Sunday, May 26, 2013

Day I...Land's End to Fowey. 64 miles

I woke up early and was on the rode at 7:20 without breakfast. It was a chilly 45 degrees to start but ending up in the low 60's, a perfect cycling weather day. After a 12 mile ride to Land's End, I took the necessary photos and had my pass stamped to prove I started the ride. In order to get a certificate you must show stamps from various places along your route. 


I also left a polished stone guitar pick in the rocks, a memento to commemorate Simon. He played guitar and it is tradition for us to leave stones at a gravesite when visiting. Met quite a few riders on the road today.Everyone has several different routes to LEJOG, but I did meet a group of six that are doing the same route I am. They are following Nick Mitchell's book route, that I also picked. He is actually leading their tour, so I hope I get to meet him along the way.
My route took me past St Michael's Mount. You can actually walk across to it at low tide. There was quite a pilgrimage out there today being that this is a Bank Holiday weekend. the roads were packed.

I have to admit today was a tough day. In addition to the 71 miles I rode, the hills in Cornwall are killers. Up and down, up and down. One of the hills the grade was 49 percent. I did have to walk at least a half dozen hills. My total elevation up was 5,846 ft which represents about 34 percent of the total elevation for the fourteen day trip.this obviously slowed me down and the trip from LE to Fowey took me eight hours ( with stops for photos and map checking). I burned 1604 calories. I arrived at beautiful Fowey, river tributary. As you can see from the photos below it is very picturesque. This is the view from my Inn window:
They knew I was coming because they even had a draught beer named after me. After a hot bath, a pint at the bar, I went next door to the Boathouse and had a great pasta dinner including Tiramisu. I was famished. Now I' m all carbed up and ready for tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get a good nights rest. Hoping to see my sister Penny and brother-in-law Richard sometime tomorrow. Stay tuned......