Hunstanton Overnight 200, June 2022

Most crazy projects are the result of too much alcohol, but as I don't drink, I can't blame that.This one came about during a reunion meeting with the group who were on an Alps trip back in 2018. We normally meet up for a coffee ride and throw some ideas about, which is when a round trip to Hunstanton, 160km away, in a day, raised its head.For years now I have wanted to do a ride close to the summer solstice, which would go through the night and finish at the coast. OK, so you can see where this is going, I threw in the idea of setting off in the evening, ride through the night, hit the coast at dawn, then ride home. We left Market Harborough at 19:16 on the Friday night and were in Wisbech, topping up with food and drink by midnight, 62 miles in to the journey, just over a quarter of the way.We hit Hunstanton at 03:20 on Saturday morning, after 102 miles. There was no 24-hour fuel station in Hunstanton so we aimed for Kings Lynn in search of food.At the 122 mile mark we arrived in Kings Lynn, at just gone 05:00, and found a Jet station where we picked up sandwiches and drinks. The next landmark would be at 153 miles, at Whittlesea, where we arrived at 08:02, just as Whetherspoons opened for breakfast. Perfect timing.Once back on the road we picked up the NCN cycle path through Peterborough, a great vision of what the future may hold, traffic free riding.Once past Peterborough, we are in to regular riding territory, so despite being only the 160 mile mark, it felt like we were nearly home.Despite one of the crew having a snapped rear mech cable in Fotheringhay, we pressed on and were back in the Cafe in the Park, in Market Harborough by 13:00.A great mini adventure of 200 miles, covered in 13:45 moving time. For the full story click here : darylcollis.com/2022/06/21/hunstanton-overnight-june-2022