Nice ride again today I’m out of Devon and now in Somerset and there’s a lot more flat riding it’s not constantly up or down! I’m wondering whether or not I should give my bike a name. My friend Mick who’s into his cars and has several always gives them names and he’s christened my other bike the pub bike, the name of Gulliver, so maybe I should follow suit with my touring bike and name it! I was thinking of calling it Phileas after Phileas Fogg obviously, because he went round the world and so has the bike, admittedly not in 80 days but it still went around. Then I was thinking that maybe it shouldn’t be Phileas, but Passepartout his faithful man servant who also went around the world but carried all the luggage as does the bike! So Phileas or Passepartout that’s the question? Found a lovely little campsite tonight well it’s not actually a campsite, they don’t normally allow tents it’s caravans only but the owner said he was more than happy to let me stay seeing as it’s only for one night and there not that busy! As an added bonus they’ve got wifi but my laptop seems to have died so it doesn’t really help! And as another bonus the people in the caravan next door supplied me with supper tonight! All this and he only charged me £5 to camp, even better than last night!
Saturday 26th July. Sennen to Bridestowe. 92 miles.
Misty start to the day which is apparently what it’s like most of the time at Lands End but after about 10 miles the mist had gone and it was nice and sunny. Fairly easy ride today all on the A30 which is the main road in and out of Cornwall, as you can imagine it’s rather busy but that doesn’t bother me, I’d rather have cars and lorries anytime of the day instead of ridiculously steep hills, there are still plenty of hills and some of them are pretty long but at least there not so steep! I also think you tend to see a lot more, the roads are more open as opposed to the quiet country roads that usually have high hedges either side so you don’t see anything, also the main roads normally have a little hard shoulder which you can ride on, so you even have your own little lane! Quite randomly I got given some jelly baby sweets by a Norwegian family who were sitting in a rest area at the top of a climb on Bodmin moor and had been watching me struggle up!
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Travelsonabike2 England Friday 25th-July-2014
Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring in the UK on Friday, 25th-July-2014. Truro to Sennen. 41 miles. For some strange reason, my original update for Friday seems to have gotten lost in the ethos of the World Wide Web. So here’s a very brief version! I’ve had some ridiculously steep hills to climb! So by the time I’d reached Lands End, I’d had enough. Found a campsite and sat around drinking beer all afternoon!
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You can also follow my progress and see where I stop each night by visiting the Where’s Garry web page; there, you’ll find a map of the route I’ve taken so far.
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Cycle Touring England Thursday 24th-July-2014
Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring England on Thursday, 24th-July-2014. Brixton to Truro. 61 miles. Strange campsite last night. It wasn’t full of tourists, just people who were working locally. It was all very cliquey, and it was a bit of a dump. But the showers were superb, and that’s all I was interested in! In contrast, tonight’s campsite is very posh. The toilet block has individual rooms, each with its own shower, sink and toilet!
I found one of the reasons why I seem to have been struggling (apart from being old and unfit) both my tyres were fairly flat! Also, I’ve come off the B roads that run along the coast. They’re too much like hard work with their steep ascents and descents all the time. I’m now cycling along one of the main routes through Cornwall. It’s very busy with lorries and cars, but it’s much more my type of cycling, taking the direct route! I thought the climbs wouldn’t be as steep on the main road, and generally, they’re not apart from one that came out of a place called Lostwithiel. That one was a 17% gradient!
Need To Go Faster
I’d been hearing thunder in the distance all day long, and the storm eventually caught up with me just after lunch and stayed with me for the rest of the day. Every time I went down a hill, the rain would ease off as I got to the front of the storm. But as soon as I slowed down going up the next hill, it would be right on top of me again!
Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where I’ll publish the photos from this tour once I’m home. Pictures from all my tours and monthly photos can also be found on Flickr.
You can also follow my progress and see where I stop each night by visiting the Where’s Garry web page; there, you’ll find a map of the route I’ve taken so far.
