Odd Sights En Route

We’re starting to go through the photos and videos we took whilst travelling from one end of mainland Britain to the other and thought we should share some of the sights that Boo captured en route.

Each evening spent in a hotel we laid out our breakfast supplies ready for the morning. For some reason Boo can’t quite face any porridge yet but we’re sure she’ll remember the benefits of it (and the salted caramel sauce) soon enough.

The Highwayman near Dartmoor has to be her favourite place to eat on the basis of the décor alone. Even the ladies toilet was decorated in style (no photos I’m afraid, plus you really have to see it to appreciate it, and the rest of the pub, properly)

When arranging for a bike tune up you should always pay attention to the warning signs! And this one probably also applies to working together on a tandem (and how our support vehicle reacted once she’d arranged the car for a day cycling if we started putting things in the car or hunting for items).

 

Boo’s preference for white socks is not going to help with the laundry later. I’m sensing a tie-dyeing experiment over the summer.

Our support vehicle actually spotted this street name whilst making a quick map/route check. As she was a little off the route at the time she can’t remember where it was but thinks she as in Cheshire at the time.

We’ve been asked what was meant by bike-related ceramics when a creative interlude was required during the LEJOG countdown. These are just a few of the items that they made. We love the bike decorations and had some on our Christmas tree this year. Boo thought the use of our original tandem’s broken chain to make a pattern in the clay was a great idea so I suspect that this design will be appearing on more of her work this year.

 

Talking of creative impulses; Boo captured this road sign graffiti as we pedalled through Devon.

As well as all the geography to see (and feel in our seats) we enjoyed occasional historical detours including the option of leaving Boo in the stocks en route to Kendal.

 

Our favourite animal spotting has to be the Highland Cows. We saw them in Dartmoor on day two and then again on our last day. Not a bad way to bookend our ride.

One of my favourite sights was Boo trying to carry her sunglasses like a pro. This one needs a little practice but could be relied on to bring a smile to my face.

And So It Begins

It was very early yesterday (Friday 30th May) morning when we woke to a rather gloomy sky. Once we’d had our porridge from the Land’s End Hostel, loaded the car, and covered ourselves in waterproofs before pedalling downhill for half a mile for our photo opportunity with The Post!

 

So here we are fully equipped, and smiling through the morning murk.

 

Raising money for Cancer Research and Zoe’s Place is really important for us, and will help us through the tough patches. At the moment every mile we ride is raising £2.50 for our charities. So every 20 miles will raise enough to look after one child for one hour at Zoe’s Place. The thought of this fundraising definitely kept Boo’s legs going at some points!

So which way do we need to go?

There is an official start line which we crossed with much trepidation and excitement. It will be a while before we cross the finish line and we wonder how much we will have changed by then.

It is proving to be a little more difficult than we would like to fit in geocaching as we travel but we managed to combine eating a pasty with geocaching in Penzance.

One of the highlights for Boo of the first day was the King Harry Chain Ferry and we will post more about this once we have internet access and she is awake. However it did involve a splendidly speedy downhill.

Unfortunately, as she learnt on this first day, what goes down must go up! And that super downhill was followed by a long slow drag on the opposite side.

We haven’t had a chance to upload the bike computer information (tiredness and internet access proving an issue that we will work on) but there did seem to be a lot of uphills for the brief joys of the downhill spurt.

It all proved to be a little too much for the two of us, especially as we quickly realised that we needed to take the tandem to Dartmoor Cycles for a tune-up and did not want to keep them too far beyond their normal hours. So, with tired legs, we stepped off the tandem at Liskeard, and drove over to Tavistock where Andy quickly worked on our brakes and gears and wished us well for the next day.

Finalising the Route – Days One and Two

Yes really, there are only 30 days to go, and so much still to prepare.

Top of the preparation list is finalising the route to identify stopping points, refueling options, support vehicle parking areas, roadside geocaches accessible in cycling shoes, bicycle shops in case of mechanical emergencies, and place to restock the food and drink supplies.

Whilst going over day one in detail we made an interesting discovery……

What looked like a bridge on the original planning map turns out to be a chain ferry across the River Fal! The King Harry Ferry runs every 20 minutes and takes 10 minutes to cover the 300 metre journey, so that will prove to be a good food and drinks break.

As well as discovering missing bridges, we generated an online OS map. This splendid elevation diagram for day one gives us an overview of those contours. Please take a look at the map, especially if you are considering joining us to ride a section of the route or to wave as we peddle past.

We’re looking at a total of 92.78 miles (don’t you just love the accuracy of the Ordnance Survey?) on day one – Friday 30th May. This includes a generous estimate of 2 miles of  vertical ascent to take into account, but at least there are some good descents to the rivers! With an average speed of 13mph, and an extra one and a quarter hours in the saddle for the climbs, we believe that we’re looking at eight and a quarter hours in the saddle on day one.

This is our longest day, so we thought it wise to fit the miles in whilst we’re at our freshest. You do not need to know what our Support Vehicle said when we pointed out that we’re aiming to start peddling at 7am; but it did include the suggestion that we wouldn’t notice a few extra miles from our hostel to the start point whilst she had a lie-in/packed the car!

If all goes to plan we will arrive at Dartmoor Cycles in Tavistock at 5pm to meet the friendly and helpful team, and shake buckets for Cancer Research UK and Zoe’s Place children’s hospice.

By the end of Day One we will have travelled through Cornwall into Devon. On Day Two we make it into Somerset with the day ending at SJS Cycles in Bridgewater

There is a bit of a slog through Dartmoor at the beginning, with Boo holding high hopes of spotting some ponies, but overall this is a more level day, and a mere 78.62 miles. We believe that with less than a mile of vertical ascent, and less speedy descents we’re looking at seven hours in the saddle so can have a more leisurely start time of 8am on Saturday 31st May. Do join us at Dartmoor Cycles if you are interested in a fun early morning ride through the scenic Dartmoor National Park. You can view the detailed OS map online to help you decide where best to join our ride if you would rather pick a section further through Devon.

Allowing for food and geocaching breaks we believe we will be at SJS Cycles in Bridgewater at 4:30 pm with a fairly flat ride for the last 20 miles (hour and a half).

We’re looking forward to being joined en route by fellow cyclists and will add the rest of our route over the next few days to help you plan your cycling too.