Dreich Morning

It was a dreich morning, and a hilly route for cycling. The weather was according to the official forecast and the path taken was as planned and published. So why were there complaints that being at home doing the chores would be preferable? Answers on a postcard please.
 
During the ride, we chatted: remembering one of our members who would complain that there were quicker routes that we could have taken to travel from there to here. There is a failure of some otherwise intelligent cyclists to realise that the purposes of the exercise are various, but do not include using the shortest route from home to lunch. Today, for example, I left home at 9:30 and could have comfortably reached our destination by 10:30 having barely digested my breakfast; now what’s the point of that? Had I not wanted to cycle thirty miles in the damp over hilly terrain before eating my cheese roll and Waldorf salad, I could have stayed at home and twiddled my thumbs. As it was I was able to enjoy some exercise and engage in one of my favourite pursuits: that of boring my friends with the intricate and tedious details of the lives of honey bees. Could mortal man ask for anything more?