Monday lunchtime and here I am back in the office - aside from the aching legs, its as though I'd never been away.
After the phenomenal last few miles on Saturday we celebrated with a less than modest quantity of Tribute and Betty Stoggs bitters and even the odd glass of Perrin Nature Cotes du Rhone at the excellent Quarryman pub in Edmonton; everything seemed wonderful, we were wonderful and after the previous 9 days, the final 60 miles to Land's End would be a breeze!!!
Sunday dawned bright and sunny and after a leisurely breakfast we got under way at 10.00 a.m. We rode to Padstow along the Camel Trail and all seemed blissfully easy. When putting the route together, I had this ridiculous image of us riding along the coast road with the sun in our hair and the wind on our backs, laughing at the hills as they failed in their pathetic attempts to slow us down. The reality was somewhat different. The headwind, the unyielding and unending climbs, not to mention the effects of the previous night's indulgence all took their toll and by the time we reached Newquay it was clear that we had to forego scenery in the interests of practicality. We left the coast road and rode inland to join the A30 for the final haul.
The clear skies disappeared to be replaced by heavy clouds and persistant rain as we rode along Cornwall's busiest trunk road for 20 miles with traffic thundering past. Last night's enthusiasm was long gone and it became a real slog as we ground out the last couple of hours. Eventually we reached Penzance and as the road became significantly quieter, the clouds disappeared and we rode into Lands End, crossing the finishing line together.
So that was that - we drank Champagne, took some pics, had a couple more pints of Tribute and headed off.
At some point in the next few days I shall put together and epiblog to summarise the whole trip but, in the meantime, here are Ian's Justgiving links which we are all supporting.
www.justgiving.com/ian-greaves-heart-foundation-1
www.justgiving.com/ian-greaves-cancer-research-2
www.justgiving.com/ian-greaves-alzheimers-society-3
You really should have been there………………
There are tastings and then there are tastings and last month we served up the most phenomenal Italian Masterclass in the company of Michael Palij, Master of Wine, who steered us through some of his most recent discoveries (notably a Sardinian quartet which provided all the evidence you need of the revolution taking place in the island’s vineyards and cellars).
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