Saturday mornings were made for this: meeting up with the chain gang and heading for the countryside at a pace brisk enough to get the legs turning and the heart pumping.

Winter was supposed to have finished months ago, but we rolled out on the first weekend of May into unpleasantly low temperatures and the ever-present threat of rain.

Such conditions provided excellent test conditions for Castelli’s Gabba jersey, a rain proof number we’ll be bringing you a ‘first look’ at soon, and the same company’s Compatto rain vest.

Both performed well in keeping out the  occasional light rain, but I’d undermined their efficiency on the warmth front with my keenness to don Velobici’s exceptional Performance Compression base layer again. Immensely comfortable it may be, but in temperatures barely into double digits, I needed something warmer against the skin.

My steed for the day was Condor’s Super Acciaio, which made me the only steel-equipped rider in a group of riders equipped with high-end Italian carbon. My steel steed performed admirably, which proved no penalty on the climbs, descended with accuracy, and sprinted with confidence.

The coffee stop, derided by some, beloved by others, offered a chance to take on board that favourite of cyclist’s brews, to put the world to rights, and to enjoy an unexpected catch up with a former colleague.

Giro watching in the afternoon was made all the more enjoyable by the tenuous fellowship with the elite practitioners of the sport gained from the morning’s outing.

Nothing is more inspiring to this correspondent than the efforts of the professional elite; delusional, perhaps, but a habit begun with after-school training rides completed in time for the briefly miraculous 30-minute window into the world of Roche, Kelly, Millar et al granted for three weeks each year by Channel Four some 25  years ago is now unlikely to be broken.