Six thirty and the alarm went off, which meant I had to move from under the particularly heavy duvet.
The sea view b&b had been a great find and the rooms were nice and clean and the staff very helpful even adding twenty pound to the sponsorship themselves. It was even close to the Minack theatre where the photo of the bay was taken. We often forget the UK can look like that, even the green water.
THE SIGNATURE
We headed off and posed for the signing of the challenge book at the lands end hotel before heading to the official start line to pose for more photos.
The wind was a touch fresh and as a result we are all kitted up in rain gear but this twenty plus mile an hour wind had one big advantage. It was behind us. On the few miles where we turned into it we were incredibly grateful for this as riding into the wind was a challenge. Had it been raining it could have been impossible.
STOPS
We had a plan. Stop roughly every ten-fifteen miles and take on more food and water and this worked brilliantly until after lunch when we had made superb time over the first sixty miles.
Then we hit a slight problem. A 1000 foot climb in about two miles of distance. I realised that the sign showing the road is going from a double lane to single lane on a hill is normally one that I greet with dismay whilst driving. However, when this sign came into sight on this hill I thanked god because it signalled the end of the climb, or at least the reduction in gradient.
"Duncan"
We then had the next incident that would cause fun for the remainder of the afternoon, whereas Mike the driver had stopped in the lay by ten miles from lunch as agreed ( and greatly appreciated!). One of the party decided he wasn't ready to stop just yet and flew past.
Three of us stopped wondering where Mike (or Duncan as he shall now be knoafter honour of the 80s comedian with the "chase me!" catch phrase) was. MTD informed us that he knew to turn onto the A39 so we refuelled and then gave chase.
After a slight detour ourself inspired by the garmin units preference of "straight on" at al l junctions, we did start wondering when Duncan had gotten to. And then the phone rang.
MTD had received a call from Duncan who had gotten lost and was now back pretty much where we started. In true good friend fashion we carried on thinking he was with MTD and would catch up.
As we meandered through small towns and through launcester in particular, which was gorgeous but had a git of a hill, we were surprised that we had not heard from him. A quick phone call later confirmed he was just behind us on the A30 so would catch up soon.
A thought that was even more prominent when I got a puncture at 90 miles and Richard and Lee leapt in to fix the problem. This prompted the later comparison of hands photo as mine were clean whereas Richards were oily from the chain of my bike. All I can say is he didn't so much offer as throw my bike over and remove the tire!
Still no sign of the Mikes so another call. It now appears they are 12 miles ahead of us so either we have to inspect Duncan's bike for an engine or we all got confused on our earlier call.
It was now I truly appreciated how good the regular stops and refuelling had been and exec decisions (3 ayes 2 excused) were taken that we were reinstating for the remainder of the trip as the last thirty miles were painfully slow and also painfully steep!
The dream team reunited just outside of Okehampton and made the 2 mile mostly downhill trip into the village where we will wait at a travelodge until we recommence tomorrow.
ROUTE
105 miles done
6800 feet of climb (should have been 5,000)
4700 calories burned.
Sadly, due to the joys of mobile broadband in Cornwall (3G is thought to be a film by Sacha Baren Cohen) it was not possible to do this blog real justice although I do plan to revisit it a bit. In particular I will post the more geeky statistics related to the ride and the route we have done but here are some of the photos from during the day.
The sea view b&b had been a great find and the rooms were nice and clean and the staff very helpful even adding twenty pound to the sponsorship themselves. It was even close to the Minack theatre where the photo of the bay was taken. We often forget the UK can look like that, even the green water.
 |
| View from the Minack Theatre |
THE SIGNATURE
We headed off and posed for the signing of the challenge book at the lands end hotel before heading to the official start line to pose for more photos.
 |
| Signing the book at Lands End |
The wind was a touch fresh and as a result we are all kitted up in rain gear but this twenty plus mile an hour wind had one big advantage. It was behind us. On the few miles where we turned into it we were incredibly grateful for this as riding into the wind was a challenge. Had it been raining it could have been impossible.
 |
| Ready to cross the start line |
STOPS
We had a plan. Stop roughly every ten-fifteen miles and take on more food and water and this worked brilliantly until after lunch when we had made superb time over the first sixty miles.
 |
| The sold out pastie shop in Cornwall |
Then we hit a slight problem. A 1000 foot climb in about two miles of distance. I realised that the sign showing the road is going from a double lane to single lane on a hill is normally one that I greet with dismay whilst driving. However, when this sign came into sight on this hill I thanked god because it signalled the end of the climb, or at least the reduction in gradient.
"Duncan"
We then had the next incident that would cause fun for the remainder of the afternoon, whereas Mike the driver had stopped in the lay by ten miles from lunch as agreed ( and greatly appreciated!). One of the party decided he wasn't ready to stop just yet and flew past.
Three of us stopped wondering where Mike (or Duncan as he shall now be knoafter honour of the 80s comedian with the "chase me!" catch phrase) was. MTD informed us that he knew to turn onto the A39 so we refuelled and then gave chase.
After a slight detour ourself inspired by the garmin units preference of "straight on" at al l junctions, we did start wondering when Duncan had gotten to. And then the phone rang.
 |
| Quiet lanes less stressful |
MTD had received a call from Duncan who had gotten lost and was now back pretty much where we started. In true good friend fashion we carried on thinking he was with MTD and would catch up.
As we meandered through small towns and through launcester in particular, which was gorgeous but had a git of a hill, we were surprised that we had not heard from him. A quick phone call later confirmed he was just behind us on the A30 so would catch up soon.
A thought that was even more prominent when I got a puncture at 90 miles and Richard and Lee leapt in to fix the problem. This prompted the later comparison of hands photo as mine were clean whereas Richards were oily from the chain of my bike. All I can say is he didn't so much offer as throw my bike over and remove the tire!
 |
| Late puncture |
 |
| "I hate changing tyres" - Barry (hand on left) |
Still no sign of the Mikes so another call. It now appears they are 12 miles ahead of us so either we have to inspect Duncan's bike for an engine or we all got confused on our earlier call.
 |
| "Heavy goods??" |
It was now I truly appreciated how good the regular stops and refuelling had been and exec decisions (3 ayes 2 excused) were taken that we were reinstating for the remainder of the trip as the last thirty miles were painfully slow and also painfully steep!
The dream team reunited just outside of Okehampton and made the 2 mile mostly downhill trip into the village where we will wait at a travelodge until we recommence tomorrow.
 |
| Loading the van at the end of the day |
ROUTE
105 miles done
6800 feet of climb (should have been 5,000)
4700 calories burned.
Sadly, due to the joys of mobile broadband in Cornwall (3G is thought to be a film by Sacha Baren Cohen) it was not possible to do this blog real justice although I do plan to revisit it a bit. In particular I will post the more geeky statistics related to the ride and the route we have done but here are some of the photos from during the day.
 |
| In case he needs it |
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