It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them - Ernest Hemingway
Day Ten - Cornwall
Friday 6th August 2010
The alarm woke me just before 7am so that I could be up and ready for the breakfast at 7:30am. When we arrived at the breakfast room we were amazed by the choices of food on offer. Glasses full of strawberries, rasberries and grapes, bowls of melon and grapefruit, yoghurts and cereals and all this before the cooked breakfast and toast. I ate it all!
As usual the luxury of a B&B compared to camping meant that I lacked my usual urgency to get going. It was therefore 9:30 before I was ready to leave. The weather was true to the forecast of rain all day. Catherine, James and Rhea walked with me up the long drive and this gave me the excuse to walk as well. After a 1000 miles of cycling my legs were swollen and tired I was struggling with the hills. At least today my trailer was many kilos lighter as I only had what I needed for the day in terms of food, drink, clothing and bike tools etc. After saying goodbye I was finally off on the last day.
After only ten minutes I spied a bus shelter and stopped under it. I was already overheating in my waterproofs after a short climb and needed to lose a layer. As it was raining I took off my cycle top and put back on the waterproof jacket. I then continued again along the A38 and the rolling countryside.
At Bodmin, I rejoined the A30 and a long stretch of dual carraigeway. Traffic on the other side was at a standstill but in the pouring rain I don't think any of the motorists were wishing they were on a bike instead. The A30 then crossed the Blackmoor Hills. This presented me with a couple of opportunities to really take in the damp dull views of the countryside as I was forced to push the bike up the hills.
Wind turbines on a dull rainy day
Reaching Redruth on the A30
The weather continued to be dismal and progress against the constant headwind in my waterproofs was slow. Things got worse when I was forced off the A30 by roadworks. There were no helpful diversion signs for cyclists. Just a totally useless 'Find Alternative Route' sign. My Sat Nav had constantly wanted me to come off the A30 all day; but I had been wary of doing so and finding myself on roads with impossible gradients. However, now needing to follow the Sat Nav my prediction proved correct when, less than ten minutes later, I hit a steep gradient and was once again walking. The Sat Nav took me initially in a northerly direction which I found quite disconcerting: fearful of adding any unnecessary mileage. Fortunately after a while I returned to a more reassuring south westerly heading.
The road rolled along winding its path and it was not until later that I realised that this road, the B3301, was running parallel to the coast. It was only when I reached the Hell's Mouth Cafe that I saw lots of people get off a coach and cross the road and set off across a field to my right. Being curious as to why they were all heading away from the cafe, I stopped and parked the bike and walked about 50m to where they were standing. They were all peering at a cove like inlet cut into the cliff known as Hell's Mouth. I joined them in taking photos then headed back to the bike and after grabbing a snack continued on my way.
Hell's Mouth, North Cornwall
View from Hell's Mouth
It was now just after half past four. The rain had blown away and I was finally free of my waterproofs. However, I was still a long way from Land's End and wouldn't be getting there before 6pm. From Hell's Mouth the road descended towards St Ive's Bay and I made good progress and before long rejoined the A30 near Hayle.
