coast

Arriving in Devon

| Zapfly

Saturday, 26th July

Finally, we are off. I boarded the train from Paddington to Penzance. Two stations down the line, Pete and Mary joined the train in Taunton. I was still worried that my bike was far too heavy yet equally concerned that I did not have all the kit I needed with me. However, once we got off the train at Penzance, the warm afternoon sun and calm roads soothed my worries.

We ended up cycling about 12 miles to the camp site, where we were greeted by perhaps the most hospitable campsite owners in the UK. They cracked open a few beers and chatted away to us for a while. The setting was serene and incredibly quiet, which was great as we needed to get some sleep.

Prior to sleep, we headed out to get some grub. However, Lands End ain’t London and nothing was open, so we ended up having to carve slithers off from the picnic table and garnish them with some woodlice. Nice.

Hardcore Training

| Peter

“You don’t have to be super-fit…” is a reassuring introductory line taken from the cycle guidebook ‘Land’s End to John O’Groats – The Great British Bike Adventure, by Phil Horsley’. I’m wondering if buying as much really expensive equipment as I can and occassionally reading the same first page of our guidebooks (usually on the toilet) counts as training?

Over here in Guernsey we’re slowly building up the miles with lengthy rides around the island several times a week, toughening the cheeks up on as many of the gruelling hills as possible. Although not on a bike, here’s a glimpse of our training circuit.