Day 1 Mon 15th August Land's End to Lostwithiel 70 Miles

Having arrived quite late at the hotel last night with Bob,Christine, Howard and Steph. We just had time to drop off our bags before eating at 8pm . I'd had a chat with Bob at the station while we waited for the others before being picked up by Ken our team leader. I was amazed at how unprepared he was for a ride of such magnitude. He'd only been cycling for a few months and had been ill advised about the bike he had purchased for this trip. A heavy hybrid with panier's and front bag. We have a van to take our stuff so why load yourself down with panier's on a heavy bike?
Howard and Steph excused themselves from us as they had met a friend for dinner at the hotel. Leaving myself ,Bob and Christine to eat together. It turned out to be one of the very few occasions I would have the pleasure of their company on this trip. As they were part of the 'Posh Group' who enjoyed 4* accommodation and fine dining!
By the time we had eaten it was 9.30. I popped outside to enjoy the last few minutes of sunlight and take a photo of one end of the Country...
I was travel weary so decided to call it a day and go to my room to have a read of my book and an early night. At about 10pm my new roommate Dave Smith arrived. We had a quick chat before lights out and it must have been all of 3 minutes before he was snoring loudly." I'm glad I brought numerous pairs of earplugs".

Breakfast was at 7.30 and I was really looking forward to meeting with my new cycling buddies, with whom I was about to spend the next two weeks with.
The group mustered around the breakfast table, after forcing myself to eat cereal,fruit and a full English washed down with coffee and juice we gathered around our group leaders Ken and Tony for our first day's briefing.
"Today is going to be a great days cycling" exclaimed Tony. This was to be his mantra for the whole trip. "You're really going to enjoy it".

After the briefing we went to our bikes where Howard and Steph fitted our Satmaps.
I should explain that Howard is the owner and designer of the Satmap GPS system. As he and Steph were on this trip he had decided to use those of us who were willing as 'Guinea Pigs' for some feedback.
We were given a quick 'idiot's guide' and then were soon gathered around the Land's End sign for our group photo.

I'd had a brief chat with Jenny who greeted me with.  " Your the lad from Croxley.My mates used to run the pub in Croxley".  Long time since I've been called a lad.  Jenny was doing the ride with her friend Jane who I was introduced to by Jenny before we left for our first day of cycling up and down the B roads of the North Cornish coast.
Now I'd decided on this trip that even if it meant cycling outside my comfort zone or slower than I'd like I would stay with people. Unlike when I did the London to Paris a couple of years earlier where I spent most of the 4 days cycling at my pace and generally not staying with people long enough to get to know them.

Despite thinking I might be one of the slowest on this trip I soon realised the opposite to be true. So I found myself picking through the riders. Too slow move on. Too slow move on. Bob was soon left behind by the group on his heavily laden machine.
I cycled for a few miles with Caroline. A 30 something primary school teacher with a happy disposition, who was pleasant company. She'd done her prep unlike Bob, lots of cycling and had a good Trek road bike with a little rack for carrying her essentials.
She was quite concerned about leaving the others behind and began to slow down after about ten miles to bring the group back together. Akin to a mother hen gathering her chicks. This was to be the theme for her trip as she quickly became the Mother figure to her 'Boys'. Peter, Dave W and Robin. All considerably older than their adopted Mum Caroline! Making sure they all got home safely after each days cycling.

Only a couple more cyclists ahead of me now so I pushed on to catch them up. It turned out to be Jenny and Jane. So I stuck with them all the way to our first stop at Hayle after 23 miles of ups and downs through north Cornwall. Nothing too serious just lots of undulation with some short steep climbs and descents thrown in for good measure!

At Hayle we stopped at the Fresh Cafe'. Where despite being promised at the mornings briefing that they would be expecting us, the young lady was quite perplexed about the sudden invasion of 14 cyclists so early on a Monday morning. Well it was about 10.30 by the time we all got there. Bob arriving a good 20 mins behind everyone else. I bought a coffee and a cake, and walked across the road to the bench where we were all congregated and got a few more lessons on GPS ing from Steph.
A few of the group had already left by the time Jenny , Jane and I set off. We carried along the north coast to Portreath and Porthtowen, which had a wonderful sandy beach. I made a mental note to go for a swim there one sunny day.
We made it to St Agnes 40 miles into our day for our scheduled lunch stop. Quite frankly the last thing I wanted was more food, so at the first Cafe' we found we stopped for a cup of tea and it began to rain heavily.
We saw from our vantage point in the Cafe', Caroline and her newly formed flock go past, pausing briefly, before heading down the steep hill to a pub for lunch.
Christine joined us just before we set off in the rain along with her bright yellow rain cap. 30 miles to go and it was now pissing down. Great!
We passed through Perranporth after we had overcome another short sharp ascent. It had a beautiful sandy beach. I made a mental note......
Jenny wanted to slow down a bit so Jane and I carried on alone and were soon upping the pace, judging each others capability. Although now a little tired I was so pleased Jane was happy to cycle a little faster and we were soon flying along.
We cut inland just before Newquay,passing through St Newland East, Whitecross and crossing the busy A30 just before Bodmin. Heading east towards our stop for the night. Lostwithiel Golf and Country Club.

I rest of the ride seemed to fly by as we chatted our way through the last 20 miles before crossing the river Fowey and into town.
The Golf club was a rather grand affair and with our bikes safely stowed we were shown to our rooms,which were like little apartments scattered around the main building. Very tasteful and well equipped. As we were soaked by the constant rainfall that afternoon I was a bit miffed to find that on our arrival the van wasn't there with our clothes.
I had a shower and sat around with a towel on for the next hour before our bags finally arrived.

Jenny like me is a keen swimmer, so we were really pleased to find a swimming pool at the club. So the three of us set of for the pool as soon as our bags arrived. However it was a rather small pool so we were reduced to doing breast stroke around the perimeter. None the less it was still relaxing and a welcome dip for our tired limbs.
We agreed to meet later in the bar and walk into town for dinner as the hotel menu looked a little expensive.
After about 45 mins in the pool we went back to our apartments, still no sign of Dave, so I changed and headed for the bar for a much deserved pint at about 6.30pm.
The girls joined me at 7 and we walked the one mile into town. After wandering around town for 10 minutes we decided we liked the look of The Royal Oak and went in for our evening meal.
Curry's all round I recall. We had a lovely chat where I learned a little more about the girls and they me.
After a couple of drinks with our food we were about to leave when we saw our group leaders Ken and Tony in the other bar, so we stepped in for a quick chat before heading back to the Hotel.

Land's End.

You can view the route on this link.
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/59948470