First up as before i want to thank the proprieters of the b and b i stayed in(heulfre b and b) as they kindly donated to the cause and ferried me to the pub and back for my evening meal.
So when i set out on my last day of riding, it was an easy first 5 minutes back down the nice flattish road i had come in on. Then i turned off the main road and was confronted with my first hill of the day. And this was the pattern of the day. Up, down, up, up and then a down. ... My legs were not cooperating and neither was my brain which was struggling to cope with the fact that it had decided that as i was going towards the coaat, there would be a gently sloping downhill most of the way, a delusion which was continually dashed throughout. The resevoir that was on the way didn't materialise soon enough and although i kept telling myself that i would see it from the top of 'this' hill, it took another 10hills before it stretched into view and by that point i was too knackered to appreciate it.
After a long morning the afternoon was a blessing, the hills became less steep and the towns came with names that i knew were getting towards mu destination and i ticked them off as i passed. I stopped at Rhuddlan and gazed upon the castle and felt a deep satisfaction when the first prestatyn sign appeared.
I swooped into prestatyn with a slight giddiness that i'd actually got there and made a bealine for the beach for the obligatory lhs t shirt displaying picture.
most memorably though was a sculpture standing tall on the sea wall. It was meant to mark the start of journeys along offas dyke path which runs the length of wales, it's name in english means the beginning and the end. Standing there i felt the full force of the symbolism of the sculpture and my bike ride. I felt sad that the ride i have been planning for a year was done and the end of that coupled with the end of my course and the beginning of my new job coupled with tue possibility of a new mad scheme to plan, seemed to be neatly summarised by the sculpture.
So when i set out on my last day of riding, it was an easy first 5 minutes back down the nice flattish road i had come in on. Then i turned off the main road and was confronted with my first hill of the day. And this was the pattern of the day. Up, down, up, up and then a down. ... My legs were not cooperating and neither was my brain which was struggling to cope with the fact that it had decided that as i was going towards the coaat, there would be a gently sloping downhill most of the way, a delusion which was continually dashed throughout. The resevoir that was on the way didn't materialise soon enough and although i kept telling myself that i would see it from the top of 'this' hill, it took another 10hills before it stretched into view and by that point i was too knackered to appreciate it.
After a long morning the afternoon was a blessing, the hills became less steep and the towns came with names that i knew were getting towards mu destination and i ticked them off as i passed. I stopped at Rhuddlan and gazed upon the castle and felt a deep satisfaction when the first prestatyn sign appeared.
I swooped into prestatyn with a slight giddiness that i'd actually got there and made a bealine for the beach for the obligatory lhs t shirt displaying picture.
most memorably though was a sculpture standing tall on the sea wall. It was meant to mark the start of journeys along offas dyke path which runs the length of wales, it's name in english means the beginning and the end. Standing there i felt the full force of the symbolism of the sculpture and my bike ride. I felt sad that the ride i have been planning for a year was done and the end of that coupled with the end of my course and the beginning of my new job coupled with tue possibility of a new mad scheme to plan, seemed to be neatly summarised by the sculpture.
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