In November 2017 I’d been in a bit of a funk for a few weeks, and I only know one reliable cure: exercise and adventure. So on a Sunday I packed a bag, grabbed my bike and caught a train to Penzance, with a plan that was loose but simple. Follow the south coast until I reached Dover or ran out of time, then hop on another train home.

Over nine days and 473 miles, with 23,000 feet of climbing, I rode from Cornwall’s hills and the sunrise over St Michael’s Mount, through Devon’s palm trees and Dorset’s quiet coves, across the New Forest and along the seafronts of Sussex and into Kent. It was well out of season, so the summer towns were quiet and often closed, and locals had their homes back for a few months. Somehow the weather cooperated too, with a days of shorts and t-shirt in November before persistent rain and strong winds on the penultimate day. I’d barely ridden for six months, so my legs felt every Cornish hill, but the sea air and empty roads did their job. Three ferries, including a tiny pink one with a confused-looking skipper, kept me as close to the coast as possible.

I followed Sustrans Route 2, a small blue sign with a red number that I’ve since seen everywhere, with my own detours to places I wanted to see. It guided me down quiet lanes, old railway lines and sea fronts and freed me up to look at where I was rather than a map. The finish line wasn’t grand: just Dover Priory Station. But after 474 miles it felt epic.