Day Two 9th September 2012: Bude to Taunton

My Dad warned me last night that day two would be the hardest so I was a little apprehensive as to how the day was going to pan out. Well it got off to a fantastic start with the lovely guests  Avril and Rodger and Mr & Mrs Boyce, staying at Meadow View B&B, giving us donations at breakfast. We decided that morning to take a slightly alternative route, cycling the A3072 rather than the more coastal A39. It seemed like a sensible more direct route so couldn't figure out why it hadn't been on the original route planner.

It was a lovely warm, overcast day and despite my fathers concerns of fatigue we were flying once again. That was until we hit the first village of Holsworthy, we must have been cycling around it for at least half an hour. There didn't seem to be a way out and we must have asked about four or five people but they didn't seem to have a clue how to get out either!! And to make things worse I managed to tumble to the tarmac with my feet clipped to my peddles at a T junction manned by a highway maintenance guy. My worst nightmare had come true! Bless him for running over to check I was ok but there was no way I was letting him pick me up from the off road so I quickly jumped to my feet. The slight graze or two I acquired however, meant he was quite insistent on getting his first aid kit so I hopped on my bike, shouted thanks and peddled off as fast as I could to catch my Dad up, phew!

We soon discovered why we should have taken the coastal route, the hills!! Lots and lots of beautiful rolling Devon countryside. I don't remember it being that hilly down there and unfortunately the GPS I bought to track our mileage and the terrain failed 10 miles into the day so I have no record, but just trust me it is.

We were greeted by Liz at The Lyndale B&B in Taunton with tea and biscuits. Our room overlooked the park which we later had a walk through and ended the day with a some local pub grub, yum! 

Day One 8th September 2012: Lands End to Bude

Welcome to Lands End, finally!! So we had a bit of a hectic start and ended up setting off over 4 hours later then planned. I got held up at work and my Dad had to visit the doctors. To add to the panic the doctors advised my Dad not to cycle, at all, he had a bite on his leg which really didn't look too good at all. We panicked a little more, well I did anyway and had a mini melt down. My Dad, thankfully, was as cool as a cucumber and my Grandad motored on down to Bodmin like a trooper. We still didn't arrive til the early hours of Saturday morning but we were welcomed by family friends Steve and Debs who gave us a bed for the night which we are truly thankful for.

I will admit we didn't rush too much getting up in the morning so didn't reach Lands End, another one and a half hours drive from Bodmin, til 2pm. My Dad hasn't brought any lights so we then had panic number three, arriving in Bude for sunlight. In the rush I managed to fall out of the camper van (you may have heard the gasp). Luckily I only managed to take graze my arm, nothing a plaster couldn't fix. So we had a few photos and got on our merry way.

It's been hot hot hot and sunny, got crazy cycling tan lines already. It was a great feeling finally being on the road, heading North to John O'Groats. It wasn't until a few days ago that it dawned on me what we were actually doing and I got a little anxious but it all went once we started peddling.

We made for good time reaching Bude just after the sun had set. In fact the sun was setting over Bude bay as we were cycling down, the view was spectacular. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera to capture it but it was a great site to arrive to, the sky was a beautiful pink. 

Once we were showered and changed we headed out for some food. Fish and Chips by the river estuary seemed like the perfect end to a fantastic first day. To top it all off we got the most magnificent view of The Milky Way!