Cornish hills

Woke up to rain at Lands End. Forced down the biggest breakfast we could. Clare took photos at the usual milepost that claims John O’Groats is 875 miles away. Yeah - sure - if you’re a crow! And we were off, like Wacky Races but less self-assured and a whole lot less competent. But it stopped raining right on cue.

Andrew does have a tendency to put his head down and just eat up the miles, even if the bloke with the map is somewhere behind him and has other ideas about the route. So Steve had the bright idea of bringing a whistle to recall Andrew. He was so pleased to have his first opportunity after only 4 miles! Like a schoolboy whose been asked to referee the first 15! Probably not the last opportunity!

Though we didn't pick the easiest route by any means, it was stunning. Great scenery, great views, nice climbs, some dodgy descents. Pete has a nice open top sporty car. Pete wished he’d brought it instead of his bike! Garmin maps told us there were 24 climbs and Steve’s evil Wahoo device alerted us to each one. We thought it had miscounted when we arrived in Wadebridge one climb short, only to find our hotel was up the hill the other side of town! Staying at the Premier Inn - there wasn’t anything else available! Charming staff and a very very good dinner at the Ship Inn made up for it though. Well worth the walk down and back up hill 24!!

Stats for the day…

6273 feet, 72 miles - Pete’s biggest ascent on Strava in the last 5 years but sadly a record that is likely to be broken soon!

Sneaky confession time - Clare delivered our panniers to the hotel on her way to ‘Barth’ so that makes the above statement slightly scary 😥. We’re fully loaded for a very hilly day tomorrow.

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