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Woo - I have done all of the essays, assignments, project work, revision, exams and last-minute cramming required to say: I’ve finished my degree!

As with most things with such a build up (like at least a couple of years thinking ‘OK, it would be silly to quit, it’ll be alright really, just get it done however frustrating it is’) it was a bit of an anti-climax.  Oh well, it is quite nice all the same.

I don’t have the crushing realisation that I will be leaving Aberystwyth for good though - because I’m not!  I’m going to be working here doing website things with a company called One Bright Space based in the Technium on the Marina.

Before that though, I have an action-packed summer of unicycling:

• Ride The Lobster - A five-day long distance road race (think Tour de France for unicyclists) with 100 of the world’s top distance riders.  I’m on team #78 called “Smile” (I was hoping to get sponsored by the ethical internet bank of the same name, but that didn’t quite happen).
  After the week of racing I’m going to make the most of my transatlantic flight* and go on a train adventure down to New York City and be a tourist for a week.
• Luxembourg to Liechtenstein - A 500 mile cycle tour between the two smallest European countries which begin with the letter ‘L’, hostelling and camping with some good friends old and new.
• UNICON 14 - Copenhagen, Denmark: the World unicycle convention and championships which happen every two years.  I’d describe it as the Olympics of unicycling - all the disciplines of one-wheeling from synchronised freestyle dance routines to trials stunts to track racing to off-road and long-distance racing (that’s what I’m entering, and hoping to bag a bit of bling, if I’m lucky).

I’ve been fortunate enough to be awarded a travel bursary from the University’s ‘Tithe and Capitular’ fund which will cover the transport for the two big competitions.

* Hello, yes - I know I’m a ‘greenie’ type who can happily tell you about how damaging climate change is and how flying contributes so much to it.  It really is serious, and we - the rich - contribute way, way more than our fair share to the problem; especially unjust as we are not the ones whose houses easily collapse in flooding or whose subsistance-level farms grow less and less. So…

A return flight to North America will emit about 1.3 tonnes of CO2 per person (me).  I think I will ‘offset’ this by paying a trifling £11.14 to ClimateCare who invest in carbon reduction projects.  But really that’s a far less convincing thing than actually not polluting in the first place.  For excuses I could say that because I don’t drive a car around (12000 miles/year in a small car emits about 3 tonnes), or eat much meat, I already have a ‘footprint’ of only a couple of tonnes, compared to the UK average of 10.

That really doesn’t ‘allow’ me to go and pollute more than I can avoid, but at least it makes me feel a bit better about it.  My logic is that this is the biggest unicyle racing event ever done, and it is a wonderful thing to have people from across the world getting together for something like this - it’s not just a random urge for an exotic holiday, honest.

For the other two European trips I’m doing this summer I’ve chosen to go by train (figures vary, but it’s at least a third less carbon-tastic than flying the equivalent journeys).  It won’t cost much more, and we’ll see much more of the places we’re going to as well.  Trains are cool.

There we are.  Hopefully that wasn’t too much in the way of liberal hang-wringing for you.

Today I went on a train journey. I think I stayed within the rules too, but I didn’t half feel guilty and paranoid for much of it!

First, some highlights:

• Discovering that I can run from the platform (oh yes, there is only one) of Aberystwyth station to my house and back again in under 4 1/2 minutes. This was needed due to forgetting my cycle helmet and gloves and being at the platform nine minutes before departure. Phew.
• Seeing the building work on Dyfi Junction station. The line closures recently have been to raise the tracks by up to a metre to reduce flooding disruption in future. I’m really quite amazed at how they have managed to get it done with so little ‘down-time’ on the line. Good on Arriva Trains Wales.
• Putting my unicycle on and off five different trains without a slightest bit of agro from train staff about cycle reservations (and feeling how light it now is, following my weight-reduction measures of recent times knocking over a kilogram off it). In fact there were some new cycle-loading signs which are helpful once you know that they mean that is where the cycle section of the long trains will be found. Nice.
• Getting lenient treatment from the conductor lady on the cute little train from Bristol Temple Meads to Nailsea and Backwell - selling me a ticket on the train without a technically justified penalty fare.

Now, the bit which made me feel guilty and paranoid…

I’m pretty good at going on trains these days. I can do it. I can go all by myself and book tickets, arrive in time (sometimes), find platforms, load cycles… the works. But apparently I’m not so great at getting off at the right place.

I never meant to go to Swindon. Swindon is a lot further than I should have gone: from Newport to Bristol. But I don’t remember anything in between. Maybe flicking through the Metro free paper induces a trance-like state of amnesia.

So I had to turn tail and get the next train back to Bristol. Which made me feel naughty (despite it being an honest mistake which can reasonably be an excuse for the ‘return’ journey), not just for going in the opposite direction from my valid ticket, but for wanting to go to Bristol when my ticket was for Bath. It was a cunning manoeuvre which would have worked a treat coming in the right direction - just hop off the Newport train at Bristol… and continue my ticket’s nominated journey to Bath later in the day, after visiting Martin somewhere near Bristol. Easy. But coming at Bristol from Swindon would have taken some explaining, had I been challenged on what on earth I thought I was doing with the ticket I had.

Luckily I wasn’t inspected at any of the more suspect stages, and all was well. I think I played by the rules anyway… it just felt a bit scary.

Moral of the story: um, trains are nice, timely, clean, easy and cheap. Just pay attention better than me.

Just the place name is enough to justify visiting it. Eisteddfa Gurig is 17 miles from Aberystwyth on the A44, and is about 420 metres above sea level. Just about high enough to still have the random snow of Sunday morning unmelted by 3pm. I made a quick snowball (not quite as fun when there’s no-one to throw them at), and headed back.

But turn left towards Devil’s Bridge from the A44 and you quickly end up in the wild, hilly and bogglingly beautiful countryside. I’ve unicycled thousands of miles around in Mid-Wales and never been this way… why?! Once I got to Devil’s Bridge there was a hairpin bend left and a small road going steadily uphill. As the previous experiment worked out so well, I tried this new road too. It was a pretty enjoyable hill, and not quite too steep to be painful even with my short 102mm cranks (they’re best for going fast on flats or gentle hills, but I’m determined to make my legs accept them as a ‘go anywhere’ gear size).

At the top of this climb the rather modest reward is The Arch. A very Welsh monument - it seems to be a slate, erm, arch. Like the end of a barn which someone gave up on building when they realised that it is up a hill miles from anywhere. But now it has picnic benches and public toilets, appropriate to its fame.

This is the domain of the sheep. There are lots of little ones frolicking around, which is always nice. A farmer on a quadbike passed me with one of these lambs held under his arm. Quite touching, assuming that it really was a farmer… and not a (fairly unambitious) sheep-rustler.

Mostly downhill from here though. The weather also went downhill though. The snow which I had gone to find on a sunny, fine afternoon started driving into my ears and eyes. It is limited how much fun one can have when one can barely see the road and one’s face is numb. But it’s all good wholesome fresh air.

The sun did come out intermittently though, and I got back, legs a bit like jelly, and in time to not miss the whole evening service at church. 46 miles, 4 hours, 800M climbing. Nice afternoon.

I leave you with this little riddle near Pontrhydygroes.  Eggs. Or No Eggs?

The conspiring factors of having stupid amounts to do on final-year university work and my inability to make myself do it when I should are making me think more than usual about The Big One (my emphasis). How about this for a 20 000 mile jaunt: through Europe, Asia, Australasia, South America, Africa and Europe again to finish.

Popping in on Timbuktu along the way.

On a unicycle. Carrying all I need to survive.

All I need now is a good, wholesome, moral/ethical reason why taking over a year on an extended holiday jolly is somehow a self-sacrifice and does more good to the lives of others than not doing it. That and money, time and supportive people. Oh well.  I’ll write a book about it, with pretty pictures - how’s that?

P.S. True connoisseurs of April Fool’s Day will know that pranks should not be made after noon. So this isn’t one. As on the previous 23 times in my life I didn’t manage to think of anything cunning to do today.

Mark Beaumont has completed an 18000 mile route around the world to return to Paris, where he started 195 days ago.  See the BBC’s Pedaling Around website about his trip.

Congratulations Mark!

Now there’s an idea…