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... Continue Reading →

It was a fresh morning and the chatter amongst us was that conveniently, the finish was "only" 400km away. Further than I have ever ridden in a day but once the idea was put out there (just like getting the AM ferry), it captured the imagination. It was a bit of a ridiculous idea and... Continue Reading →

It was a strange feeling to wake up inside, I had spent every night of the race so far under the stars. It was nice not to be cold though. The morning was spent picking up my things from charge, trying to dry the last of my clothes under hand dryers and grabbing some food... Continue Reading →

I awoke a couple of times in the night as it was chillier than the summer race had advertised and our alarms woke us up far earlier than we deserved. We stirred as the sky was starting to lighten. With around 540km (335 miles) to go and setting off at 6am I had 2 options... Continue Reading →

I rolled out of my sleeping bag after a few hours of sleep and got dressed but very quickly, upon realising that there was a toilet block in the campsite, got undressed to go to for my morning bathroom break. Rejoining the route I knew I didn't have too long until the first Checkpoint of... Continue Reading →

We set an alarm early enough to get a good start on the day but also to get a good amount of sleep. Part of what really hurts riders later in the race is not giving enough time to rest and recover at the start of the race. Lots of people push through really hard... Continue Reading →

The alarm went off and after a quick hop in the shower and chowing down of my baguettes, humous and cous-cous, we rode to HQ. Thanks to overbuying at the supermarket and bringing half a cupboard worth of food over from the Uk, my collapsable backpack was fit to burst. After a rousing speech by... Continue Reading →

I decided as soon as I finished last years race that I wanted to do it again. So here I am. The actual journey to the start of the race starts a few days earlier where on Thursday the 29th of June, I hop on a train from Cardiff with my bike and kit to... Continue Reading →

After a short wait and a group photo, we boarded the ferry. We locked all our bikes up and made our way upstairs and headed straight to the overpriced restaurant for breakfast. There was a table that we could all squeeze onto and exchange stories before we found some sofas for a nap and tried... Continue Reading →

Strangely, I woke up not to an alarm, but a very quiet dorm room. I glanced down at my phone and squinted at the screen. Panic ran through my body as I realised that I'd overslept my alarm. I dashed out of bed, gathered up my charging belongings and got dressed and dashed out of... Continue Reading →

Stuck in the middle of nowhere I double checked my tyre and wheel and thankfully the wheel was fine, the tyre was indeed dead to the world. I was glad that the hill was done with but now had the task of getting down the rest of the hill and getting back to the guys... Continue Reading →

I was starting to have one eye on the finish and figured out that if I managed to trim down the time that I spent off the bike and woke up slightly earlier each morning then I would be able to get a ferry back over to Wales that would get me to the finish... Continue Reading →

A 4:30 alarm awoke me as I wasn't sure what time the farmer would be up and. out in the house across the road and a morning incident was the last thing I wanted. It had been a chilly night so hadn't gotten the best sleep in the world but nothing I can do about... Continue Reading →

Despite being in a room full of other riders heading off and leaving during the night, I actually slept pretty well. Downstairs something wasn't doing so well, I had a puncture on my back wheel. There was also some tread coming apart from the tyre which was slightly concerning but not the end of the... Continue Reading →

It turns out that the dilapidated abandoned stone house that I stayed in was surprisingly chilly despite missing both a roof and windows. Nevertheless, I set off at 5:13 (nearly classed as a lie in) headed off. I had been warned that this was going to be one of the hilliest parts of the course... Continue Reading →

The early alarm woke me straight away, I've used the same alarm sound for years and in years gone by, missing my alarm would mean being late for a 6am rowing session which was bad, but now, it would mean potentially losing hours in the race. I was really tired, I could have slept through... Continue Reading →