Day 4 - Barnstable to Bridgewater

It was quite cold during the night so had to wear some extra clothing. Also had to leave my little cacoon to pee a couple times which didn't help. Also thought he ground was flat it still had a slight incline so I slipped around a bit. So not the best night's sleep which wasn't made any better by the cockerel waking me up at 0430. Still it got me out of bed 😃

Packed up camp after my usual breakfast and backtracked to the outskirts of Barnstable before finding my route out of town and off I went. The countryside is just wonderful, undulating hills meant a lot of pushing my bike but the views out over the gently rolling Devon farmland were delightful. The route had one major difference from my previous day's in that there are very few towns on the way.

The one exception was South Molton which I arrived at around breakfast time. I found a small cafe that was doing a roaring trade in packed meals and had a tea and a butty. Spoke to a 90 year old lady from Yorkshire who had been living here for decades and had a nice chat. Seems here husband had died at 60 very suddenly and unexpectedly which was very sad.

More undulating hills and before I knew it I was out of Devon and into Somerset. Actually the border between the counties was a little confusing because at one point I passed a sigh saying "Welcome to Devon". The road began to slowly get flatter or should I say the hills become a little less. However one problem I had was that I ran out of water so I stopped at a house that showed signs of occupancy and asked. They happily filled me up and then commented on my bike and said they had bromptons as well and were amazed at both how much I was carrying and by how far I had gone

Had lunch in a pub some miles short of Taunton and a long rest as it had been a punishing day. On reaching Taunton Google did it's normal job of getting me thoroughly lost with its directions but I did eventually make it through the outskirts and found the Taunton to Bridgewater canal which I followed all the way to Bridgewater

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgwater_and_Taunton_Canal?wprov=sfla1

Due to the almost complete lack of camp sites, or at least camp sites that take touring tents I found the cheapest hotel which turned out to be somewhat of a gem. Very friendly staff. Also chatted to a couple of the guests. One was a project manager building a water plant while the other was visiting his children. The later chap had been a coach driver and knew all the places I had been too. He was also going through a sex change or at least identified as a woman which many find off-putting. Not me, and we had a lovy chat. Good luck Cara. 

Took a small walk to a local supermarket to stock up for the last few days. I'm not going to push too hard to get to Tom's as I'm very tired especially the legs. I've had a hell of a workout the last few days. Stopped and  spoke to a homeless lad and gave him a bit of money. Seems he lived on an abandoned shop, was a recovering alcoholic and had been homeless the last 18 months. Wished him well. 

Tonight I have a bed and a late start, at least no cockerels here in town

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/AYeVaDHzRrb

Day 3 - At Teath to Barnstable

Awoke at 0500 to the soft pitter patter of rain so after a quick dash to the toilet I started to pack under the tree next to my tent. I had to put on my cycling top which I had washed last night and was hanging up to dry. It wasnt dry so not the most pleasant thing to do but this isn't the first time I've had to do it. Rabbits were everywhere bounding around in the early morning mist because once again there was a fog. I packed, had my granola and almond milk, a quick cup of coffee and then headed off.

I took Lee's advise from yesterday and kept away from the coast as it's extremely rugged and with the fog I would have seen nothing. Instead I stayed inland and headed for Bude which I reached about 0900 just in time for my second breakfast which was an overnight oats and cup of tea. Tried to find some more camp food but nothing was available so I headed off taking a much more inland route as there is no good road along the coast.

The ride was glorious, the Cornish countryside rolled by as I pedalled my way through small back roads. The fields smelled of fresh earth, crops and of course cows:) there are so many. Again I had to put on my hi-visibility vest as some of the roads were busy, bit of a worry as some of the roads were very narrow with low visibility corners.

Made it to a place called Torrington where there was a massive derelict building which used to be the second largest dairy in Europe. Popped into a pub only to find out it was a Thai restaurant, but I did come across the tarka trail https://tarkatrail.org.uk/ which I followed all the way to Barnstable via Bideford. Was a magnificent ride through over 20kms of flat countryside. I popped into the bike shop which I had visited in 2019 and from there to a campsite which is where I had a shower, cooked food and recharged my devices

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/VNL7vE09Orb

Day 2 - Mary's Well to St Teath

Early to rise, must have been about 0500, packed everything up and made myself a breakfast of granola and Almond milk. The site was very quiet but at about 0600 the baby in the caravan next to me started crying and woke them all up. The husband looked really young until I realised it was an older son! 

It hadnt rained overnight but there was a heavy fog rolling in from the sea. Visibility was no more have 500 meters so I decided not to take any roads close to the coast as there would be no point, would have all the pain with none of the gain, as in all the hills with none of the views. Instead I found a route to Newquay using back roads that took me slightly more inland. Their were still hills but nothing like yesterday. I had to follow the main A road for the last few miles so on went my hi-visibility vest just to be safe

I arrived in Newquay in time for breakfast and treated myself to tea and a smoked salmon baggle. Newquay is one of the centers for surfing and there were loads of shops catering for surfers. It started to rain so I put waterproof covers on both the bags on the bike. By the time I had finished my second breakfast the fog had lifted so I decided to follow the coast to Padstow.

The hills came back with a vengeance as the coast was incredibly "lumpy". The views though were wonderful and by lunch time I had arrived. Padstow was full of tourists as this is a very popular place to visit. It's also overpriced and has become beloved by rich people from the London area. The town was awash with expensive cars. After an expensive cheese and pickle sandwich I took the ferry across to Rock.

The afternoons ride was hard as the sun came out and was relentless. At one point I lay down beneath a tree and took a break. Just to make things perfect half my gears stopped working so I only had the high gears left which are not the ones you need for hills!!

Like a man staggering across the desert hoping in vain to find an oasis I came across a pub where I had a refreshing drink and chatted to the barman. Lee was very helpful and we discussed various options of how to get to Bude. I ruled out the bus and decided in the end for a campsite close by.

Lovely site where I had a hot shower, did some washing and made myself some food. The hosts were very nice and allowed me to charge all devices but even nicer was the lady in the caravan next to my pitch who came across and offered me a cup of tea. Lovely chat, turned out she was from Castleford which is the village next to Washington where Susies cousin lives and where we stayed in a castle a few years ago. Was asleep by 2100 and this time I found my pillow 

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/WKhLWSi8Orb

Day 1 - Penzance to Mary's Well

Did you know that peacocks wake up and start calling to each other 2 hours before dawn. 0330!! It was a miracle that I slept until 0530 but along with a couple of others I have up, packed up camp and headed out back to Penzance. Found a cafe doing breakfast and treated myself to a veggie breakfast and a cup of tea. Had a lovely chat with Pete as we shared the same table. He used to be in TV and we had some great conversation around the Falklands as his production team was the first to report on the dangers of the Exocet middle.

I left the cafe very motivated for the day ahead. Little did I know that today was going to be the brutal and hardest cycling I have done on a long time.

The ride around to Mousehole via Newlyn was a delight. St Michael's mount was clearly visible (unlike last time when driving rain obscured everything and made my last day a misery). The hill out of Mousehole was wicked and a portent of what was to come. Lumpy doesn't do it credit as it was uphill and downdale all the way to Lands End

Lands End was closed, well at least all the shops they had there. Set off for St Ives and it was a very hard ride indeed (which is an understatement) when you consider I am doing this with a Brompton carrying maybe 30kg of gear. Pushing my little bike up all the hills was exhausting and checking my Fitbit my pulse was pretty constant at 150! Google maps also had me going down some wierd routes which were not roads!!!

Had a break at St Ives, was so tired I just grabbed the first menu and ordered my food which turned out to be from the children's menu!! Actually the portion was good, no wonder there are so many fat teenagers!!

St Ives is lovely except the climb out is horrendous and takes forever. I tried to keep in the shade but the temperature was upmat 29 and it was scorching, thank goodness I had factor 50 otherwisw I would have been burnt to a crisp. 

I honestly don't know how I made it through the afternoon. Constantly stopping, drinking (btw Lands End wtf was in your water it's undrinkable) pushing my bike up endless hills and the amazing scenery

I have spent way too much time moaning about the hills and haven't mentioned the scenery.  The Atlantic to my left, sweeping vistas and the constant reminder of the Tin mining makes this part of the coast an amazing place. Add to that the villages and the history they represent really brings home to me what it is to be part of this land. I was born in Devon which is the next county I am entering, Cornwall is my mother's home, this whole area sings to me

The afternoon passed in a blur of me cursing the weather, the hills, the heat, the hills oh and the hills. Around Portreath I decided to call it quits (80 km with 1.1km of uphill). However the first campsite had no internet so I relocated to another which had amazing showers and a pub 10 mins walk away. So hear I am in a local pub listening to the locals having a jam session and chatting to the barmaid who has only left Cornwall to go to Cardiff

I love my life

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/EubuCuITLrb

 

Day 0 - Brighton to penzance

One of the problems with returning to where I previously ended my bike ride is when it's at the end of the world or in this case Penzance.

Susie made a last minute suggestion that I started my bike trip one day earlier because of the distance to travel. One of the suggestions was to go anti-clockwise and cycle up to around Kings Lynn which actually a good idea as we planned to pick up a hired car at Gatwick after my cycling. However with a heatwave predicted in South East England it was decided to head to the South West and pick up from where I left off on 2019

The train up to London bridge was pretty uneventful but getting across to Paddington was a nightmare. I need to completely re-evaluate how to do this as the combined bike, T bag and backpack was very cumbersome and heavy.

The train to Penzance was a nightmare. The one had been cancelled so we had double the passengers. Add to that this that service required a change in Plymouth which was cancelled and that the train that we eventually caught had no functioning Aircon it was a miracle I got to Penzance at all. It was getting dark but I found the camp, put up the tent in the dark and fell asleep