Ian wrote:
Flying wood into headwinds is pointless and rather ostentatious.
Downwind is for dashing!

Ideally yes, but hardly anyone from the club where I learnt managed it
because we're near the UK East coast. East and south winds are rarely
soarable enough for a first 50k, and north blows you into controlled
airspace. The prevailing wind is west, so into wind it had to be for
most folk. Quite a lot of 30-49k attempts, even in 35:1+ glass!

I remember an enormous sense of liberation when I set off on my first
cross country - which was also my Silver Distance, as it happened.

Me too, and I think this is part of the psychological importance of the
Silver distance. Early soaring flights for me were a constant series of
checks whether I was still within gliding range of base. Once I set off
on my 50k and realised I was out of range, a real weight fell off my
shoulders - I could go anywhere I wanted, so it made sense to go where I
thought the best lift would be in the vague direction of my goal (this
seems to have stuck, so my flight traces look like a drunkard's
progress). Some people find this transition easy, but talking to those
who have struggled they find the invisible elastic cord which links them
to their home airfield is really difficult to escape from.