Another week has just flown by...

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The journey to the next site went really well. Traffic was mostly light due to most holiday makers legging it in the opposite direction, and I swear they were looking at me like I was going the wrong way. On route I stopped off in Cambourne to find an Aldi store in the hope of replacing my folding bucket, but they no longer sell them! So I picked up a mixing bowl from the pound shop, it works, except its smaller than the sink, so overflows every time I forget to empty it. There was also a Cornish Oven, which is a pasty shop in town so I made that my lunch stop. The site was easy to find and even quieter than the last, though unfortunately the winds were blowing at gale force. The site guy said it was only for tonight, and so put me in a fairly sheltered spot that points at the sun (when it appears). Tuesday started of with very little wind and sunny, but every so often a dark cloud would pass over, making a cold start to the day. So I hung the last bits of washing that still hadn’t dried out on a make shift line, and began prep’ing the suspension bike for a trip to lands end. Due to it being a bit chilly when I got dressed, I over dressed, so an hour later when the sun fully came out, I cooked, and was greatful for every bit of shade I cycled through. This site is right next to a national cycle route, so rather than just belt it down the main road, I used this. The route was fun but very short to get to lands end, and to be honest theres not a lot to see there, so once I’d photographed a few places and views, I went back along the cycle route. Now, I had it in my head that Penzance was only 8 miles away, which it may well be if I went straight down the A30, but by the time I reached St Michaels Mount the other side of Penzance Beach, I had racked up 20 miles! Now on the 920 I wouldn’t even care about it, but this was on the full suss, which is designed for short, punchy, rocky dirt tracks, so I got a little worried. Plus the down hill in to Mousehole, at the beginning of the coastal path, was a damn nigh shear drop, one of many I had ridden down to get here, so the climbing back up was also a concern.

On another note, when I was in Marazion beach look at St Michaels, I had a cornish pasty and chips for lunch from a little shop. The owner was also a land rover owner, who had also spend a long time fixing his up. So after a lot of comparing photos of the work on the discovery’s, my lunch had got close to cold enough to eat, so I sat in the sand on the beach, opposite St Michaels, eating it. Also back in the New Forest I had managed to lose my cycling shades, so in Penzance, I stopped at Toolstation for a pair of impact resistant sun glasses, just because, with the sunshine coming out, every stupid flying bug had too, and was determined to get me in the eyes!

Just before I hit the uphill at Mousehole, I pumped up the tyres to three times what they currently were. This made a ridiculous difference, and though the hill was far from easy, to the point where I ran out of gears to go down too, this definitely helped, but did solidify the feel of the bike for the rest of the ride, though the rest of the route was tarmac so this didn’t matter. The closer I got to the campsite, the darker the clouds seem to be getting, which is typical, as by now the washing was probably completely dry, but it never did rain. That night I decided to see what was worth a watch on Netflix, which was a massive mistake. So far, most of my internet use has been about 500MB a day, Netflix ripped out 3 GB, and with only 6 GB to last me for the next 2 weeks, that won’t be happening again. Wednesday the sun came out, and just after breakfast, the postie delivered my bike parts! And the site owner lent me his bike stand, so I spent that morning fixing the 920 to put me back up to two bikes again. When I was done I took the 920 out for a test ride, though the route I had mapped out was meant for the full suss, so it got a brutal test ride, which it survived, some how. On the bike I have a Garmin cycle computer, which records the stats of the bike like speed and cadence, and it also runs navigation. The problem with this is it does confuse itself very easily, so I took numerous wrong turns, this meant that my lunch break I had planned in St Just, got delayed by over an hour, so I gave up trying to follow the Garmin and went old school, and used road signs (remember those?). The problem I’ve found is the Garmin doesn’t like it when a route you’ve planned crosses over itself, which mine did a couple of times, so at first it thinks all is fine, then it realises, and displays the “off course” message, usually just after you’ve climbed a bastard hill, or just after you’ve flown down the hill. Lunch was supposed to be just a sandwich or something from the local Co-op, but the pub opposite was offering a much more enticing menu, and it would come with a pint of Thatchers (so a no brainer). From St Just I was able to rejoin the route and for the most part, not get too lost. The next day I did the route again, but on the full suss, which was a much better choice and so much fun, except the new parts, that looked good on the map, in reality, were not meant for bikes. Though I did find an ancient village which was apparently a big thing down here (it was ok, but not really my thing).

After lunch I decided to clean the chains on the bikes as these were looking very neglected. While over head the local air sea rescue guys were practicing manoeuvres in a massive helicopter, which was very impressive. Especially when they would make it stop suddenly, hold it in a kind of sit and beg position, then spin it 360 on the spot before launching off out to sea, and then circle back to the airport. The down side to this perfect day was the winds were picking up more and more, but they were coming from in land, so the van was exposed to them. This made sleeping that night damn nigh impossible, and things hadn’t improved in the morning. So after breakfast I had packed up and head off to Penzance to stock up on food and fuel, then go and have a look at the Lizard point, as Ive been told its better or more interesting than lands end. On route I past a cider shop, so I stopped and picked up a new cider from them, and a small bottle of Mead as I've never tried it, and its not bad at all. I did try warming it up but couldn't decide if it made it better or not. While trying all the free tasters I got talking to the owner, who it turns out also owns a Bedford Bambi! And had done pretty much the same upgrades as me, except she had painted the inside bright pink.

I arrived at Lizard point about midday, and went for a walk around, all the while the winds were getting worse. This made walking along the cliff top path a little interesting, especially every time I took the phone out to take a photo, I expected it to take off into the sea. The walk was basically deserted, but the car park was full. This was because they were all huddled over their cups of tea in the cafe, making it too busy for me so I sat in the truck and had a drink and a few pastries, all the while the van was being battered from side to side. The MET office was now claiming 50mph gust, so after I finished my drink, and to stop the sea sickness, I headed for the next site. This site isn’t a Camping Caravan Club site, but it was the only site near to Lizard point that didn’t want £20 for the night, in fact it only asked for a fiver. When I arrived, I nearly missed it, as there’s no big sign just a tiny one with a tent symbol on it. The field itself was just as baffling, as there was no reception, just a bunch of parked up caravans, so I knocked on the door of the only house around, which luckily was the owners. Who were very laid back, and they told me where things were, then left me to park up where ever I wanted . Unfortunately the winds didn't let up that night, but I did manage to get a bit more sleep this time round. Today was an absolute shite day weather wise, so I only stayed there one night then travelling back to Tavistock for two nights. Reason being I might as well use the day of shit weather to drive, rather than sit in the van bored, and two I only got to cycle the top half of the Drakes Trail, so, as by Sunday, the winds will be gone and it’ll be dry, I’ll ride the second half to Plymouth and back. The journey actually went well, so I stopped at a halfords to get a few electrical bits, as the inverter decided to kill the fuses of my cigarette sockets, and then the wires fell out of the connections, so I upgraded the cables and added some better fuse holders. After stopping in Tavistock for fuel, I arrived way too early to book in at the site, so I went and found a pub I had cycled past last time, for a really nice lunch. Monday I'm then off to Minehead for four nights to explore the Exmoor National park.

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