LEJOG day 3

 A super early start this morning, on the road at 6:55am. We wanted to get on the road and avoid as much of the heat of the day as possible. This meant no time for breakfast though, which was a mistake in hindsight, as Tracy got hangry a couple of hours in.

Leaving Launceston 

Looking back at Launceston 

A steep uphill out of Launceston just to go back down again - expected from Cornwall. We soon reached the Cornwall Devon border, leaving the brutality of the Cornish hills behind. We realised quite quickly that they were just replaced by brutal Devonian ones instead, with a few being tackled in lowest gear, ie walking. The climb up to Lidderton Down was particularly hard, with both of us sweating buckets, even with the cooler temperatures of the early morning.

It was a welcome relief to reach Lydford and the start of the granite way, an old railway route that took us all the way to Oakhampton. Tracy decided to take an action photo whilst on the move. I didn't expect this to end well, as Alex has inherited his mother's dexterity. Almost immediately, she crashed into me and fell off. Luckily nothing was damaged except her dignity.  "Never doing that again" she said. A wise decision, I hope that she remembers.

Lydford castle

Granite way

Lake viaduct on the granite way

Granite way

View of Dartmoor and Meldon dam

On Meldon viaduct

It was sad to see that the Dartmoor railway that used to run alongside the granite way has closed - I think that we went on it as a family about 12 years ago. 

We had coffee and cake at Brothers coffee shop in Oakhampton - toffee and apple slice. Lovely welcome and other customers were very interested in our trip (we were wearing the LEJoG tops now they were dry after day 1)

Grabbed lunch from the bakery next door, with Tracy demanding another cake to make up for missing one yesterday - Rhubarb and cherry slice.

After the welcome break, we had a long climb out of Oakhampton, and despite the steepness and heat, we both avoided the "lowest gear"

The hills after Oakhampton were less challenging, although the roads were busier. This meant that we were able to go faster, with Tracy being particularly pleased with her max speed of 36mph. 

We stopped for ice-cream on route. We had both been so focused on cake that we had forgotten that they existed. We struggled to find shade to have lunch, sitting under a bush instead of on the bench next to it.  We managed to find a slight detour to avoid 400ft of climbing on the afternoon, so arrived in Exeter in good time. 

Tracy having a sneaky check on the Olympics 

Google maps meant that we were able to navigate the city cycle paths to our hotel in superquick time. At last, some technology that I actually like!

We went to the dustbin lid pizza restaurant "On the Waterfront". Not been there for 26 years maybe - the night that I proposed. Our daughter, Rosie, thinks that we were mad to get engaged after only 6 months! I think that we were lucky.

The bridge where we got engaged

Dustbin lid pizza. Not sure what Tracy is going to eat

Nice food and a reminder of some excellent memories. Another good day in the saddle.

Distance covered : 48 miles

Elevation: 3500ft

Cake of the day: Toffee apple slice

Tracy whinge factor: 3/10 for morning hangryness

Total miles: 162

LEJOG day 2

 Dan's blog

A decent night's sleep did wonders for our mood. A lovely continental breakfast was delivered to our door which gave us a well needed dose of vitamins (and calories)

I actually ate fruit - not normally a fan as they make my teeth itch.

8am start and quickly got to the uphills that Cornwall is famed for. Skirted the edge of the eden project. Really is quite impressive.

vi

Continued on the NC3 and more climbing before descending into the Luxulyan valley and the Treffry viaduct. The enormous viaduct and the beautiful arching canopy of trees made the route feel "other wordly" and we were half expecting to be attacked by Orcs.

Climbing up to Luxulyan itself, we were greeted on the climb by two young girls on Barbie bikes calling, "come on, You've got this". Very cute and made us feel like Olympians, at least for a minute.

Crossing the A30 into Bodmin

Onto Bodmin, where we took the opportunity to sort out Tracy's issue with getting into the lowest gear. She did amazingly well on the climbs thus far, without having access to the "Granny wheel". She had learned how to do the slalom climb and wished she had known yesterday. We took a short detour to a bike shop on the edge of Bodmin, Trail Munky, who made a few adjustments and we were back in business! Shout out to this bike shop, so friendly and helpful, with a tale or two about LEJOGgers who were far less prepared than us!

A half hearted look for a coffee shop in Bodmin, before giving up and deciding to stop on the camel trail instead. On we journeyed.

 A lovely ride away from any traffic up to Wenford bridge, where we stopped for a well earned lunch at the Snail trail - an off grid cafe, complete with solar panels 

I look vaguely disgusted at my choice of the healthy option salad plate, but sometimes the camera does lie - the food was amazing. They had a lovely selection of cakes, but Tracy thought that she would save her cake stop for later - a decision that she would come to regret.

After lunch and a bit of prevarication, we had to face the longest climb of the day. A tough 120m climb up to St Breward, which we managed without having to get off and push. Tracy's second biggest climb, according to Strava. I think that record will be broken next week. They were having a scarecrow festival in St Breward, which was cool. We liked shaun the sheep and Clarkson.

We continued our climbing, eventually reaching 263m above sea level, on the downs. There followed a discussion about why they are called downs and not ups. In some parts they might be called "Sunlit uplands" rather than downs. Glass half full/empty I guess.

Are they downs...

...or ups?

Ever onward, on the NC304 on the very flat remains of Davidstow airfield which provided welcome relief from the typical Cornwall contours.

Davidstow airfield

Onwards on the NC327, and a sign saying Launceston 12 miles. Our pace was now quickening as overall we were dropping height, arriving at the hotel at 4:30. A welcome early finish compared with yesterday.

A bit of chilling and a shower before heading to the bar for drinks and food. We ate on the terrace, lovely views of the valley that we had cycled up.

Pickled onion rings, a thing of beauty (oh and so is Tracy)

I made sure to order something unhealthy. It is important to have a balanced diet.

A good day to be in the saddle.

distance covered: 51 miles

Average speed 8.5 mph. Maybe we'll average 10mph once we leave Cornwall.

Cake of the day: none (v. disappointed ☹️)

Whinge factor: 2/10 What Tracy expects me to do about her sore arse, I'm not sure.

Total miles: 114

LEJOG DAY 1

 A hot and attritional day

Breakfast at the hotel from 8am meant a slightly later start than we would have liked - but we were never going to miss out on the buffet breakfast that was included in the room price.

A quick photo at the signpost and said our goodbyes to Roger and Margaret, before setting off.

Thanks to them both for driving our car back for us. Their parting offer of "if you get stuck or anything, just call us and we'll come and pick you up, except Thursday, we're busy on Thursday" provided us with much amusement.

The morning ride to Penzance was lovely. Tracy's highlight of the day, a few hills, wonderful views and some traffic free paths along the coast.

Above Penzance 

Loving the flat cycle paths

Onwards to Hayle and a coffee and cake stop at Phillip's pasty shop. Awesome.

First cake of the day

Twenty plus miles in and we were feeling confident. Our LEJOG cycle jerseys gaining beeps of encouragement from passing motorists and a source of conversation with people walking on the NC3 at Penzance.

The lovely morning ride continued on the path at Hayle, watching fish on the shallows of the estuary and ducks on the mudflats. Life is good.

Hayle estuary 

Continuing on the NC3 past Camborne and Redruth was flatter than Cornwall deserved to be and we passed many reminders of Cornwall's industrial heritage. All good 35 miles in, getting a bit warm, but all ok. We stopped for food at Twelveheads near Bissoe at a cafe called Bon Appetit. A warm welcome and wonderful food if you are ever passing. No pictures as we were too hungry! This section of the trail we had ridden before with our kids on tag-alongs. Many moons ago now, but nostalgic for us.

Redruth 

And then the afternoon happened. Relentless climbs in the heat that seemed to get steeper every time. Tracy had to resort to the lowest gear (get off and push) a few times and our target of 10mph was firmly out the window, along with a 5 o'clock finish.

Onwards and (seemingly) forever upwards we rode. A small respite at the King Harry's ferry, as we crossed the Fal, before climbing up from the river once more.

King Harry ferry 

Maybe go through Truro instead to avoid climbing up from the river

Onwards we climbed, even accruing the pitying stares of motorists as the beleaguered duo limped past on the hills.

On through small villages with interesting but somehow forgettable names, past the Lost Gardens of Heligan to pick up the NC3 once more. Only we got confused and ended up on a muddy track downhill, where Tracy had a close encounter with a puddle. She may have said some bad words.

Locating the right path was rewarded with a fabulous descent on a decent surface down the the Pentewan road. By this point Tracy was done. We had covered more miles than were planned (we need to remember to add 10% of our distance each day to avoid this disappointment) and emotionally she had had enough. She had gone quiet. Never a good sign.

Onwards to St Austell, where we managed to find our accommodation (eventually). A shower, a drink and a change of clothes and we both started to feel human again. A stroll into town for dinner and I am not proud of this, but we went to Wetherspoon's. First time since way before lockdown. Trouble is, the food was cheap and quick. The beer was priced from a previous decade, I could get used to it 

Back to our B&B. Tracy is now sound asleep.

Day 2 - St Austell to Launceston, planning an earlier start in the morning, shorter distance, less climbing and feeling more positive - after all tomorrow is a new day.

Miles covered: 63

Elevation 4843ft

Cake of the day Rhubarb and strawberry slice

Tracy whinge factor 4/10 (for silently not whinging, loudly)

Lands End - Sun 28th July

 Tracy's blog.  

So today was travelling day. We set off at 8am with Mum and Dad, us, 2 bikes, 4 panniers and overnight bags all squeezed inside our Fiat Doblo. Actually, there was still room to spare... sort of.  Although Dad did kind of have a saddle in his face for much of the journey!

We had a very good run down, traffic surprisingly light and arrived in Lands End to beautiful sunny weather and fantastic views. The Lands End hotel is very luxurious (robes and slippers no less!) and we enjoyed a wander around the attractions  in the glorious sunshine with a fun game of mini golf (thrashed by Dan 😡). We finished with drinks in the sunshine on the cliff top terrace with beautiful views of the Atlantic and a lovely meal (albeit a bit pricey but that's Lands End for you).  First time I've been to Lands End and it wasn't blowing a gale.

We all got excited about an object splashing in the water offshore - pretty large, dolphin? basking shark? A rare humpback whale? What a start to our trip! Oh, wait a minute, it's a rock.

All this makes me wonder what on earth l am doing! From tomorrow, all rest and relaxation is out the window for the next 15 days.... Oh well, too late to back out now! I was very conscious of the succession of hill after hill after hill as we drove through Cornwall. For the next 2 days I will be cycling back through Cornwall, more or less the same route,but taking 2 days instead of 2 hours. And it's going to be a lot harder on the bike! Still, the weather looks like it will be kind to us for a couple of days, perhaps even a bit too warm, but I'll take a couple of wind free days. 

So all set for a relatively early night and trying not to dream about all those hills....

miles ridden 0

Cake of the day: none (disappointed!)

Tracy whinge factor 0/10 (probably for the last time)