09/07/2023 – PCR2023 – Day 8

Again, I was ready a little earlier than the others and decided to head off and very quickly was spinning an easy gear up a climb. A few people on the road had ridden through the night and I was picking them off one by one.

I wasn’t feeling amazing but was far fresher than those who had powered through, especially one guy who had said that due to fatigue he’d had a little crash.

I was on the hunt for somewhere for breakfast and had found that there was a Wetherspoons in Ruthin, 41km into the day. It would be open in time and would be able to provide a sizeable breakfast and a place to warm up.

I’d picked up a couple of other riders by this point so we all headed there, placed our orders and chilled out a little bit. I sent a voice note to Loz and Raph about the ‘spoons as they were on their way and to quote “that is the best news I’ve had in days”.

As I left Wetherspoons it was straight into a long climb and had a severe case of the cafe legs, or was this just normal legs for this point in the race?

The weather was far better than previous days so the rural roads over the top of the mountains alongside the reservoirs was stunning and gave me plenty of time to reflect on the race in a positive frame of mind and all the amazing things that happened.

It was nice to have some time alone and take in what I’d achieved. I had ridden further and faster than last year on a similarly low level of training. I’d pushed myself further mentally than last year and that was certainly something I was proud of.

The sense of community during the race, picking each other up when we’re feeling low, having a laugh and I can definitely reflect on it as a very positive experience which definitely had its ups and downs.

I made it to the north coast of Wales and was riding along into a straight head on headwind which was the penultimate challenge of the race. The final challenge being the Great Orme in Llandudno.

It was harder loop than I remembered, although, the last time I did it it was the start of Day 1 of the Wales Coast to Coast ride where I was distinctly fresher.

I rode through Llandudno with a small on my face proud that I’d achieved my aim of finishing the race in a faster time than last year. I pulled up to the finish line to the applause of the crowd, my friends and fellow riders, was handed a beer and slumped into a chair and spent the entire rest of the day chatting to everyone, exchanging stories and excitedly talking about next years race.

Roll on 2024.