Saturday, July 10th
Most of us arrived at the nearest railway station, Penzance, the day before the ride commenced (ie. Friday, July 9th). I had been in London for a few days visiting my son and his partner who had been living there since the start of the year.
On the train that I arrived on there were four of five of us, and the Bike Adventures van was waiting to take us, our bikes and our luggage to the hotel at Lands End, a relatively short drive away.
The hotel is spectacularly situated, and the afternoon sun occasionally lit up the west facing restaurant and rooms.
In the other direction is a barren coastline and Atlantic Ocean/English Channel, and a number of small islands with light houses or warning lights.
Those who had already arrived unpacked their bikes and got them ready for the ride. The bikes were stored in an unused function room, and as the evening wore on the room gradually filled with over 25 bikes of various shapes, sizes and qualities.
And the sun took its time in setting, this being close to the longest day of the year.
The following day started overcast and with a heavy sea mist. Everyone put on their Bike Adventures LEJoG riding jerseys for the obligatory "group photo" next to the "John O'Groats 874 miles" sign. For some reason we all seemed both excited and apprehensive.
I naively thought we'd all head off together and I would just tag along for 874 miles, but I was seriously mistaken. Was I the only one in this group who thought it would be like that? Fortunately, as I rode out the gate and realised not everyone was with me, I realised that at least one person was leaving at the same time - another Rob (Tanti), another lone cyclist, and to become my cycling companion for the next 15 days.
I say "fortunately" because Rob was a LEjoG veteran, having done the ride on three previous occasions. This meant i didn't have to look at my route instructions for the rest of the trip (as long as I didn't lose Rob).
First top, and quite a few miles and hills later, was a shop selling Cornish Pasties - what else would you have for morning tea when cycling long distances in Cornwell?
And always present for the first half of the day was the rugged northern coast of Cornwell. You might think the UK is flat (you'd be wrong), or that the steepest hills are in the north (also wrong). Try cycling the coast of Cornwell - Doc Martin territory!
And of course, England being the home of the English, expect some unusual place names and road signs:
It was a long day, and it was a challenging ride - the most frequent route instruction being "road crosses river and climbs steeply", replaced occasionally with "road crosses river and climbs very steeply". But eventually we made it to Bodmin with the sky looking particularly ominous (this is England, after all):
Our hotel for the night is somewhere on the left, and Bodmin Moor somewhere in the distance.Bodmin is nowhere near the coast, so no sea views. We've left the sea behind for a few days, and all I wanted was a hot bath (tick), to wash my clothes (tick), a drink (tick), something to eat (tick) and a good night's sleep (tick).
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