The former captain of Woodford Golf Club has returned home after completing an epic 3,500-mile bike ride.

Nick Rowe, 60, of Forest Drive, Woodford Green, spent 64 days cycling around the British coast this summer.

After leaving from Woodford Green he headed east, through Clacton and then eventually Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, before crossing into Scotland.

Mr Rowe travelled around Scotland's wild west coast before heading down through north-west England, around Wales, the Cornish headland and then back to London.   

He completed most of the trip alone, although a friend travelled with him for four days on the Welsh leg of the journey.

Mr Rowe admitted he had doubts before setting off.

"I thought I wouldn't make it so I didn't want to set myself up to be embarrassed", he said.

Despite having more than 3,000 miles to cover, Mr Rowe claims he did little training.

"I hadn't really cycled much for about 30 years. I was sort of training as I went." 

There were inevitably some problems over the 64-day trip, which was extensively detailed on his personal blog.

The gear cable on his bike was faulty for a while, leaving only three available gears, and bad weather hampered his progress in Scotland.

Mr Rowe said his wife Sally said he was “insane” to take on the challenge,  before coming round to the idea and helping him along the way.

At the end of his trip, he was met by a large crowd of well-wishers at his old golf club in what he said was the “perfect conclusion” to his ride.