Fuelled by cake

Evening all from Exeter, where we have arrived after what was billed as the hardest day of the whole tour - 65 miles with 6,500ft of ascent.  We were told to start by 8.00am this morning if we expected to be slow, so obviously all 21 riders were in a queue for breakfast when it opened at 7.00am.  Due to some precautionary faffing about by the mechanic there was only one rider behind us when we left Lostwithiel.  The first few miles were up an 'A' road which although not particularly busy still had more traffic than we would have liked. It was good to turn off up the back lanes, although we had still only passed one other rider. Reaching King Doniert's stone we found everyone else had just arrived and after the obligatory photo stop we managed to get on the road with only 3 ahead of us so we didn't have to keep our eyes on other peoples back wheels. We cycled up to Minions, allegedly the highest village in Cornwall and then had a hard 20 miles to Tavistock with the road plunging down and spiralling back up with alarming regularity. 

At Horsebridge we crossed into Devon (note the welcome sign below which was just about keeping above the water line) and the road continued to rocket up and down until finally depositing us in Tavistock with nearly (or only, depending how you were feeling) half the distance covered. We had a wonderful coffee stop with some 'seriously serious' cake - sticky ginger for afficianados - and 3 more riders joined us just before we left. By now there was only one rider ahead of us, but with the prospect of a 1,000ft climb up on to Dartmoor we decided to press on before the effects of the cake wore off! The weather had been humid and dull all morning, but as we came up the road out of Tavistock we climbed into fog/low cloud with no views until we started to drop off the high ground approaching Mortonhampstead. I had forgotten how much the road rolls along the top of Dartmoor, but it was quite fast as photo stops were a bit pointless. We got a bit damp with the fog, but apart from the odd few spots of drizzle it stayed dry and steadily improved as we did the final stage across to Exeter. 

We had lunch in the centre of the village so we could spot the others coming through and we left when the leader arrived with the van. He was waiting there for the last rider and then bringing the bags to the hotel.  We were joined on the last leg by Stephen, a guy here on his own who rides about the same pace as us. It was a fabulous run, 3 stiff hills and wonderful descents on well surfaced roads. Navigating our way through Exeter to Jury's Inn was 'interesting' but we made it in one piece and then had to wait about 45 mins for the luggage to arrive.  We are just about to go for a walk and stretch our legs before dinner - but I will fill you in tomorrow on my rapidly growing inferiority complex with regards to all things domestic. I am waiting for someone to suggest that Chris should be taken into care 😥

Note for Ken and Jeff: today we have been on or crossed the routes of the 1984 and 1994 Dartmoor 100s as well as Camel Teign. More to follow! 

And a star to guide her by

Complete the quotation using one of the photos below!  It was a day of  two halves, torrential rain, followed by drizzle - the latter accompanied by low cloud and fog so don't expect too much from the photos.  Shortest day of the tour (perhaps fortunately) to give people a chance to get used to navigation with their garmins if necessary and to have a first introduction to the hills of Devon and Cornwall. Hoping that the rain might ease off and not wanting to arrive too early at the next hotel we made a late start, but after more than 12 hours of heavy overnight rain it was still pouring when we left. Luckily it was warm so we didn't need waterproof trousers, but within the first three miles we had to negotiate a flooded road, with an enormous shark infested puddle in our path. We took a run at it but the water still engulfed our shoes and went over the top of our calf length waterproof socks - and if you want to know, once there is water inside a waterproof sock it isn't going anywhere!

Coffee stop was at a National Trust property, which is probably still trying to dry the cafe out, although not everyone bothered to stop. We then crossed the River Fal (Carrick reaches) on a vehicular chain ferry. Apparently there has been a ferry operating there for at least 500 years.  The climbing started in earnest as we rode off the ferry and then carried on for the rest of the day. We passed some of the riders who hadn't stopped for coffee and kept pressing on until we reached Charlestown on the outskirts of St Austell. I suspect it is heaving on a good day with some spectacular views, but was a bit subdued in the conditions today. We only wanted a hot drink and a sandwich so stopped at a cheap and cheerful kiosk selling all pasties at half price due to the weather. They had an outdoor seating area with umbrellas and although the tables and benches were all sodden they presented us with pieces of cardboard to sit on and made us very welcome - whereas I suspect the 'Artisan Coffee Shop' next door might have been a bit less welcoming.

We are staying at Lostwithiel tonight and arriving at 3.30pm there were only 2 others there and the luggage van was behind somewhere. I went off to buy a newspaper to stuff in the wet shoes and arriving at the Co-op shortly before closing time I asked which was the cheapest Sunday paper, as I wasn't planning on reading it. 'No idea' said the assistant 'but it ought to be The Star or failing that The People'.  He was correct!!   We are now sitting in what appears to be a Chinese laundry trying to get stuff dry.......I'm sure Lostwithiel is a charming town, but apart from the Co-op it appears to be shut!

Anyway tomorrow is meant to be the hardest day of the tour, although I suspect that remains to be seen - hopefully the weather will be better and I'll get some decent shots. 

To 'tech' or not to 'tech' that is the question

I'll get back to the title all in good time. First of all we met the rest of the group last night, 21 riders and the leader, made up of the usual assortment of oddballs, eccentrics, the mildly deranged and a few masquerading as normal (but who will probably be outed in due course). We fit right in.  Remembering all the names is the first challenge, a responsibility that the mechanic has passed on to me.  Of the 21 riders 7 are female (all one half of a couple) and there are 7 single guys. 2 of the couples are over from Australia, one couple from Scotland and one chap from Cork who is doing the same tour for the 4th time!!

This morning we didn't have to repack the bags (this only happens once more on the tour) but we did have to collect our pre-programmed garmins to use for navigation. I had already decided against the option and have printed the whole route off Memory Map on A4 paper using 1:50,000 OS maps.  Just as well, judging by the way Chris and some of the others got on!  We were riding from Redruth to Lands End and back today (using different routes each way) but it turned out that most people did that yesterday on their way to the hotel, so the headed off to the Lizard. Having had a lesson in garmin usage and a short practice in the car park I eventually got Chris going. It was lucky I had the maps - I will say no more. We also crossed paths with the only other 3 doing Lands End and they were struggling to use the technology. There were very envious of my maps.........

The weather started bright and sunny, but clouded up earlier than expected so was a bit dull when we made it to LE. We took the quiet coastal route and stopped for coffee in Mousehole. There is a monster hill out of the village and it is a narrow one way road except for bikes, which can go both ways. We gritted our teeth and set off only to be forced to dismount and try to sidle past a Tesco delivery truck which had stopped on the way down the steepest part and then, seemingly been abandoned by the driver - of whom there was no sign. We then had to squeeze past the cars trapped behind it and found it impossible to get started again until the gradient slackened a bit.  By the way I strongly recommend a slice of hedgehog cake it you ever find yourself in the area.

Land's End is, reassuringly, just as tacky (if not more so) than it was in 2002. The photo below of us with the signpost in the background is evidence that we are too mean to pay £10 to stand beside it!! We picked up a tailwind on the way back to Penzance and flew along before stopping for a bit of lunch in the tourist hotspot (?) of Penzance.  We have felt a bit let down at missing many of the holiday attractions such as Circus Funtasia, the 'All new Daredevil Stuntshow', the Dairyland

Fun Park and so many more.  Perhaps next year?

There have been weddings on both days we have stayed here and it is quite amusing to see sweaty cyclists rubbing shoulders with poshly dressed wedding guests - you do feel you are lowering the tone. Chris is currently trying to work out the garmin, while I sort out the maps for tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if everyone has made it back!!

The blog is up and running....

And The Humes are up and cycling!!  After a bargain basement breakfast of a giant bacon bap and a bucket of tea, for the princely sum of £2 each, we set off to dump our bags at tonight's hotel and then drive to Penzance to drop off the hire van.  I had to explain to the disbelieving guy at Enterprise that there was a problem with the locking system (shades of NZ all over again) that meant you could only lock the car by locking the boot (which locked all the doors). To get back in again you had to first open the boot (which only opened the boot) use the key to unlock the passenger door (but only if the boot was still open) and finally open the driver's door from inside.......

How I laughed as he unsuccessfully tried to prove I had got it wrong 😂

Anyway we finally got going at about 11.00am and headed for Lizard Point, using little Cornish lanes as much as possible. We had to start on the coast road past St Michael's Mount and we were very glad to escape - wall to wall cars, people, chip shops and cheap tat (or more likely not so cheap tat). We had a few head scratching moments, but eventually got on the straight main road to the Lizard with a tail wind - great while it lasted!!

The Lizard is lovely when you actually get to the lighthouse, the village rather less so. The sun was out and after the obligatory photo stop and look round, we decided to have our lunch in the centre of the village and watch the world go by for a while. However time was marching on and our return route was into the wind so we set off about 2.15. The route I chose was gorgeous (though I say so myself) on empty roads across Goonhilly Down and on to Gweek. More deserted lanes round Sithians Reservoir and an inspired navigational triumph that saw us drop off the lanes into Redruth on quiet roads emerging about 10 yards from the entrance to the hotel. 

We are about to go down and meet the rest of the group, so I will either post again later or leave it until tomorrow - depending on how interesting it all turns out to be

Another Test

Test

Ignore......

I have no idea!

Really, I have absolutely no idea what is going on. On Google's suggestion I changed my password for my e-mail account a couple of months ago and now, for reasons I can't even begin to explain, they won't let me post on my old blog. When I tried to set this new one up 2 years ago they blocked it and now this is the only one they will allow me to post on??????? 😡😡😡😡

Anyway I have no idea if anyone will be able to read this so I will send another e-mail and hope for the best (while confidently expecting the worst!). We have got as far as Cornwall and unless Google have got access to our bikes we should be able to ride tomorrow.  I'll post again if I can find out how to access this blog!!