Distance - 79.67 miles; total ascent - 5850 feet; ave speed - 10.3mph; max speed - 36.2mph; total time in saddle - 7 hours 41 minutes.
Opened curtains to glorious sunshine which by and large has stayed with us all day. Certainly there has been no rain and I have a sunburnt calf.
After breakfast we set up off at around 9.30 and made out way to Newquay. Russ has done a fantastic job of sussing out cycle routes and the best off road options and we seemed to navigate through Newquay without even realising. The next session was cruel - Newquay to Padstow has frequent decents into tiny coastal hamlets and towns, which are invariably followed by vicious ascents back up to cliff top level and beyond at around 400+ feet high. One particular 1 in 5 climb saw me having to get off and push - my bike's gearing is not low enough to allow me to get up sufficient cadence to ensure I don't come to a halt and topple over. Russ was more determined than me, and helped on by his larger rear cog, he failed to succumb to getting off.
Eventually we arrived at horribly touristy Padstow, with people milling about in the middle of the narrow streets and we got a number of frowns even though we were riding on the roads. The Padstow to Rock ferry was a novelty, although we narrowly avoided a problem when Russ's bungee cords became tangled in his spokes when we disembarked.
Food next, a proper Cornish Pasty in a bakery outside Rock and then onwards with the job in hand. Eventually we joined up with the A39 and although it has been our intention to avoid A roads, this trunk route was unusually quiet. We had planned to come off and navigate via Bude to our ultimate destination of Bideford, however we both agreed that the road flowed well and as our progress had vastly improved (ave around 14mph compared to 8mph in the morning), we decided to stay on this road until Bideford itself.
Arriving in Bideford we found The Royal Hotel had a twin room and whilst the hotel itself is very nice, room etc, there is a wedding on, and as I type this, we're wondering how long the disco will go on into the night :-( On arrival having placed the bikes in what we hoped would be a safe place, I had to weave through scantily clad wedding female guests and nudge past the Bride Groom, all dressed in cycling shorts and racing jerseys (me not the guests) - all very embarrassing.
We've had to get the bikes moved into a room, to which I have the key as some of the children at the wedding were starting to fiddle around with Russ's bike.
So 80 miles, over 6000 feet ascent and feeling quite tired, but extremely elated and pleased with our progress so far. Quite whether I'll be feeling the same in a week's time remains to be seen...
Tomorrow we plan for more of the same, with the morning ascent into Exmoor being around 1500 feet, after which things even out and we should make good progress on the relative flat to Burnham on Sea.
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