Day 3: Camelford to Okehampton

Today was lots better than yesterday: just as hilly but shorter, simpler and more direct. Rather than say more, I thought today's post could be in photojournal style for a change...

1. Running into Phil and Fiona by chance, near Hallworthy:

2. Bovine curiosity:

3. Horse love:

4. Horse mistrust:

5. Feeling odd: flats, Launceston:

6. Lunch, Co-Op, Launceston:

7. Sad doorway, Launceston:

8. Rosie stares at Devon in disbelief:

9. Straddling the border like a colossus:

10. Roadside leg stretches:

11. Evidence of earlier cyclists:

12. Roadside yoga:

13. Finally, spare a thought for the nervous Yorkies of Okehampton:

14. Bed now...

Day 2: St. Agnes to Camelford

A hard day.

It rained. We took some wrong turns and ended up riding 10 miles more than we needed to. Our legs are now jelly.

Cornwall's famous hilliness is still a shock, seen from the saddle: the terrain was like Alan Sugar's forehead. Tomorrow, at least, should be (a bit) easier.

On the positive side, we've just had an amazing Indian in Camelford – Gurkha Restaurant, the place is called (Nottingham people, the waiter used to work in the Chand on Mansfield Road!). It's a mad North/South/Nepali mix but it works.

Right. Exhaustion. Bed. More tomorrow...

Day 1: Land's End to St. Agnes

Finally on our way and it feels GOOD.

In bullet form, the day went like this:

• Departure
• Rain
• Mist
• Heavy rain, leaking overshoes
• Despair
• Recovery
• Good steady ride to Hayle via St. Ives
• Pasties with friends in Hayle
• On to St. Agnes via backache, vomit and wrong turns
• Check in; relief
• Great, relaxing meal in village
• Watching (now) 'Mind of the Stalker', in a half-arsed way, in our B+B room

Some photos...

The road ahead - all 1000 miles of it:

Rain; first hill:

St.Ives:

Hayle folk:

Rosie's modified volunteer's tabard:

Once again, thanks are due to lots of people for their support - moral, practical and financial. Massive thanks to Bex and Shoes for looking after us so well in Hayle last night, and for ferrying us to the start line today. Thanks also for all the encouragement from Hayle people when we passed through on the way to St. Agnes today, and to Horrors for publicising the ride at work.

It's late (well, 10:00), we're tired and have the promise of a fantastic breakfast tomorrow as an extra incentive – if any were needed – to get some kip right now.

Same time tomorrow? Good. x

Packing panic; charging the GORP tank

Today is our last day in Notts for a while. As I speak, we're packing our panniers and staring in horror at the volume of gear we're apparently planning to haul the length of the country. We had planned to do a 'test pack' weeks ago, but, you know... Tomorrow morning: early start; radical rethink and repack; tidy up and vamoose.

Also ritually mixing up a tub of GORP ('Good Old Raisins & Peanuts' - add M&Ms for an exotic twist). Horrible really, but energy-dense at least. We'll be glad of this when we're weeping beside our twentienth Cornish hillside.

The ride proper starts Saturday morning. Watch this space...

Sunburn and last-minute nerves

The first hot day of the year.

In true British style, we took sun block out with us but only put it on once we were already burnt. That'll learn us - for a while anyway.

We are also getting the heebee-geebees about the scale of what we're about to do. I think we're pretty well-organised and prepared but it's daunting all the same. I think we'll be glad to finally get on the road - the seemingly endless planning, tweaking and preparation are driving us both insane.

Huge thanks to everyone who's given their support - moral as well as financial - to the ride, and to our chosen charities: it is truly appreciated.

If you'd like to sponsor us, the links are over there, on the right --->

Thanks!

Breakfast of champions + lugging luggage in Notts

The Rosie bike-training breakfast: 1 - a glass of water; 2 - a handful of vitamin and mineral supplements; 3 - a bowl of fruit floating in some unholy enzime broth, underneath which I am assured is regular porridge.

Serious food, serious training. This weekend we went on longer rides (40-50 miles) and took luggage with us, just to make sure it could be done. It was hard, but not too hard...

Starving, we pulled our usual stunt of arriving at Sunday cafes 10 minutes after they stop serving, and at supermarkets 10 minutes after they close:

Nottinghamshire countryside was looking good though. Being out of the city was weird and refreshing.

Thanks to everyone who's sponsored us so far!
If you haven't yet (*hint*), the links are on the right --->

Training...when?

It's becoming harder and harder to fit training in around real life. The short runs aren't a challenge anymore but we don't have time for longer rides.

I've taken some days off work so we can get a few long rides in before we go. In the meantime, it's back to the usual evening circuit...

Howdy!

We leave in 3 weeks (28th May) and everything is almost ready to go. Travel and accommodation is booked so the focus right now is TRAINING.

Training = ... 100-mile sportives? Energy bars? Conversations about carbon weave and gain ratios? Not really. Our routine is basically...

Evening rides to Holme Pierrepont (National Watersports Centre) - about 15 miles...

...and feeding Co-Op Multi-Seeded Batch Loaf to the geese at Gunthorpe Lock - about 20 miles...

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PLEASE SPONSOR US!

We are raising money for CRISIS and FARESHARE respectively - all details are on the right --->

Thanks to everyone who's supported the ride so far. Special thanks to Freewheel (Goosegate, Nottingham NG1) for all the help and advice.