Author: J & M (Page 4 of 4)

Today’s ride started with a long, upward climb from last night’s B&B before heading West to Truro. From here the route took us through endless pathways passing by quaint rows of terraced cottages which Cornwall has so many of. Then heading North to Newquay where the route took in such delights as the Elizabethan Manor House of Trerice (National Trust), a ford soon after and the Newquay Community Orchard (every town should have one!). Going back slightly inland and North to Padstow which was a relief as it meant we had then completed most of the day’s climbs! At Padstow we joined the very scenic waterside Camel Trail amongst lots and lots of other cyclists, mostly on hired bikes. We left the trail at Wadebridge to ride (you have guessed it!) UPHILL to our B&B.

Distance cycled today: 44 miles. Total hill climbs: 2826 ft. Min/max speed: 2.7mph/31.1 mph

We had a rousing send off from Gill and Kevin at Land’s End this morning and they cycled the first mile with us. Fantastic scenery all day but well earned by the hills we had to climb! We had to carry the bike and luggage down some rocks onto the beach for a while to get around a blocked cycle path which was being resurfaced. A few miles further on, up a narrow lane, we were confronted with a HGV reversing. So we pulled into a driveway which was obviously meant to be , because the lady of the house was putting her wheelie bin out at just that moment and generously donated £10 (thank you!). The hills continued all the way to our first B&B (The Kings Head, Chacewater), where the landlord kindly covered the cost of our evening meal.

Distance cycled today: 41 miles. Total hill climbs: 2523ft.

We dropped off our hire van in Penzance at 5 O’clock today and then cycled the last 15 miles through Newlyn and Mousehole and up across to our B&B in Sennen. Gill and Kevin Silverthorn who moved from the Petersfield area to near here a few years ago kindly transported our heavy panniers for us and then treated us to a very pleasant garden meal. From our loft dormer window we have a view of Land’s End less than a mile away and the sea beyond. A relaxing rest day tomorrow to soak up the atmosphere before setting off on the first stage on Sunday (heavy panniers included this time!)

This weekends downpours prompted us to check over and test our wet weather protection, although we are hoping not to need any!

We thought we had better introduce some training rides with the rear pannier which we will be using on our trip. To mimic our 2 stone of luggage that we will be riding with , we filled the pannier with some bricks from the garden and rode 20 miles! To our relief it went well. It felt like a cross between a hill and a headwind!

Hampshire is hilly! We did a 40 mile training ride today with a total of 2900 ft of hill climbs and a snowstorm thrown in at 30 miles.