Day 1 - Land's End to Exeter

We woke up at around 7am, and it was a nice sunny morning. We drove up to Land's End, where a number of other cyclists (mugs) were also preparing to set off. We talked to two of the groups and they were doing the trip in 9 and 10 days. However there was also a Royal Navy team that were expected to arrive (having come down from John O'Groats), and they were aimin g to complete the trip in under 100 hours (4 days).

We took a few photos, a nd rather than wait for 10.30am for the official Land's End sign post to be erected, we set off at 9am. Soon after we passed the Royal Navy team coming in (looking pretty tired). Cornwall is very hilly.

We had a reasonable tail wind, but the weather quickly turned against us, and it rained heavily. We arranged to meet Toby near Launceston (70 miles), and despite the fact that he passed us quite early on, we actually caught him up in a traffic jam on the A30 (after 50miles), where we cycled motorbike-style through the middle of the cars. He soon passed us, and by the time we eventually met him for lunch, we were getting tired and cold in the persistent rain. Toby had some hot bacon sandwiches ready which was really welcome.

After this, we carried on to Okehampton, where Ben got a puncture (piece of metal) and Matt had carried on down a long hill before realising that Ben was missing. So Matt cycled back up the hill (unwelcome), only to be stopped by the Police for cycling up the dual carriageway the wrong way. Actually we were cycling in the region between the edge of the road and the white lines. The Policeman was quite understanding!

Eventually we got through Exeter and arrived at the Brooklands Farm Campsite at 18.15 after seven and a half hours in the saddle, averaging 17.1MPH with a total of 128 miles, with a maximum mph of 40.9, down one of the many tiring hills in cornwall.

We're feeling really tired, and let's see what tomorrow brings.