Day 1 - Land's End to Tiverton

The alarm goes off at 3.30am and I am packed and ready to go by 4.15.  Downhill the few miles to Land's End to take a couple of photos (the "official" signposts won't be put up until 10am - apparently they get stolen if left out!) and then I'm off.

I quickly realised that, not only was there a persistent drizzle but the wind was blowing from the ENE - i.e. a headwind.  This wasn't such a surprise as it had been predicted by the forecasts. In fact there had been a predominantly easterly wind for the entire preceding month, very unusual and not very welcome.

As expected the A30 was almost deserted at that time of the morning and I made good progress following it's long, sweeping hills and gentle descents.  By around 10am the rain had relented and the sun was trying to break through.  As the traffic was now starting to build up, a quick look at the map showed me that I could take the A38 south-east to Liskeard where I could join my pre-planned route.

Whereas the A30 had been gradual gradients, the roads from now on became like a switchback ride, especially the stretch from Liskeard to Tavistock - severe climbs and descents that were too steep to cruise down as they were twisty and dark, often overhung by trees; so the brakes were covered (and used) for many of these.

Now came the second decision.  At Tavistock I could either go straight on over Dartmoor or head north to Okehampton.  I had been warned that the exposed slopes of Dartmoor could be very draining in certain conditions, namely in headwinds and rain.  As there was still a persistant ENE wind of around 15mph and it looked as if it could rain at any time I took the north fork to Okehampton.

The rest of the day was uneventful, with the hills becoming gradually less steep as I left Cornwall and traversed Devon and equal amounts of sun and cloud.  I arrived at my evening stop around 5pm, a Travelodge a few miles to the east of Tiverton.  When I checked in I was told that Travelodge customers got a 25% reduction off food at the adjoining Little Chef so, with my bike safely locked up in my room I surprised the waiter by ordering two main courses.

A long soak in the bath and several phone-calls later and I was in bed by 9pm!

STATS:

Depart:       4.20am

Arrive:        5.00pm

Distance:    144.4 miles

Ride time:  10.54

Av. speed:   13.4mph

Temp:         12 - 17c

Wind:          13 - 28mph NE (headwind)

Weather:    Cloudy, drizzle, sunny spells in afternoon