Distance - 69.07 Miles
Cycle Time - 5 Hours 43 Minutes
Total Time - 8 Hours 57 Minutes
Average Speed - 12.0Mph
Top Speed - 37.6Mph
Day 1 proper followed on where our 16 mile taster left off.Hills,hills and more hills!I've never experienced anything like it in my life!The day had at least 3 "that was the biggest hill so far!" moments with the last of them almost breaking me 3 quarters of the way up, but I managed to reach the summit intact.
Today also had our first puncture, with Luke's tire popping in spectacular style after only 10 miles. The rain then decided to come down in a big way, as cyclists looked for shelter or aided in the tire change. At least 20 minutes later Luke was rolling again and we were all soaked through.
The route twisted and turned and we are still trying to get to grips with the Garmin Edge and these combined and lead to the first bust up of the LEJOG tour with me and Luke having a frank exchange of opinions. But all was resolved quickly and we got on with the business of the day, cycling!
We met up with the support team after 25 miles at Truro Cathedral for Bacon sarnies courtesy of St Michaels B&B, seing as we left too early for a full english. They really hit the spot along with some Flapjack and other goodies. We were packing the calories in as quick as we were burning them. We left the support crew, well fed and in our rain jackets ready for whatever nature threw at us.
Nature duely oblidged and continued to shower on us at regular intervals making the hills and mileage even more testing. I always knew LEJOG was a challenge, but I had previously seen it as much more of a mental challenge than a physical one, but today there was a very definate physical challenge to go alongside the mental one. I don't think I could handle 12 more days like today.
After another 25 miles in the wet, with thankfully no more punctures or bust ups we came upon a frantically waving woman in pink, fortunately it was Mum directing us down a minor road to a car park where a fantastic picnic awaited the five tired cyclists. We wolved down everything that was put infront of us. The only blemish on an otherwise perfect lunch was my discovery of one of my chain links having popped out, leading to much grinding and clunking on the way into Liskeard.
We finally arrived at 5pm exhausted, wet and dirty. I've never been so relieved in all my life. I am now showered and changed and heading out for an Indian, the only place in town doing food on a Sunday night. Thanks so much to all the support team, who made a very tough day, bearable. Tommorrow is a new day.
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