Here we go then, one final push to get back to England before the year is out!
The headline gives it away of course, but it was far from clear on the train journey from Paddington to Bridgend, with the rain lashing against the windows, whether we would in fact be able to make it as far as the Severn Bridge without getting utterly drenched. The weather forecast was poor, which was fair enough considering the time of year – in fact, the last time we'd attemped a leg during October was 13 years ago, travelling from King's Lynn to Hull (and that was fairly soggy as I recall).
Still, rescheduling was not an option, and either way we'd have a couple of days' break from the daily grind, whether we ended up spending it cycling or sat in pubs. As the train eased into Bridgend, the rain was still falling steadily from a uniformly leaden sky...