I'm kind of tired, but happy.
Feedback has assured us that a high level of satisfaction has been achieved by all in the huge support crew: those who kept me going through the very hardest moments of my life. It would sound a bit theatrical if I tried to tell you just how bad these times were, but I was a brave wee man, and if Scott hadn't been there...
...The ride was all done under my own steam, but it just wouldn't have happened without the guys from LocoBmRacing, Loco Tuning and most of the Cardiff mountain biking massive.
I also had help from Nick Shenston, who has been a friend since my very first days in South Wales. That's nearly 25 years now, and he still talks to me.
Mark from Reset Films also seemed genuinely impressed with the way the event ran and how all of our friends pulled together to help me, to have fun themselves and to heckle the trail riders on the final downhills back to the Centre in Coed-Y-Brenin.
I missed all of this as I was on my bike, riding with the designated support and safety rider. Thank goodness for them. They kept me occupied with chat and updates from Twitter and Facebook. They made the time fly.
My diet was, as ever, powered by the cleverness of Infinit Nutrition and was perfectly executed. I had a range of light (protein free), caffeinated , non-caffeinated and different blends of carbohydrates as mixed by the guys for me in the UK, to keep me going and prevent my tummy from rebelling. I did have stomach issues a couple of times, but that was because I had tightened my winter tights up too much in the waist in an effort to stop the rain getting to my delicates. As soon as I loosened the waist cord, all returned to normal.
This stuff is a potent mix of flexibility, top notch carbs and tailored flavours, strengths and blends to suit everyone. I couldn't even consider going anywhere else for sports nutrition. It would be daft. I'm prone to stomach ulcers and I had no problems at all, even after drinking 13.5 gallons of the stuff (apparently). Perfect.
Even with a solid headwind and some bad weather, we made it to the turnaround point before the 24hr point. This meant that I only had another 224miles and 11178m of climbing to ride home. I felt really fresh so had a quick seat in the back of the car drank some fluid and got out of the wind for a bit.
However, the weather was even worse on the way back. Wet firetrack reduces my own average speed by 2km/hr, but at times they had over an inch of water on them...
...As Mike Hall and I started to finish the traverse through the hills and rivers between Machynlleth and Nan-Yr-Arian, his shoulders and head dropped.
"If this doesn't break you, nothing will."
I was quite happy in my "The North Face" Paclite Goretex Xenon jacket and was still on a mission. In fact, I wore all of my North Face kit, with the guys drying it for me in the car in between uses in the minging weather.
You really can tell the difference when outdoor kit is made by outdoor people.
It turned out that during the weekend, the weather system that was causing me hell and sapping me of energy had been termed "Dave's Cloud" on the social media, since everywhere I went, the bad weather would follow.
Now it may take a few weeks to collate, but I am sure that we have all of the information required by the authorities at The Guinness World Records(tm).
And, in the meantime, I have the following list of people to thank. If you are not on here and should be then please accept my apologies.
Joanne Evans
Paul "Mugs" B.M
Jim Calder
Huw Thomas
Scott Hodgskin
Mark Deacon
Zoe Frogbrook
Andrew James
Matt Page
Loco Simon
Nick Shenston
Matt Cope
Rob Khoo
Tim Press
Mike Hall
Mark Huskisson
Jon Shergold
Rich Holmes
Dave Evans (The in-Law)
Rob Evans (The brother in-Law)
In addition to this I also have to thank the group of Cardiff and South Wales riders that waited along the route from North of Merthyr Tydfil to escort me back, thinking I would be knackered and slow. But I wasn't.
We'd stop to pick someone up, say hello, and then ride at a sociable pace so that we could chat about what was about to be completed. In the end, we had a huge group of folk riding into the Bay Area of Cardiff, behind me, and all with their lights on (95% of which were Exposure lights).
We came around the corner infront of the new Opera House, and headed for the Celtic Ring.
I then realised that the rest of everyone I knew in Cycling in Cardiff were there too!!
Awesome.
A quick speech to say thanks, and then I was handed a bottle of Champange to open. My hands were numb, but I managed after a while.
We haven't managed to round up the photos yet, but it may take a while anyway, but I will get access to some as soon as we can manage it.
Thanks for reading. I hope you've enjoyed The Hobbit's Tale as much as enjoyed having it try to finish me off. In decent weather, I would do it in under 48 hours, as the southward route is easier by a little bit.
Next time, maybe.
For now, I'm tired. But...
...What next?
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