The change in timing due to an early morning downpour in Wantage may not have helped, but with a few minutes to go it looked like there were going to be just three of us - me, myself and I. Then Rachel turned up.

As the two of us set off from the market place the light rain disappeared. Within a few kilometres precautionary waterproofs were shed. The roads were still wet and I led as we rode through the vale since I had mudguards.

We took the bump into Faringdon in our stride and shared the lead through to our pit stop in Brize Norton. With a slight breeze at our backs the return journey via Tadpole Bridge was straightforward.