What was I thinking? No seriously I must have lost my mind. The weather forecast clearly spelled rain – with it’s pretty animated icons giving me a no nonsense visual clue, yet I still found it necessary to head out. I was doing my washing up and watching the sky, a white blanket of nothingness with the occasional aircraft emerging beneath it. I felt a bit restless perhaps and I had just purchased (to great expense) a pair of biking shoes and accompanying new pedals. It is one of those fancy clipless pedals. I had packed my rucksack extra carefully and even managed to make lunch when I decided it was time to leave.

Once on the dry road of South London wearing my fancy shoes there was no turning back. My first waypoint some 12 nautical miles away, deep up in Lea Valley, further up North than I had ever been before. The first 45 minutes of my trip are uneventful, but I am constantly debating with myself about whether or not it was a good idea to go out at all. Turn around now – no it’s too late I tell myself and it still hasn’t started to rain. I continue onwards and upwards relentlessly – slowly but steadily closing in on the first waypoint. Then the rain starts, slow but it is clearly there. I pass through Shoreditch, Highbury Islington, Tottenham, Enfield Chase. From Poynders Road to Ponders End.

The first point of this miserably journey is lln48 located just outside a rather huge and complex residential area. Two bored kids are playing football. I can’t photograph exactly from the point itself – because it’s in a house – I have the choice of either side of it. I pick the park side, slightly prettier – though nothing looks that great when the rain is drizzling down. Above me I can clearly hear the sound of approaching planes, but there is nothing to see. I decide to go for one more waypoint and then make up my mind about whether it’s worthwhile to continue.

The next point I realise is quite the distance away. I keep forgetting that my GPS unit is calculating the direct route and doesn’t take roads or any other obstacle into consideration. The rain intensifies and so does the wind. I am gradually getting wetter. My corduroy pants are soaking up as much as they can. Up in the very north of London there are a lot of hills. They are really annoying when it rains. I find myself in Barnet again. Been here before when I visited another waypoint – but this is clearly a different part of the area. I find that there are several parts of Barnet: East and South, followed closely by High and New. The cars that drive past me spit water into my face. A couple of people waiting for their bus are following me with their eyes, probably wondering what I am doing and where I am going. I am wondering the same thing and regretting ever heading out the door that morning.

Eventually after many wrong turns I find the second waypoint of the day lle25 on the sidewalk of a quiet residential street. I take my picture and realise just how wet I am. Completely soaked, I am literally swimming in my new shoes. There is no point continuing as it could jeopardise the rest of project if I fell ill. For the first time I surrender to motorised transport and take the train back into town. The idea of cycling against the wind – with the rain – is just not happening. From New Barnet I end up in Finsbury Park where it’s another 7 miles home.