Really looking forward to this – the last edition was my very first 400km, and it was unforgettable – still by far the most powerful wind and rain I've ever ridden in: it was a torrential storm that blew for more than 12 hours. Above the sea wall at Holyhead there was a ceiling of horizontal water: it was incredible.
I remember before the start John Hamilton was looking at his laptop weather forecast, in all innocence (having avoided weather forecasts all week) I asked 'what's it going to be like?' "er, a bit damp in the afternoon" he said. I took him at his word not realising that it was my first experience of Audax understatement ...imagine my surprise
I remember feeling my eyeballs dent as the rain hit them descending into Llanberis, and the night A5 section: ferries cancelled, no cars, just torrents of water and our little group of 3 hanging onto our bikes with all we had to keep them from getting blown off the road. At the end while I was texting home I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. It was only then I realised how deep I'd had to dig to get to the finish. Epic.
Anyway, really happy John is running it again, and very much looking forward to revisiting it in more benign conditions!