Day 7: Wadebridge to Land's End

Well, it's taken me a while to get round to finishing these posts, and I might yet do a final reflections one, but here I am, nearly three months later, finally giving an account of Friday 16 June; the last day of the ride. It was day seven, but in ride time, day seven was still several hours away from starting.

What was bonkers about wondering the night before about whether I could complete the ride within six days, was that at the start I was really not sure if I could do it in seven, and was thinking eight or nine was more likely. Yet here I was, early on the Friday morning, thinking that if I'd pushed that little bit harder, or perhaps not got injured, maybe I could have done it quicker.

I'd done something easy to make myself a little bit quicker as the weather seemed set to be warm and dry in Devon and Cornwall; I'd left my sleeping bag at home in Churchill and swapped my bivvy bag for my lighter one. Not only did that mean I was traveling a bit lighter, it also meant that I woke up at about 1.30 on Friday morning as I was a bit cold. Even in my tired and cold state I spent a while lying there wondering if I could get started and make it to Land's End before 7.00 am, and so complete within six days. As it turned out, I was simply too tired, and despite the cold, managed to doze back off for another couple of hours. 

When I woke again at about 4.30 am I was still tired but keen to get cracking, after all, with about 1,300 km in the bag, I only had 94 km to go. But being Cornwall, it was going to be hilly, with 1,160 m of climbing. 

After probably too much faffing, I recorded my penultimate video at my final bivvy spot. 

The climb out of Wadebridge quickly woke me up, and starting that bit earlier meant that I had a great view of the sun waking up too. I needed to get water, but other than that I thought I had enough food in my pockets to get me to the end. 

Not only was I enjoying the anticipation of the finish, I loved cycling through familiar towns and villages and seeing place names that had become familiar through decades of Cornwall holidays. I rode through St Columb Major, Indian Queens, St Newlyn East, Redruth and Camborne. 

I should have ridden straight through Redruth, but the pasty shop enroute proved too difficult to resist. It was a bit daft really, I had enough food in my pockets, but I really fancied a pasty. I'd eaten far too many cereal bars during the week and I was sick of them, and the prospect of sinking my teeth into the local delicacy (actually, I'm not sure the vegan version counts as local) was too much. As the shop was only just opening I probably wasted half an hour. Still, I enjoyed it.

The route then gets nice and flat through Hayle and Penzance, before a final climb out and then it was pretty much all downhill for 9 km to Sennen (beautiful) and then Land's End (not so much). I probably spent most of those last few kilometres thinking about what I was going to say on my last video. 

So, that was it. Nearly 1,400 km  (900 miles) of cycling with more than 11,000 m (36,000 feet) of climbing in 6 days, 3 hours, and 30 minutes. People do it much faster than this, but for a nearly 50-year old with a hip replacement, solo and unsupported, and on his first ride of more than two days, I was very happy. 

Staying three nights enroute with friends (it was wonderful to see Gavin and Tim after all these years) or family (which was also wonderful) and three nights bivvying proved to be an ideal combination; a perfect mixture of solitude and sociability, adventure and home comforts. Now I just needed to wait for my old friend Nev, who lives in St Ives, to come and pick me up. I'd be staying overnight with him for some much needed rest and recovery, and then it was a week's holiday in Gwithian with the family for some more R&R. What a finish, and I'd loved every minute of it!