3rd June 2019 Monday

3rd June 2019 Monday – The amble

June 15, 2019

Hello Everybody!

Route: Land’s End to Bodmin

For the non-mathematicians out there:

Distance: 70 miles (Total 70)	Average speed: 11.2 mph
Calories: 1,802	Cycling time: 6h15m
Average cadence: 72 rpm	Climb: 5,968ft, Descent: 5,804ft
Heart (yes I have one): max 152 aver 125	Aver Temp: 18C, Max temp 25C
Temperament: Just a kick in the head but getting used to it

I had a very nice breakfast and got Blossom sorted in fairly quick order. So we dropped down a little hill and arrived at Land’s End Metropolis after 1.2 miles. It had grown since I was last there in 2003 when me and 7 other gentlemen cyclists with support crew finished an 8 day 1,000mile JOGLE. We all remembered just how much fun Devon and Cornwall were so I was expected some “interesting times” for the next 2 days or so.

From B&B bedroom

There was only a workperson and me too. Said workperson took a few photos of me and Blossom and after thanking him I started my LEJOG trip. Passing my B&B again I wondered why I didn’t just start from there and photoshop a “fake news” photo of me later that evening. Obvs I would only be cheating myself but then again who would know – well Blossom & Franklin definitely would and one of them would be sure to tell Ruth so I think I made the correct decision, probably the only correct decision I would made this trip.

Weather was very kind, sunny not too warm and not too cold and a very pleasant tailwind pushing me along quite nicely.

The route I had planned was as direct as I could get it to go to Bodmin. After a few ups and downs I began to realise that it might not be the best of routes as I was cycling along very narrow lanes with grass growing up in the middle. Going uphill I managed to find a 25% lumpy bit which caused a reasonable amount of time chewing my handlebars so as not to fall off backwards or slip back down the hill. When it came to the down bits I could not let rip as 15%+ drops mean you go quite quick without really trying, but if you meet anything coming up i.e. tractor with forks sticking up you might not be able to stop and thereby get impaled on said fork. I had a first aid kit but I decided not to take the surgery option with me so ended up using the brakes quite a bit.

Anyway time passed as it normally does and I went back through Penzance (again could have started form there also) and up into the middle of Cornwall and beyond. I was going fairly well but the later stages got a bit more lumpy and a bit more frequent but hey ho it was Cornwall.

I lunched in Truro which was just over halfway and also met a guy on a bike, called David Piper, which I thought was an odd name for a bike. His name was the same as his bike – funny coincidence. To say he was a bit of a touring cyclist would be to say that I am a bit of an annoying idiot. He’d cycled across USA, Australia and lots of other places. Regular readers may remember me posting a “83 mile to next service” photo last year. David had a “250km to next service when he was in Oz”. Oh dear.

David Piper - Man & Bike

Anyway I manged to toddle along to my Bodmin Airbnb stop by around 17.30. I placed Blossom on the side wall and rang the doorbell but no-one seemed to be at home. I went back to Blossom and called the host and left a message. Then I rang doorbell again with same result. Then I went back to Bollom and sent a text message as well. I then hear a sanding noise. I looked over the fence and saw a bloke doing some sanding. Never found out what was making the sanding noise but there you have it. Each time I rang the bell he answered but by then I was next to Bloosom. First, but probs not last, Laurel & Hardy moment. The host couple Gilly & Bob was very friendly and had a very nice house in the grounds of a lunatic hospital [EDITOR: Sadly this is true, shame it was not operating still]. I felt right at home.

I’d also arranged to see one of my very early Managers, Andy French, back in the mid-1990s. He had moved to Cornwall about 15 years back and never looked back. He drove to pick me up and showed me his new house, his previous house and holiday cottages and the village of Loowe. All very nice and rounded off with fish & chips up some very steep hill. Andy used to be a very good climber and glider pilot.

First glider pilot story of the trip:

Me and Andy were travelling up to Leeds to visit a customer and Andy suggested we start early and stop off at Dunstable glider club and go for a fly or glide. The wind was very fast ging south to north so we got to Silverstone in about 3 minutes. On the way back, the glider started what can only be described as a non-ideal direction i.e. 45% descent towards the ground. I knew I would die first (spoiler alert I did not die) and Andy would shortly after me, as he was sitting just behind. We did start to pick up some speed and then started to go upwards again and ended up doing a loop the loop manoeuvre. I did not think this was possible but was thankful that it was. I think I called him a name.

Anyway it was nice to catch up with him without risking life and limb again.

After getting back to Gilly & Bob I watched a GoT episode with them without telling them what was about to happen, other than saying “it was a real shame this person was killed in the next episode”.

Quick note of the 3 A’s – they had a quite day and met up with some other Imagined people living in the UK from some other cycling blog.

Other nice pictures: