Day 1 Leeds to St Just
The majority of day 1 was spent just getting to Penzance.
To get to Lands End we had booked a hire car. This was after many attempts at finding a company that did one way van hire, but without success. All of the companies applied a one way surcharge that took the cost to over £300. When we went to pick up the car we were unsure about getting 3 bikes in and mentioned that a van would be better. Hey presto, we got a Transit sized van for £99.
At 4 am on Day 1, I was up after a poor nights sleep – it was like being a kid again and trying to get to sleep before Santa came. A quick text message to John and Andrew at 5AM to say I was on my way to pick them up and we were off on the long, long drive down to Penzance.
The drive down was without incident but we were weather watching as we got further south. As we travelled down the A30 there were quite heavy showers and blustery winds. We overtook a few hardy cyclists going our way musing whether or not they were doing JoGLE.
Arriving in Penzance about 2PM we dropped the van in the station car park, loaded up the bikes and waited for Richard to arrive on the 3:15 train from London. Richard arrived on time to tell us that he had been “nicked” for speeding on Clapham Common on the way to catch the train. He had been let off on telling the understanding Policeman that he was just setting off to do LEJoG and what a good start a speeding ticket would be!
I had also made contact with a cyclist in Penzance (PeterM) through the CTC website and Peter came down to wish us well. He told us what I hoped would not turn out to be a prophetic story about one of his expeditions into North Yorkshire when he had met a group of 38 cyclists. There had been 40 the day before but one had died climbing a hill and his brother had decided to drop out whilst the others carried on. That story came back to me just 4 miles out of Penzance and many more times during the trip.
By 3.30PM we turned the first pedal, leaving Penzance along the sea front under Peter’s guidance. Peter left us and we headed for Mousehole and the first experience of a Cornish hill as we climbed out of that place. We hadn’t even started the trip proper and already I was wondering if I should have had some bigger gears on the Dawes Horizon! Another thing I realised was that pushing a loaded bike up hills was simply not an option – they all had to be pedalled up as pushing would be like hauling a wheel barrow uphill. Perhaps, then, I should not have panniers that would have done justice to Eddie Stobart and left some of that stuff at home?
Our trip nearly came to a premature end as we arrived at Sennen when John and I misread each others intentions and almost crashed into each other. John had a severe bit of “cleat strain” from pulling out very quickly.
We arrived al Lands End in light rain and mist to have the obligatory photo, and then it was into the café for a warm drink. The cyclists that we had passed on the A£) came in having
just completed JoGLE so joined in their party. We offered a job to their support crew but they didn’t seem to want to do it again! We also met a young man doing it solo on and brand new Galaxy with an unbroken Brookes saddle. We saw him again a few times but never had the chance to speak to him and ask how the saddle was!
It was a short haul from Lands End to St Just. John and Andrew were a few hundred yards in front of Richard and I. Sad then, that they missed the sign for the YHA and rode straight through the village having to come back over a couple of decent climbs! We were too late for food so we walked across the fields to the village and ate in The Wellington. There was carnival or fete going on despite the poor weather. The whole village was out and there was live music in the village square.
The evening did buck up a bit to allow Richard and me to walk down to the cove. My shoes disintegrated (which meant that I was looking for shoes for the next few days). There were a few people camping out at the bottom which was quite remote. We were both in a reflective frame of mind, for my part, wondering what the next couple of weeks would bring.
To get to Lands End we had booked a hire car. This was after many attempts at finding a company that did one way van hire, but without success. All of the companies applied a one way surcharge that took the cost to over £300. When we went to pick up the car we were unsure about getting 3 bikes in and mentioned that a van would be better. Hey presto, we got a Transit sized van for £99.
At 4 am on Day 1, I was up after a poor nights sleep – it was like being a kid again and trying to get to sleep before Santa came. A quick text message to John and Andrew at 5AM to say I was on my way to pick them up and we were off on the long, long drive down to Penzance.
The drive down was without incident but we were weather watching as we got further south. As we travelled down the A30 there were quite heavy showers and blustery winds. We overtook a few hardy cyclists going our way musing whether or not they were doing JoGLE.
Arriving in Penzance about 2PM we dropped the van in the station car park, loaded up the bikes and waited for Richard to arrive on the 3:15 train from London. Richard arrived on time to tell us that he had been “nicked” for speeding on Clapham Common on the way to catch the train. He had been let off on telling the understanding Policeman that he was just setting off to do LEJoG and what a good start a speeding ticket would be!
I had also made contact with a cyclist in Penzance (PeterM) through the CTC website and Peter came down to wish us well. He told us what I hoped would not turn out to be a prophetic story about one of his expeditions into North Yorkshire when he had met a group of 38 cyclists. There had been 40 the day before but one had died climbing a hill and his brother had decided to drop out whilst the others carried on. That story came back to me just 4 miles out of Penzance and many more times during the trip.
By 3.30PM we turned the first pedal, leaving Penzance along the sea front under Peter’s guidance. Peter left us and we headed for Mousehole and the first experience of a Cornish hill as we climbed out of that place. We hadn’t even started the trip proper and already I was wondering if I should have had some bigger gears on the Dawes Horizon! Another thing I realised was that pushing a loaded bike up hills was simply not an option – they all had to be pedalled up as pushing would be like hauling a wheel barrow uphill. Perhaps, then, I should not have panniers that would have done justice to Eddie Stobart and left some of that stuff at home?
Our trip nearly came to a premature end as we arrived at Sennen when John and I misread each others intentions and almost crashed into each other. John had a severe bit of “cleat strain” from pulling out very quickly.
We arrived al Lands End in light rain and mist to have the obligatory photo, and then it was into the café for a warm drink. The cyclists that we had passed on the A£) came in having
just completed JoGLE so joined in their party. We offered a job to their support crew but they didn’t seem to want to do it again! We also met a young man doing it solo on and brand new Galaxy with an unbroken Brookes saddle. We saw him again a few times but never had the chance to speak to him and ask how the saddle was!It was a short haul from Lands End to St Just. John and Andrew were a few hundred yards in front of Richard and I. Sad then, that they missed the sign for the YHA and rode straight through the village having to come back over a couple of decent climbs! We were too late for food so we walked across the fields to the village and ate in The Wellington. There was carnival or fete going on despite the poor weather. The whole village was out and there was live music in the village square.
The evening did buck up a bit to allow Richard and me to walk down to the cove. My shoes disintegrated (which meant that I was looking for shoes for the next few days). There were a few people camping out at the bottom which was quite remote. We were both in a reflective frame of mind, for my part, wondering what the next couple of weeks would bring.
No comments:
Post a Comment