I was really enjoying my ride on the Solstice Sprint when I broke the spokes, buckled my wheel and had to scratch and make my way home. I had noted that I broke down right opposite a Premier Inn just outside Llandudno. I also found it pretty easy to get home by train. That seeded the thought that maybe I could go back and finish it. There were about 300km left to do.

So one Saturday found me rolling my bike out of the garage to get to Shireoaks Station and begin the journey back to where I had abruptly stopped on the Solstice Sprint. I was somewhat stressed as I had managed to bugger up the rear derailleur on my new bike that I wanted to use and had had to revert to the one I used for the event originally

The train trip was pretty uneventful and I got off at Colwyn Bay to ride the last few kilometres to the hotel. I also tried using the new function where you can pin a place you want to get to on Apple Maps and then send it to the Garmin headset which will route you to your destination. It worked!

Premier Inns are great as they let you take your bike into the room. The only downside can be getting decent food. I went to the Brewer’s Chef and had a rather disconsolate pizza with an alcohol free Guinness (which was pretty good).

It was going to be an early start so I had bought myself a pot of instant porridge to make up for breakfast and was out the door around just before 5am. It was beginning to get light and as I cycled towards Colwyn Bay the sun began to rise.

My ambition was to finish the route in one go but I knew I had to break that down into manageable chunks. They came along as 100km, 140km (you only have 160 to do and you have done that before), 160km (well done – more than half way) and 200km (only a 100km to go).

I listen to podcasts and music using a set of Aftershokz headphones and the hours and kilometres kept passing. I had two food bags on the handlebars stuffed with Snickers, Twix, Nature Valley bars, salted peanuts and jelly babies. Every half hour or so I would be eating, not because I was hungry but to fuel the ride. I stopped fro a bacon roll at a garage but it was disgusting. A bit later I stopped at a Greggs and had a sausage roll and a doughnut. Also if I bought a coffee I would pour it into my water bottle so I didn’t have to hang around to let it cool down.

I passed Wrexham, Oswestry and then, near Telford, Liam, the event organiser, obviously had a sense of humour as he sent us round the Wrekin!

It was a completely unnecessary loop in the course but I guess that was the point.

I had heard other riders, at the finish, talking about Ironbridge and seen some pictures and it was a feeling of accomplishment to roll through and capture a picture of the bridge myself.

Passing through various villages it appears there are now scarecrow competitions. Some were quite impressive specimens.

The last few hours and kilometres seemed to drag. I had recorded over 300 km on my Garmin but signs for Warwick were yet to appear. I checked on Google maps and it told me I was about 6km from the Premier Inn I had booked. A last push and I was rolling up to the entrance.

I rode just shy of 319km which took me nearly 18hrs to complete during which I only stopped for about 90minutes and burnt, according to Strava, 8000calories.

It was the longest ride I have ever done. The restaurant was shut so I had a beer and some crisps and went to bed…..

The itch the scratch had caused was cured.