Day 10: Porthtowan - Landsend

Start Time 08:00

Finish Time 11:30

Actual Mileage 31.2 miles

Average Speed (14.6 mph)

So the final day (or what was meant to be the final day – did we make it? – I think the majority of you know by now but lets keep the suspense going a little longer…)

We woke up to strong winds rattling our bedroom window but were not deterred as it was our last day and nothing was going to impede us. We set out to get back to the A30 only to find high hills blocking our path (a lot of you ‘out on the town’ girls will know how we were feeling). Once we overcame that obstacle and got on to the main road we thought it was only right to take a rest stop at Mcdonalds. Little were we to know that we would meet our old school teachers (Mr Philpot, Mr Padgem & Mr Hartley) in the car park taking Year 12’s on a school trip to St Ives. Luckily there was no embarrassment on our side as they did remember our names so we had a little reunion before finalizing our journey.

The last 20 miles were not complete without a trip to Tesco’s to pick up treats to celebrate with. Joe got a DibDab, Rhys got nougat, Steve got Kinder Eggs, Rob got champers and Ollie got his standard can of coke and a pasta. The last ten miles from Penzance concluded the journey with only one minor incident when Ollie failed to realize his foam massage mat (yes its as girlie as it sounds) went flying into the wind and Joe had to lug it 3 miles cycling one handed as he failed to realize it was missing.

An eventful day would not be complete without Ollie Houston spilling his whole cup of tea on himself and Joe on the train journey home....

Cycle of Life Moment (sponsored by Rafiki and Simba): Completing an epic journey with everyone still standing at the end of it for a photo next to the Landsend sign.

Day 9: Tiverton - Porthtowan

Start Time 07:45

Finish Time 20:15

Actual Mileage 105.4 miles

Average Speed (13.2 mph)

The day started as the previous day ended…cycling up and down really narrow country lanes trying to get to Tiverton then to Crediton then to the A30. What made the day that little bit more interesting was the following:

(please read slowly for a slow motion replay or read fast if you want real time events)

So Rhys was flying down a hill with the wind in his hair with a tractor behind him when unbeknown to him there was a reasonably tight corner to turn around (as tight as Joe Clarke in a supermarket). Rhys did not want to brake because he might upset the tractor so he went into the corner at pace and due to this reason he mounted the curb fell into the bushes and his bike went flying into the road. Rhys remained emotionless and emerged from the bushes to rescue his bike before it got run over by the tractor. His helmet was broken, both his wheels were buckled, he looked like the green giant from the sweetcorn adverts but he maintained a cool calm and collected composure only seen by a robot.

Our technicians had a look at the already questionable Mongoose bike and managed to patch it up so the wheels would turn at an odd angle and the handlebars would stay on as long as the exerted pressure was not too great. The bike had also lost its 5^th and 7^th gears leaving Rhys with only 5 to choose from but he was pleased that even though it was on the brink of destruction, it could still chug him along to Lands End.

The day continued to fill our boots with excitement and anticipation. As we went through Crediton Joe received a standing ovation from a little girl as he cycled along, as we stopped in Tesco’s Ollie managed to find a new variety of pasta he had not eaten and as we tried to get on the A30 we found ourselves on a 10 metre bridge arching over the A30 with no plausible way down. However in the face of adversity we scaled a fence with our bikes and gradually passed the bikes down a 60° slope with Robert acting as Spiderman crawling up and down the slope.

Finally we were on our way on the A30 with 85 miles still to do and the clocks fastly approaching midday. Then the rain came down for almost 4 hours and I want to say it was fun and enjoyable cycling in the rain alongside a very busy dual carriageway but it was not. Robert even managed to get his first puncture on the trip. At 4pm the clouds left us and we managed to complete the last 49 miles in just over four hours to arrive in to the seaside surfing town of Porthtowan. 

Crash of the day (sponsored by Richard Hammond): Rhys taking a chunk out of the Devon countryside with his heavy Mongoose Bike

Day 8: Chepstow - Tiverton

Start Time 08:30

Finish Time 19:00

Actual Mileage 89.6 miles

Average Speed (15.5 mph)

 

To begin… We hopped past Chepstow missing out on a visit to the castle and the opportunity to dress up in armour but giving us plenty of time to cross over the River Severn in strong headwinds. We skipped past Bristol (although got delayed going round the one way system) – Joe was admiring the Clifton Suspension Bridge when he ran over a dead pigeon. Then we jumped through the West Country, each of us breaking our top speeds (Rob took the gold reaching 42.8 mph) and each of us having incidents…

Joe’s pannier bag fell off while going downhill and made a clunking sound, Rhys’s impenetrable Mongoose bike valued at 39 pence suffered its first ever puncture, Robert took some stimulants and could not seem to stop cycling, Steve was screaming every few minutes enjoying the ecstasy of his Achilles tendon and Ollie found out he is identical twins to the Ferengi from Star Trek.

What else have we learnt on our journey today?

1. Don’t trust Rhys to book up accommodation unless you want a farm in the middle of nowhere only accessible by a country road about the width of a sheep.
2. Morrisons have 8 different types of trollies including your standard ‘daily shopper’, your ‘disabled trolley’ and your majestic ‘twin seater’.
3. Rob found out that cars do not slip on banana skins
4. Other pro cyclists are not very sociable if you beat them on an up hill stretch

When we arrived at the B&B for the night there was a lot of bemusement over the questionable ‘luxury accommodation’ and Rhys managed to have a late night spat with a group of imaginary ducks which apparently kept him awake most of the night quacking.

Moment of the day (sponsored by American Beauty: being dazzled by a whirlwind of leaves while begging outside of Morrisons.