As with many great adventures, the plan for the bank holiday was simple: Get a train as far as it will go and then cycle home. I started in Fishguard on the west coast of Wales, with a little over 400 miles between me and my front door in Putney. First stop was St Davids, the UK’s smallest city, and a friend, Tara, rode with me for the first few days.

The whole route follows Sustrans National Cycle Network route 4, and its little blue signs pointed the way at every junction, so I needed no maps and no planning. It took me past coves and beaches in Pembrokeshire, over plenty of hills (each one paid off with a view), along old railway lines and mountain passes above the valleys near Bridgend, and past Caerphilly Castle. After crossing the original Severn crossing into England, I rode on through Bristol and Reading with the River Thames as an ever present guiding path.

Tara had to head home by train part way through, which was a tough call for both of us and the right one. The last big day was my longest ever on a bike, and I finished six days after leaving Wales, with a cider and cake, five miles from home.