Mel Nicholls is first paracylist to take on Pan Celtic challenge

Mel Nicholls has to carry her own equipment including a sleeping bag and waterproof shelter

A paralympian who set a world record by handcycling from Land's End to John O'Groats is set to become the first paracyclist in a Pan Celtic cycle race.

Mel Nicholls, from Gloucestershire, is tackling the endurance event which will take her 1,020 miles (1,641km) from Wales around the coast of Ireland.

The race is unsupported, so she will have to carry her own equipment.

"No paracyclist has ever done the Pan Celtic race, so I don't actually know if I can do the route," she said.

Resting compulsory

The event involves different routes through countries and regions with Celtic history, including Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany.

Although Ms Nicholls, 44, is doing the shorter route, she still faces 13,000 metres (42,650ft) of height gain between her and the finish line in North Wales.

The event, which started on 10 July, will take anything between seven to 14 days to complete.

The endurance event will see Ms Nicholls take on more than 1,000 miles (1,600km) from Wales around the coast of Ireland

Competitors have to take breaks wherever they can find a suitable spot - she has already had one rest in the shelter of a road tunnel.

"It's going to be riding through the night, and you have to take four hours' rest minimum a day, that's part of the rules," Ms Nicholls said before starting the event.

"I'll be stopping wherever I can find. Hopefully it will be dry. It's going to be back to the wild.

"I've heard reports of competitors sleeping in children's playgrounds, even hedges."

'Adventure excites me'

The Paralympic finalist in 2012 and 2016 was left unable to walk and could not use much of the left side of her body after suffering multiple strokes - most recently in 2008.

Although no paracyclist has completed the event before, Ms Nicholls said she enjoyed challenging herself.

"Whether it's to do with disability... for me it's kind of not," she said.

"For whoever you are, it's what is possible, what can you do? Where can you go?

"It's about performance and adventure and somehow putting the two together."