Journal Part 1 & 2
31st July 2009
After a long drive down to Plymouth Malcolm and I unloaded the bikes from the car and got ourselves ready for the train ride down to Penzance. Sorting out the panniers and making sure we had everything took nearly an hour. Malcolm took a while deciding what to take and finally jettisoned books, mouth organ, spare shoes etc to lighten the load, however, he wouldn't be parted from his spare saddle. He thought the extra weight might be a nuisance but you can't put a price on a comfortable seat.
The train took two hours and when we finally arrived in Penzance we decided to head straight for Land's End. In a slight departure from our original timetable we decided to start the journey on the Friday evening and get a good 22 mile warm-up ride under our belts so that we could just set off on saturday morning and head north for Scotland.
August 1st
We were glad on Saturday morning that we had made that decision as the promised sunshine and 25 degree heat did not materialise. Instead we had wind and rain. Ah well, us hardy Shetlanders are used to such rough treatment so we felt at home as we set off and managed a full 30 miles before we felt in need of a tea break. The traffic was heavier than we expected, however, it is the middle of the holiday season and Saturday is the handover day for many holiday homes so hopefully it will ease off tomorrow.
At the time of writing (or rather dictation as obviously I am not personally able to write this as we go) we are just one third of the way in to our first day's ride and despite the weather and the traffic it is going well.
A soggy start to the ride!
Saturday evening - We covered 96 miles today and arrived safely at Okehampton around 6pm. We checked in to the very nice friendly youth hostel, which is actually an old converted train station. After a warm shower and making up our beds, we then went for a walk into town to get some dinner. I was feeling shattered at this time, but Malcolm was still 'up-beat' and looking forward to the rides to follow.
We also met Chris at this Youth Hostel, who was riding from Leeds to Lands End, and back. He'd already cycled from Leeds to John O'Groats earlier in the year, so technically he will have completed the 'end to end' both ways.
A very successful start to the trip for our first full day, other than the puncture Malcolm got whilst cycling on the A30. I was about 800 yards in front before noticing Malcolm wasn't behind me, and after climbing a long hill, I didn't fancy having to go back. Another cyclist who was from Bristol, and also doing the Land's End to John O'Groats ride, stopped to help. The weather improved during the day. We will probably sleep well tonight!
