Shortest Chaingang ever

Myself, Ivan, Paul K and new friday chaingang rider Dave H-H met at the fairlight lodge at the unusually early time of 6:00 pm. Despite the early start it was pitch black and the fog was too thick to see more than a few meters. We gingerly set off down battery hill, lights shining out like searchlights through the thick fog. Once we reached the bottom, the fog cleared and the wind was behind us. We were moving at some pace on the long straight between pett level and Winchelsea. The road conditions were awful with pot holes and rough surfaces everwhere. I could feel the bike bouncing around and rememeber thinking 'I am surprised these cheap wheels can take this punishment', just about then I had a big blow out of the rear inner tube. What should have been a 10 minute puncture repair turned into a 25 minute one, the little round nut on the valve thread had corroded on and even Ivan's fingers were not strong enough to get it off. I suggested we rip off the rubber tube and pull the valve throught the tube, unfortunately the end of the valve is wider than the end poking through the rim and would not fit through the hole. In the end we managed to get the little bu**ger out by snapping it off with a spanner. By the time we had fitted a new tube it was obvious we were going to be late getting to the social, so we turned round and headed back up battery hill into the fog.
thanks to ivan for helping me get back on the road, and the others for their patience. Roll on British Summer Times and light evenings.
Steve