They said the Tour de Moor was tough — to cycle off road across Dartmoor for 30km (18.5miles), but it was open to nine-year-olds, so I thought if it was ok for the little ones it would be a walk in the park for me.

How wrong was I? I’ve never been so battered, bruised, shaken and generally exhausted physically and mentally as completing this sponsored off-road cycle in aid of St Luke’s Hospice last Sunday.

Eventually, much later, I felt the warm glow of having done a good deed — raising money to support the humanitarian nursing and kindness of the staff who help end of life care.

As I lined up at Yelverton with an array of cyclists of all ages creating a sea of blue branded t-shirts, my motivation was strong enough — to raise money in memory of my dad who died in a London hospice. And my ill-founded confidence was high on my recently renovated mountain bike which had not been used for many years.

I was also fit enough from cross-running to be happy enough that I’d reach the end of the circular course, via Meavy, then above Burrator, skirting Sheep’s Tor and up onto the ridge connecting to Princetown and down back through Clearbook passing Combshead Tor, Gutter Tour and Wigford Down.

How naive was I? Dartmoor comes in many guises and it soon turned my optimism upside down after a long, but gentle climb past grazing sheep in beautiful scenery, to never ending climbs up what looked like rocky river beds after a storm flood. My strategy was to stay in the lowest gear and keep pushing against the loose and embedded granite boulders. This was very unforgiving terrain on a mountain bike and would even be very hard simply walking.

I was quite pleased at my progress through Leather Tor forest — the toughest cycle ride I had ever done up until then. My bike impressed me, it was not put off by anything in its way, but not as impressed as I was by myself as a novice rider. However, things got worse when the boulders seemed to get bigger, sharper and more frequent, the path narrower and the route more crowded with impatient expert bikers and others who kept stopping and falling off in my path.

It was simply, a nightmare — I couldn’t stay in the saddle as the bike refused to grip on the wet stones and I lost concentration on finding the best route through the maze of rocks — so at long last, I fell off. Once I was off and momentum lost, bruised and cut, I had to drag my bike to the more level track to be able to start again. My confidence also needed restarting.

Progress was painfully slow whether on foot or cycling again amid what seemed to me now bleak scenery and I could not see any end in sight. I felt slightly comforted that the most agile of riders, some knee-high to a grasshopper, were also pushing their bikes. One mad man even carried his unsuitable road bike and ran the route until he reached the road for which his bike was made.

Eventually, things looked better at the top where the 52km route split from my route and the boulder-free track beckoned. Things changed dramatically from steep up, to steep down and I became terrified of falling off as I hurtled downward at reckless speed in new-found exhilaration down a wide open track scattered with small stones which almost shook my teeth out with the vibration in the handlebars. How I escaped without a puncture or without crashing off I do not know.

I was then on my own for several miles, which was a relief as the terrain flattened out and turned into more of a cruise than a fight to stay in the saddle. This is where I should have been able to speed up, but my bone-shaking experience had sapped any strength and my legs were burning up.

I crossed the finish line looking as happy and strong as I could muster for the cameras and it was all I could do not to swerve off before the line as I saw my partner clapping me from the side.

I had a huge feeling of relief at finishing, but it was not an experience I would repeat soon. However, this evolved into a great sense of achievement and it was great to have so much support from the St Lukes volunteer marshals en-route. Would I do it again next year? Probably, after the memory fades.

The organisers were delighted with the huge response to the event which saw 1,000 cyclists of all ages and abilites taking on a range of challenges from 11km to 52km.

St Luke’s head of fundraising, Penny Hannah, said: ‘It was incredibly moving to see so many cyclists turn out in support of our charity’s compassionate care for families going through the toughest of times.

‘All our Tour de Moorers should feel incredibly proud because it is their support – and that of everyone who fundraises and volunteers for us – that will help us keep doing what we do for the next 40 years and beyond. Huge thanks to everyone who took part in this year’s challenge, our volunteers, Dartmoor National Park, Maristow Estate, David May Motor Service’s, The Hire Shop, Appleby Westward and Rapid Plymouth all for whom we could not put on an event of this scale. You have done your community proud!’