LEJOG Day 1 – Saturday 25th May

Beth woke up very early not being able to sleep again – I’m sure the nerves will settle after a few days once we’ve got into the swing of it! Had a cuppa in bed and then we got ready for park run. We cycled just 5 minutes down the road to where park run was, locked up our bikes and off we ran! It was a nice one with lovely views. Harry did very well, coming 5th! I took it steady, knowing what we had ahead of us!

We then had a bite to eat for breakfast and changed out of our running clothes and into our cycling clothes. We went for a few piccies at the Land’s end sign post.

One of the people we asked to take our photo turned out to be part of a group of Irish farmers from Cork. They had just completed JOGLE (John O’Groats to Land’s End… In their tractors!). They loved chatting to us, but we could barely understand a word they were saying! They asked us to sit on their tractors for some photos for their social media! Very random, but funny and nice guys!

Then it was time to get going so off we went! It was a bit grey but dry, at least to start with, but sooo windy (not great for cycling)! The wind plus the bike bags made the hills even tougher today.

Some of the best views from the ride…

Our ride was powered by some yummy treats…

5 and half hours of riding (not including stops), 95km, many hills (1222m elevation) and two wet and tired humans later, we made it to St Austell where we were met by our wonderful cheer squad Tara (who I work with) and her fiancé Joe. They were down in Cornwall so very kindly decided to come and see us to cheer us to the end of day 1!

Our accommodation was very sweet – small and cosy and just what we needed, with lovely hosts.

We popped to the shops – it was really raining hard now but all we had was flip flops to wear to try to pack lightly – so wet feet it was! We made our favourite pesto pasta for dinner which went down quickly!

Then we just chilled out, barely talking to each other to be honest – feeling pooped!

Daily summary:

Distance cycled: 95km

Elevation climbed: 1,222m

Riding time: 5h 35mins

Highlight of the day: Meeting the farmers & Tara and Joe waiting at the end cheering us on!

Lowlight of the day: The wind and rain!

County count: 1 (Cornwall)

To donate: https://www.justgiving.com/page/barry-towler-cycle-lejog