If tackling a 140-mile bike ride across some of the most mountainous parts of Wales in the space of a day doesn't sound like your sort of thing, then you're probably not alone.

But there are a few of us cyclists around for whom that kind of proposition is too alluring to ignore, so when BBC Countryfile magazine suggested a Top Gear-style race using different transport methods from Bristol to the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Machynlleth, myself and a couple of friends jumped at the chance to do it by bike.

The idea was to look at some of the challenges of rural transport - just how easy is it to get around more remote areas of the country? And though it was billed as a race, the winner would not be the one that arrived first, but rather the method of transport that offered a combination of speed and the best experience, as well as being low cost, low stress and with minimal environmental impact.

As I work for Sustrans, a charity that has developed the National Cycle Network - 13,000 miles of walking and cycling routes in the UK - mapping the best cycling route was easy.

For a day's riding, 140 miles might sound a bit silly, but I knew that it was possible given an early start, and I've met plenty of riders in their 50s and 60s who would take it in their stride.

While professional bike racers might cover this distance in six or seven hours, I reckoned on around 14 hours, taking into account a steady pace and a few short stops for food and photos. Breaking the trip down to three or more days would take it from a challenge to a delight, but this was a race, of sorts, so off we went; Celia, Antony, Max and me.

We left my house at 6am and within two hours were over the Severn Bridge and well into Wales. It was a bit cold early in the morning, but apart from that we were treated to perfect cycling weather - bright and sunny, but not overly hot.

At 11am, after 55 miles, we stopped for a quick break at the stunning ruined priory at Llanthony with its secret underground pub, one of my favourite places in the world.

A few more miles and we'd wound up to the highest point of our ride, the brilliantly named Lord Hereford's Knob on the beautiful Gospel Pass. From here we cut a corner to save time, heading down an exciting rocky trail for a short stretch before joining the road once more. As we rode, we tweeted to keep everyone up to speed with our progress. It quickly became apparent that we were a pretty long way behind the car and probably the train, but we were feeling confident about being ahead in the enjoyment stakes.

Soon we were at Glasbury, which we optimistically decided was the halfway point, where we stopped for a coffee at the River Cafe where we could see canoe trips starting down the River Wye. Setting off again full of caffeine and enthusiasm, we passed a sign to Paincastle, a place we hoped to avoid along with "Hurtlockerton" or "Exhaustionville" and we briefly shared the route with a friendly road cycling club from Abergavenny.

The mid-Wales countryside is unbelievably beautiful, almost making you insensitive to the series of incredible views. At around the 100-mile point we started to get a bit tired and verging on grumpy. Recognising the symptoms of a long day in the saddle and needing some food, we stopped for a sandwich at Rhayader and tried to keep minor complaints to ourselves.

The Elan valley made us pay with its undulating hills, but rewarded with lush mountain views and we steadily winched ourselves up to the top of the final climb. From here there was a rocket-fast descent down to Machynlleth, which meant that we approached the clock tower with wide smiles and renewed energy. Riders from CAT and their friends met us here and we finished the last few miles in convoy, arriving at the finish line to applause.

In the pub later, we found out just how nail-bitingly close the finish had been between us and Abigail, who'd taken a combination of glider, horse, chip-fat-powered van and a water powered buggy on her journey. We'd arrived just after her, 14 hours after departing from Bristol, having covered 140 miles and burned 6,000 calories each. That's equivalent to about three normal days' worth of food, but surely we were running on cheaper fuel than Dave Perrett, who had travelled by car, and officially won the race based on speed alone.

So, sinking a few celebratory pints with the other racers we mused on who might emerge as the real winners when the Countryfile magazine takes into account environmental impact, cost and experience. Check out their July edition to find out - and prepare to surrender your crown Dave!

• Rich Sanders is in the geographic information system (GIS) team at Sustrans