Day 1 - 17th July 2002

With our late arrival the previous night we were up early to put the bikes together. Despite the damage to Mark's bike box nothing vital was missing and we were able to carry out the job in the relative comfort of a cool morning in the front garden of the hostel.

The plan was for myself and Mark to transport the crew down to Lands End, then return to Penzance, drop off the cars and bike back down for our own start. All went according to plan initially and after the obligatory starting pictures Mickie, Tracy, Mike and Manda were underway about 10.30am.

We were somewhat delayed and didn't get back to the "start" until about 1pm, in time for another photo, this time with bikes and then off once again to Penzance.

Our early progress was quick and the route easy under a pleasant sun so after pausing for a few pictures in Penzance we headed quickly for Helston.

Penzance Bay

Here we had to make a decision whether to detour to the Lizard and the good conditions made for an easy choice despite the time. We were also distracted by an air display going on over our heads and this helped me to ignore the fact that I was starting to tire (too much training in bars, not enough on the bike!). Getting down to the Lizard was pretty easy and it's well worth the trip to enjoy relative peace and quiet in comparison to Lands End, but the climb back to the village was tough.

Brookdale Hotel

Things got tougher and slower as we climbed away from the sea and despite fine views looking back to the coast I was really suffering . Memo to self: it might be a good idea to eat and drink more! A stop for liquid and calories eventually had some effect and we made much better time over the final 10 miles into Truro where I was very glad we'd pre-booked a pleasant hotel. The rest of the group had had a relatively problem free day (other than getting lost around Redruth) though they were fairly worn out. A relaxing evening lightening my panniers to the tune of 2 bottles of upstate New York wine we'd meant to drink at the airport......then in Penzance but hadnt got around to.

Goonhilly Earth Station

Tin mine