Day 1

The early start was horrendous. 6am is no time to be awake, but we had to make sure we set off early as the milage was bad and the hills would slow us down. We tried to enjoy porridge without milk and sugar, got on our bikes and cycles down to Land's End. After a little while searching, we found the signpost.

From LEJOG Day 1

We had to put Sam's camera on timer as there wasn't anyone around at that time. As we left Land's End we met a few other groups of cyclists, the support gave us the boost we needed to get on our way.

By then the rain had begun, and the rain would continue for the rest of the day, persistently. The hills were never ending, we were constantly climbing and freewheeling, although it always felt like we cycled more uphill than downhill! By half-way we arrived at a large Tescos were we lay exhausted under the shelter of the store. We then bought our largest ever lunch and ate all of it - I managed 3 rolls easily.

After the much needed energy we were back on the road. We were completely soaked and our feet had been wet for so long they were going numb. Another interesting feature was the loss of feeling in our fingers, and my thumb which wanted to twitch for some reason.

By the final 10 miles we were pretty tired and fed up, and just wanted to get to the youth hostel. The rain was still heavy and it was getting near to 8pm. The road up to Tintagel was steep, and the bridleway to the hostel was rocky and treacherous.

When we got into the youth hostel we had no idea what to do, we were dripping, shivering, and exhausted. Fortunately, Tintagel was one of the most warm and welcoming of the hostels on the trip - it was volunteer run and full of End 2 Enders (hiking and finishing at Land's End). After a hot chocolate and a large bowl of pasta, we felt much better and ready to consider another day of cycling!

The milage from Land's End was 77.6 miles, although Land's End YH to Land's End was another 5 miles. Here is the route we followed.