A late night and a few drinks put paid to any thoughts of a ride on New Year's Day 2016. Instead, the programme was basically lolling about doing virtually nothing other than stealing odd moments to read or browse the internet, in between eating. Not that I ate a great deal: breakfast consisted of lemon and ginger tea and a slice of toast and then lunch was mushrooms on toast.

In the afternoon I took the family for a drive and after cruising through Edenbridge on a dark, rainy afternoon, we found ourselves in Sevenoaks and inside a rather cosy Costa Coffee drinking tea and eating a variety of confections. I chose a white chocolate finger. Now, there's something to savour. A white chocolate finger. Perfect! It's up their with Petit Filous desserts and BelVita milk and cereal biscuits. In fact, if the truth be known, it trumps the lot of them.

A typical scene on New Year's Day – this is Sevenoaks

Being in Sevenoaks in the late afternoon was perfect for some reason. It was dark, most of the shops were closed, but the Christmas decorations still illuminated the small precinct and there were a few people, not many, milling around peering into shop windows and then moving on, just like us. This, in many ways, is a typical New Year's Day. Nothing open. Darkness setting in around 4pm. Christmas lights squeezing out their last few days of meaning anything to anybody and a strange anticipation hanging in the air, the calm before the storm of whatever 2016 will bring. Going back to work loomed large and so did that desperate feeling of not wanting the peace and relaxation to end.

We dived into Laura Ashley and spent miles too long in the furniture department looking at sofas and tables and anything else the 'home' section had to offer. There's something cosy about furniture shops when it's dark outside and there's hardly anybody around.

Saturday 2nd January 2016

I really thought a ride was on the cards and for this reason I was up around 0600hrs and kind of raring to go, although, to be honest, I didn't really fancy going out. I was tired. The holidays were now over officially – today is just like any other Saturday – and a lie-in would have done me the power of good. But it was not to be so I sat at the dining room table, lap top out, checking the blog, checking the BBC news website and generally browsing stuff until I heard a text arrive. It was from Andy. "Raining here," it said, meaning that in Caterham it was raining. Normally, if it's raining in Caterham it soon rains here too, but when I peered out there was little but wind.

I sent back a text: "Which doesn't bode well. Abort? Or wait and see? I think it's going to rain so likely an abort. Not sure. Dry here now."

But Andy didn't have time to postpone the ride. "Too busy today," he texted. "Fingers crossed for tomorrow."

Well, that was it. No ride. So I texted an 'abort' message to Phil and sighed with relief  – although now I was up I figured I should go out for a ride, possibly to mum's or Botley, something short. But when I looked out it was raining and I had a legitimate excuse not to go.

Here's hoping there will be a ride tomorrow.