A local physiotherapist has completed a 1,600 kilometre cycling race that covered some of the UK’s most treacherous terrain.

Mike Redshaw, who runs his own practice in Antony, near Torpoint, took part in The Perfidious Albion’s flagship event earlier this month where he completed the extremely tough self-supported, single stage cycling adventure through Scotland, Wales and England.

With savage climbs all the way to the end, 23,000 metres in total, it’s an event which challenges riders in every aspect - both physically and mentally.

Speaking exclusively to the Cornish Times, Mike explained how he got involved in ultra-endurance cycling: “Over covid I started watching videos on YouTube where people were doing these long endurance cycle events and I thought to myself that I’d fancy a piece of that. It lit the fuse and then I found a few events that I liked the look of.

“I did my first race in 2022 called the Pan Celtic Race which went through Wales and Ireland. I did it again in 2023 but this time through Brittany, Normandy, up through England and into Wales which was longer (over 2,000km) than the event I’ve just done but it wasn’t as hilly.

“It actually took me longer to complete this most recent event than it did back in 2023, simply because there were more hills. Having done these previous races, it allowed me to use that knowledge to manage and pace myself and go with the flow a little bit more.”

The Perfidious Albion challenge started on the morning of July 12 at Somerton House Hotel in Lockerbie, Scotland, and finished in the Cotswolds just before midnight on July 19.

The route is a celebration of great British cycling vistas, ranging from the climbs of the Lake District and the North Pennines to the Scottish Borders and the Welsh Cambrian Mountains.

With just 17 people taking part in the event, Mike, who is married with two children, was one of the remaining seven who completed the brutal cycling event. Starting in 30 degrees heat for the first couple of days, to then be faced with tropical downpours and strong head winds, it was never going to be a straight forward cycle.

Mike said: “This race was the most savage thing I’ve ever done because it was just so hilly. That’s why I think not a lot of people sign up to do it because it is just so savage. Your working on limited sleep but your also working to try to get enough sleep and to get proper food in you.

“The first two days were when the heatwave was happening and so it was 30 degrees heat. Your struggling to drink enough and you are having to slow your pace down because you’re just going to flake out otherwise.

“The two days following that was just rain and head winds, and the last two days were a murky mix of humid and cold temperatures at night. To be honest one of the biggest challenges was the sheep, they were like nuke missiles coming at you from the side of the road!”

Coming in at third place, Mike rolled into the finish at 3.30am on the final day on a couple of hours sleep to get him through to the finish-line.

He adds: “It was quite understated at the finish because I didn’t get in until half three in the morning. I was hoping to finish at midnight that Friday but it rolled on a few more hours because I was just getting tired. When crossing the finishing line, I was relieved it was done because it was so hard.”

With a couple of wrong turnings, road closures and bike challenges, Mike emphasised the importance of keeping his cool, just going with the flow and focusing on what you can control.

He commented: “With life being so busy and having so many distractions, you find that with this event all you have to think about is riding, eating and sleeping, which is very simplistic and quite liberating.

“You’ve cut life back to three simple things so there is no outside noise, you haven’t got any stresses and dissolved your responsibilities for that week. Normally in life I’m quite hectic and busy, trying to cram too much in and not saying yes to do much, whereas on this event I had to slow down in order to finish.

“In doing so I came third and finished in good shape. I enjoyed a lot and suffered a lot but in doing the event it taught me the importance of slowing down a bit and just going with the flow a bit more. If I hadn’t done this event I wouldn’t have worked that out.”

Asked whether he would do an event like this again in the future, Mike concluded: “I said to my wife that this was it and no more. I’m just going to ride for fun and I think I will for a bit. But I know the urge will come back to want me to do it again.”