One thing at a time ...
As I said to the nice man from Luton Radar when I rang him up to thank him for looking after me, perhaps it would have been better if I'd chosen either to pick a route with more challenging navigation than I'm used to or a day with more challenging weather than I'm used to - both in one trip was perhaps over ambitious.
Still, it's a wasted trip when you don't learn anything, and I think I got my money's worth several times over today.