The final day was here at last. We set off to return me to
the point I stopped at on Monday after a good breakfast. The bike loaded onto
the roof of the car and we set off for Lanivet. The hills on the way were
pretty big and I was raring to go!
Dropped off at Lanivet, a few photos taken, and I was ready
to begin. I headed off away from the car, back the way I had come previously,
feeling strong and really positive about the day ahead. Turning off the main
road, I headed towards Tremore and Inches, along narrow lanes with typical
Cornish high hedges. The lack of roadsigns didn’t seem to as much of an issue
as before, I was feeling rested and as such my decision making seemed to be a
bit better, along with the fact that there isn’t too much variation from
traveling due west. I passed through lovely little villages, climbing hills
with far more ease than previously, my knee really feeling the benefit of
having had a rest day. It also helped that for this day, the final day, I wasn’t
carrying my panniers, and the bike felt lively and responsive and I was able to
make good progress.
I joined the A39 for a few miles, down to St Columb Major,
and then took another minor road/lane almost all the way into Newquay. The
lanes were especially fun, without the weight of all my kit I was really
enjoying swooshing down into village and hamlets, past farms, and then climbing
up onto ridges again – this must be what it’s like for most cyclists, traveling
with a support crew must make the journey much more relaxing and easy on the
body!
South of Perranporth I joined the A3075, a fairly quick
road, but not too busy either. The cycling was mostly easy, with only one steep
climb at Rejerrah. I was now pretty close to Truro itself, just a few miles
away to the south, I was tempted to call in and get some lunch with Alice, as a
surprise, but instead pressed on towards Three Burrows and then a lovely, long
descent to Blackwater. Freed of all my luggage made a huge difference, I no
longer dreaded losing too much height on the downhill’s, knowing that the
inevitable upcoming hills wouldn’t be so bad.
I stopped for lunch on the outskirts of Redruth, quickly
inhaling a sandwich and flapjack. The weather had cooled considerably over the
morning, with the wind rising too, and I soon felt cold once I’d stopped.
Redruth and Camborne weren’t especially picturesque, and seemed to be one
larger conurbation, with lots of out of town shopping areas and car sales
rooms. Past Camborne and the road steadily rose again towards Roseworthy, but
dropped again down to Hayle and St Erth. I followed the road south towards
Marizion, along tree lined lanes. I was conscious that I was quickly running
out of road, the end fast approaching. I was excited, eager to reach the end,
and as I rolled over the last hill and down into Marizion with view of the sea
and of St Michael’s mount just a short way across the bay, it actually hit me
that I had very nearly cycled the entire length of the UK.
I followed a cycle path from Marizion along the sea to Penzance.
The cycle path was really rocky and gravelly, which was great fun. As I bumped
along the path, picking out the least rocky route I was reminded of just how
good my tyres are. I passed someone with a flat tyre, offered to help but was
waved on – they obviously had it under control. I hadn’t had a single puncture
in over 1000 miles of sometimes poor roads, gravel paths and thorny, overgrown
footpaths (Monmouthshire) – pretty amazing. If anyone reading is thinking of
doing something similar, then you really can’t get better than Schwalbe
marathon tyres!
At Penzance I text Alice to say I would likely be finished
in about an hour. West of Penzance, the hills again rose upwards, undulating along
for the final 10 miles. I was working my way up one of the last hills at Catchall
when I heard a car beeping madly at me – then alongside me Alice and her
parents swept past in their car! Great! I was nearly there and as they
disappeared around the next corner I felt a huge wave of adrenaline and euphoria
wash over me! I stamped down on my pedals, grinding out a big gear and
propelled myself along the final few miles at more than 25mph, sometimes
reaching more than 30+mph. With just two miles to go I slowed down to try and soak
up the experience and emotions I was feeling as I neared the end of my trip. I
stopped for a few minutes, caught my breath, text Alice to say I was almost there,
and had a good look around at the scenery.
I had always wanted to do something like this trip, and
during my twenties I had had my heart set on walking the distance. That was
unrealistic due to time constraints and I never did do it. However since getting
into cycling I had fantasized about doing a longer tour. It was at land’s End
the previous summer that I finally said I was going to do it, feeling inspired
by the scenery and finality of the land ending and ocean stretching out ahead…
I swept down over the low hill from Sennan and raced towards
the finish line. There I could see a large home-made banner being held aloft by
Alice’s folks and Alice standing to the side, filming my approach! I slowed
down slightly and swept under the banner – that was it, almost, the trip done!
I had finally finished. It had taken longer than I’d expected, and had been far,
far harder than I’d expected too, but all the more rewarding for it! I posed
for a few photos underneath the banner, enjoyed a glass of champagne and was
presented with a finishers medal that Alice had ordered for me – a huge
surprise, and really thoughtful of her!
All that was left for me to do was to cycle the final few
metres down to the very end of the country, to have my photo taken at the official
sign. I felt elated, but slightly numb too, there was a lot to take in and it
hadn’t really sunk in, in fact it still hasn’t really. I suppose I expected to
somehow feel different, like I’d been subtly but fundamentally changed, but I
felt the same as before. My natural state is to downplay my emotions, and along
with that goes the instinct to downplay my achievements too. I had massively
enjoyed cycling the length of the UK. The scenery had been incredible – we really
do like in a very diverse and beautiful landscape, but the greatest part of the
trip for me was meeting so many friendly, welcoming and interesting people. I’ve
said it before in this blog, but it’s worth restating – the kindness of
strangers is by far and away the greatest thing I experienced on the trip! We
all live our own lives, busy and stressful at times, and I think many people (myself
included) often look negatively on strangers, quick to assume the worst and
eager to avoid even the smallest of friendly gestures, such as making eye
contact or even smiling, but this trip opened my eyes to the fact that there
are many other people willing to share their time, experience and knowledge in
conversation with complete strangers, and that, I think, is bloody marvellous!
Whilst the reason for doing the trip was personal, I did decide to raise some money for charity along the way. If you enjoyed reading my blog, then please sponsor me - https://www.justgiving.com/teams/RichardsJOGLE2013
Many thanks xx
So, what’s next? I really don’t know at the moment, but there
will of course be something in the pipeline…watch this space and thanks for
reading!
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