Addendum…
As a form of catharsis I spent this morning giving the bike a good clean to remove the mud from my disappointing ride, then followed that up by a wax of the glossy bits. As I stood back to admire my handy work , the clouds parted for the first time that morning and in true Jake Blues style, I saw the light. 
No lunch at home for me. My faith had been restored so I grabbed a pasty out the fridge and saddled up for a relaxed and sedate pootle on country lanes to find somewhere to eat it.
This turned into a very satisfactory few hours bimbling around the sunny countryside. To emphasise how relaxed the ride was I got a record for me 74mpg over the 100 miles I did 