Had a lovely breakfast at Codna Coath B&B, then Cora drove us down to Land's End. Weather forecast was that the whole of the UK would be in sunshine, except for the South-West of England - typical! Had been raining whilst eating breakfast, but stopped before we started off. At LE, there were two plaques on the wall commemorating 2 cyclists who had died doing the LEJOG route. Randolph's words came back to haunt me when I told him what I was doing, 'That's dangerous, isn't it?' Oh well, we're here now, better get on with it. Cora took some photos, then off we went (10.10 am). First problem - where was the start of the cycle track?!! We decided to go up the A30 to start and pick up the cycle track a bit further up the road. It was a bit windy and cold at LE, but we soon warmed up. Doing quite well, then some miles into the ride we hit a horrendous hill. Lowest gear, pushing hard, went past a cyclist pushing his bike - gave up and got off and pushed ours up. It was just too steep for too long. Went into Mousehole, lovely place, but really narrow streets and horrendous traffic problems in the summer months. Carried on to Penzance. Stopped there at the Cafe Indulgence for a cup of tea and a 'sticky' (Peter coffee cake, me chocolate muffin). Rain started here, just a little bit at first, then got more persistent. Waterproofs on and keep going. Got to a pub at Carhell Green. Went in dripping water everywhere, but what a welcome!! Lovely people, very friendly. One man in the corner asked how far we were going - John O'Groats - 'Are you collecting for anything?' Yes, Ty Gobaith, a children's hospice. 'Here's £20 for it'. He didn't want to fill in my sponsor form - 'Just say Rob from Cornwall. I'm in hospital next week for a cancer op myself.' As it was still raining another man offered us a lift in his van. Peter said 'To John O'Groats?'. 'Sorry, van's broke'!
We finally arrived at Monty's at 4.20 pm in Redruth, and had a lovely dinner made by Sarah (clotted cream on choc cake for pudding :-)).
Mileage: 36.71 miles
And I thought the two of you are taking this trip on motorbikes... Silly me, I should have known better. Quite a challenge, respect! I know you both have 'the right stuff' to complete this 6th decade challenge succesfully!
ReplyDeleteMy sister in law just texted me that she and a friend cycled up the famous Stevio pass in Italy. Is there something I 've missed? Should I be on my MTB setting a though goal? Mwah, I settle for my Beemer for the time being, thank you very much! I am thinking about a long ride though.
Enjoy, Roelof :-)
Here's £20 for it'. He didn't want to fill in my sponsor form - 'Just say Rob from Cornwall. I'm in hospital next week for a cancer op myself.'
ReplyDeleteThat's a bit humbling, brought a lump to the throat.