Bude to Wadebridge Thursday July 13th
With 3 legs to go I was hoping for some better weather today… I was not disappointed after lunch but up until lunchtime it was hard going! Rain, steep hills and a wind in my face was not what I needed after a night at Fawlty Towers AKA The Tree Inn. Boasting as a cosy 13 th Century coaching inn, I was shown to my room , a twin, overlooking the flowered courtyard. A cracked sink in the room was only surpassed by the fact that one of the single beds had been slept in the night before and the sheets and towels were still in the room! I made a snap decision and accepted to sleep in the room in the other bed! And the final nail in the coffin was they didn’t do food. A fairly sleepless night was due to someone who had too much to drink throwing up in the courtyard below and the guy next door who put Richard Taylor’s snoring to shame!
I was keen to get on the road so left early freewheeling down to Bude and following NCR3 again but it wasn’t long before torrential rain came and the hills got steeper. The climb up to Hallworthy on Bodmin Moor from Widemouth Bay was as hard, if not harder than anything Scotland had thrown at me back in May.
Just outside Wadebridge I bumped into a couple of other Riese & Muller owners who were taking their dogs for a run/ cycle!
A quick stop at the Coop to replenish supplies before I checked into the Premier Inn and a long soak in the bath!
Wadebridge to Redruth Friday 14th July
I delayed my start in view of the weather forecast… high winds and torrential rain … it was going to be. Marty Pellow day… WET, WET, WET. My optimism for better weather didn’t materialise so I was soaked to the skin by the time I rolled through Wadebridge town centre. But what is life without a little adversity I mused as I battled up hills and down dales into the teeth of the gale.
On one nasty short steep climb just outside St Columb Major I encountered two young Canadian students who had just graduated from UBC in Vancouver and had decided to celebrate their graduation by cycling JOGLE… they were camping and on lightweight bikes and had set off in mid June. I wished them luck and sped off thanking God that I didn’t have to camp tonight.
Passing signs for familiar places like Newquay and Perranporth , I sped along NCR 32 through the wonderfully named village of Zelah and into Truro, the county town of Cornwall. By now the rain had stopped and the wind had decreased to a strong breeze. Truro grew up in the 14th century as an important port for the mining industry. I didn’t have time to visit its magnificent cathedral, maybe next time?!
The final leg of the ride took me on a single rough track through the Wheal Maid valley where the mining of tin, arsenic, pyrite and zinc ore has left a Martian landscape with rust red lagoons and yellow soil.
I finally arrived at the Peventon Park Hotel on the outskirts of Redruth where I settled in to await the arrival of Malcolm & Natalie who had kindly offered to drive my car down to collect me from Lands End.
We availed ourselves of the spa facilities, dining room and bar before retiring in anticipation of the final leg!
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