I had a lazy start to the day, which meant I didn’t get cycling until almost midday.
I was glad I stopped when I did last night, because the enormity of the hill I was confronted with as I left town would surely have reduced me to tears.
It took a fair while to ascend, and then the hills kept coming, all the way to Truro, where I stopped for a pasty after a couple of hours riding.
From here I picked up NCN3 again, which took me a rather circuitous but very pleasant route to Redruth, along an old mining trail in a valley.
Once I got out of the valley, just before dropping down into Redruth I had views of both coastlines from the top of the moors and a real sense of the land beginning to narrow.
It started to feel like I was getting close.
The rest of the days riding was a mixture of cycleways and roads, and I finally arrived in Penzance early evening, in glorious sunshine.
I finished the day with a Magnum Infinity (£1.85), then a seafood meal and a few pints of Cornish Ale by the harbour.
I think I will stick to regular Magnum’s from now on, the infinity has a bit too much going on, and I prefer milk chocolate.
Bike computer stats:
Ride time: 5h 59m
Distance: 60.4 miles
Ave speed: 10.1 mph
Max speed: 39.4 mph
Index
Things you would rather not know about the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness
20 miles with a bloke called Tim, and a slight change of plan
Day 1 – John O’Groats to Inverness
Day 2 – Ness to Nevis and my nemesis rears its head
Day 3 – Fort William to Tarbert with only one brake
Day 4 – Tarbert to Ayr and the battle of Arran
Day 5 – Ayr to Dumfries and tasting defeat in the Forest of Galloway
Day 6 – Dumfries to Windermere and thoughts on cycling earworms
Day 7 – Windermere to Liverpool and the birds-eye of the storm
Day 8 – Liverpool to Shrewsbury and the ferry across the Mersey
Day 9 – Shrewsbury to Gloucester with sun, showers and an injured Armadillo
Day 10 – Gloucester to Bristol and the day I spoke to soon
Day 11 – Bristol to Bath, a day of disused railway lines
Day 12 – Bath to Tiverton and the breakfast hostage
Day 13 – Tiverton to Lostwithiel and fatigue causes forgetfulness
Day 14 – Lostwithiel to Penzance, and the mining trail
Day 15 – Penzance to Lands End (and back again)
Ideas for cycling end to end, with the benefit of hindsight
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