I am trying not to feel intimidated by yesterday’s ride, to have it impact on my thinking about today, but there is no getting away from it potentially being more of the same, or at least similar. While today’s climbs are generally not as long nor as high as yesterday’s they are still numerous. It was the continuous and repeated nature of the hills that drained me yesterday, and for which I still carry a physical and mental toll. Despite trying to put a positive spin on things I see no reason why today will be different.
The day started with the eight miles to Liskeard and those final three hills of the twenty that had caused me such consternation yesterday. They seemed to follow in quick succession, long descents through woodland shade, descents I could not bring myself to enjoy since I knew that what would follow would be a long, drawn out climb. Liskeard was slow in coming.
At Liskeard I stopped for breakfast, pretty sure that despite all I had eaten yesterday it was not enough for what I had put myself through in the previous twenty-four hours. And after Liskeard things got harder. I had already decided that if I were to stand any chance of making it to Land’s End today I would need to adjust my route. As planned, it followed the main road between Liskeard, St Austell and Truro but with deviations onto minor roads to avoid potentially busy sections or cut corners. My old route was probably a mile or two shorter but it definitely would have taken longer with time added to negotiate the junctions. A continuous cycle on the same road would I hoped serve me better and make for an easier ride.
Easier than my original plan it may have been but easy it was not. I was once again struggling with the repeated hills of the route as I headed towards St Austell when I noted that today my computer registered twenty-four climbs (not including the three carried over from yesterday). And it was the thought of all those slow climbs, the memories of yesterday and the distance I had set myself that affected me more than my physical tiredness. Additionally, this morning I had booked accommodation for the night in Penzance and a train home for tomorrow which added another dimension to the pressure of the day. With a positive mindset I could better overcome the physical challenge but since yesterday a small seed of negativity had been growing in my mind. I knew it was part of my problem, the mental failing to counter the physical, with instead both now working against me. A battle was raging in my head trying to bring myself round to a more positive state of mind but the flip side was running through other options for the day: there were times heading towards St Austell when I was seriously considering calling it a day - a train to Penzance and home tomorrow; but if I were to stop then Truro would be better for that plan so I really should press on to there; or I could write off my existing arrangements and make today shorter and easier and head home a day later. But what I really wanted to do was to win the battle in my head, regain a more positive mindset and to continue my journey as planned.
Luckily circumstances worked in my favour after Truro. My route picked up National Cycle Route 3 - a route from Bristol to Land’s End - and I cycled through the flatness of the Bissoe Valley, a rehabilitated mining area. It was a maze of poorly signed tracks through shrub and trees and past the crumbling remains of the region’s mining heritage. As well as cycling some reasonable paths I ended up pushing my bike along rough and overgrown tracks and negotiating flooded areas, obviously having lost the route but with no clear indication as to where. Three times I asked locals if I were heading towards Redruth. Three times I was told I was and it was simply a case of following the track. And three times I still somehow ended up off route. But the delays in that area of rough but flat cycling actually served me well: between the easier riding and the benefits of my breakfast taking effect both my body and mind were given an opportunity to reset. By the time I picked up the route again I was still fatigued but felt better able to cope and my head was in a far better place.
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| Bissoe Valley |
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| Problem Tracks |
I skirted Redruth on Route 3, now a mix of climbs and flatter sections, a mix that better served me in managing my tiredness. It was a while before I felt I had put Redruth and its surrounds behind me but by then I was on more forgiving terrain with only a few miles of back roads to reach the coast and now sure that I would be in Penzance tonight. Late afternoon saw me cycling past St Michael’s Mount on a smooth and flat coastal path that followed four sweeping miles along the edge of Penzance bay, the town an obvious target in the distance.
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| Industrial Heritage - Redruth |
I passed the rail station, entered the town and started the climb towards my Youth Hostel accommodation at the top end. I stopped at the first open eatery I saw, an Indian restaurant, and spent a relaxed hour as their only eat-in customer knowing that I would now leave cycling to Land’s End tomorrow morning after a night of rest; it may only be nine miles further but it would also be nine miles back again.
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| St Michael’s Mount |
By early evening I was well fed and in my bunk in my shared room, clean and recovering from the day. My train tomorrow is late morning so I am planning an early start to complete the one hour cycle to Land’s End and the end of my journey before returning to Penzance and preparing myself for the trip home.
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