Lizard Point

1/8/15

We lingered over breakfast and Sue completed the last accommodation bookings that would see us back home. This has been a monumental task that has given us nights in a lighthouse, castle and cool camp sites. So with an end date now fixed we raced down the busy main road to Lizard Point and shared crab cakes and whitebait in the Polpeor Cafe.

I have been pondering about an alternative challenge to the LEJOG- it could could be named ArDuLoLi (Ardnnamurchan, Dunnet Head, Lowerstoft, Lizard) this doesn't roll off the tongue quite so easily but then it is not a journey that should be taken lightly, it is probably about 5 times the did trance if Land's End to John O'Groats.

Visiting all four extremes of Britain in one trip may not be to everyon's taste but it has been a great journey and with the end in sight there is part of me that wants to just keep on going. The reality of unpacking the loft, fixing the washing machine and going back to work do not appeal as much as the daily routine of cycle touring!

Leaving Lizard Point armed with an Annie's Cornish pasty and a dozen quail's eggs we returned to our camp site on quieter roads via Goonhilly Earth Station to enjoy the evening sun and view with some good food.

Figures:

Distance:- 36.4 km

Cycle Time:- 2 hours 13 minutes

Average speed:- 16.3 kph

Total Distance:- 5868 km

Gweek, Lizard

31/7/15

Our task today was to put ourselves in pole position for mainland's most southerly place and thus completing the fourth and final cardinal point in our journey. Although we were now off Sustrans routes, we found reasonably quiet lanes and were delighted to stumble upon Waymarker, a Restaurant just north of Constantine. We settled down to an excellent sea food platter and completed some more accommodation booking over a 2 hour lunch! Our camp for the night was a strong contender for Cool Camping, a field with a great view, composting toilets, chickens for your egg supply and even a small salad garden  - I am not sure what compost they use on the lettuce but it tasted good! This is a real family site with not a caravan in sight. 

Figures:

Distance:- 25.1 km

Cycle Time:- 2 hours 23 minutes

Average speed:- 10.5 kph

Total Distance:- 5832 km

Trelissick

30/7/15

An excellent off-road track took us all the way to Mevagissey. It is the perfect fishing village but popular so with hardly a harbour bench or cafe table available we only paused briefly before the climb over to a quieter Portmellon.

Decending to Porthluney Cove and Caerhays Castle, we found a food shack selling posh pasties and slow cooked pork in a roll so we stopped to eat! This style of good fast food is becoming much more prevalent in Britain.

Getting through Pendower Beach was disconcerting with a steep decent and a no-through road sign but a short walk across the sand and a small foot bridge put us on the other side of the cove and back on to Tarmac.

The up and down pattern continued but the Post office and stores in Veryan cheered us up considerably. Thoughts about our evening meal hadn't got much further than pasta until we discovered scallops, Cornish creme fraiche, a bag of frozen berries (which we used as a fridge in our bags) and local beer in this little village shop. With a feast stashed away in any available pannier space we made haste for the historic King Harry Ferry to Trelissick.

This is our second ferry using submerged chains to move across the narrow stretch of the river Fal and will be the last ferry of our journey. Once across we just got into Trelissick house and garden with enough time for a National Trust visit. This house was home to Ronald Copland who was chairman of Spode, the Staffordshore bone china company. The most recent resident auctioned off much of the contents so the building was strangely empty save a few flowery plates! The views and garden position are unique and the large conservatory gave Sue ideas about our own home improvement possibilities!

We completed both house and gardens in a ridiculously fast time before hitting the tea shop!

Our camp site was a small farm curiously named Come to Good and a beautiful evening with a fine meal could convince you that camping in Britain is always a pleasure.

Figures:

Distance:- 43.7 km

Cycle Time:- 3 hours 51 minutes

Average speed:- 11.3 kph

Total Distance:- 5807 km

St Austell

29/7/15

Today involved countless climbs and as many decents through beautiful quiet Cornish lanes. Decending from our lofty 300m high hotel we skirted the south side of Bodmin Moor riding a roller coaster made by it's deep cut river valleys.

Passing through the pretty village of St Neot and crossing a 600 year old bridge were some consolation for plunging from the moor to near sea level before climbing back up.

Our National Trust visit for the day was Lanhydrock House. A late Victorian extravaganza with an astonishing number of rooms related to the kitchen.

The onward journey was back on the NCN 3 with another great bit of Sustrans routing through quiet wooded lanes and through the Eden Project.

Considering how busy Lanhydrock was, the amount of traffic on the small inland roads was very small for school holiday time.

Our B&B was very conveniently situated right on the route and just a short walk into the centre of St Austell where Prezzo produced a poor imitation of Pizza Express.

Figures:

Distance:- 46.3 km

Cycle Time:- 4 hours 5 minutes

Average speed:- 11.3 kph

Total Distance:- 5763 km

Caradon Hill

28/7/15

Today was good, rolling hills, quiet lanes and a bit of sun to warm the afternoon. We left Okehampton on the Granite Way (NCN 27) which contours the edge of Dartmoor for about 15km to Lydford and crosses 2 spectacular viaducts.

The National Trust own Lydford Gorge so a tea shop and visit to the impressive Devil's Cauldron were essential.

Leaving Dartmoor and the Sustrans route at Brentor the slingshot seemed to work as we had a brisk decent to the River Tamar. We entered Cornwall and gradual ascent brought us to the edge of Bodmin Moor, even more ascent and we reached the Wheal Tor Hotel with fine views from their terrace. 

Set in a coppice with camping pods and free range animals everywhere, this is a quirky hill top retreat. Coincidentally, we chatted to the owner about our journey and he told us that his 68 year old friend called Maggie is also doing the coast by bike with her dog in a trailer. She will be staying at Wheal Tor in a few days time and we remember passing her travelling in the opposite direction on our way to Laxford Bridge on the west coast of Scotland, well done Maggie!

Figures:

Distance:- 47.1 km

Cycle Time:- 3 hours 53 minutes

Average speed:- 12.1 kph

Total Distance:- 5717 km

Okehampton

27/7/15

Sue had devised a sneaky route out of Exeter which worked perfectly and avoided any Monday morning traffic- not that many people leave it until 10am to go to work!

Our first 10km were continuous climbing but the remaining 30km also felt up hill. We were engaged on part of the Tour du Manche which completes a circuit of the English South and French North coasts using Dover and Plymouth ferrys. The labelling is rather subtle with small blue stickers appearing just when you are about to give up and this stretch from Exeter to Okehampton is more functional than picturesque.

We had our first tea shop stop at Woodleigh Coach House near Cheriton Bishop The cold weather returned the desire for soup, they served a good sea food chowder. We then stopped in Sticklepath for Finch Foundry which was actually a forge until 1960 and turned out up to 400 tools per day for the busy farming and industry of 19th century Devon The use of water to power dates back to 1100s on this site.

A final decent to Okehampton for a food shop then a climb back up to the busy Youth Hostel which was full of families. The YHA here is doing what it does best, there is a huge selection of activities put on to entertain all in the fraught school holidays.

Figures:

Distance:- 40.0 km

Cycle Time:- 3 hours 40 minutes

Average speed:- 10.9 kph

Total Distance:- 5670 km

Rest Day 20

26/7/15

Coincidently my sister Jude and her husband Ian were driving to Exeter to pick up their youngest, Sophie, from Exeter. She had finished at university here with a first in English.

We met them for lunch at Jamie's then planned and booked the following week.

We will be at Land's End next weekend but our route strays from the sea somewhat. An absence of cycle network routes between Exeter and St Austell means we are going to avoid a stretch of coast. In space exploration the slingshot technique uses the gravity of a planet to propell a probe further into space, we will use Dartmoor to sling shot us to St Austell. I am not sure if we will actually gain any momentum from it however!