Day 2, to St Columb Major

Although meaning to start early, we met our AirBnB hosts (Demelza and Judi) who had given us such a friendly welcome last night. They were both retired professional musicians, with Demelza having played the Congas (large bongo drums) in an all-female African music band.

Eventually, we dragged ourselves away and set off – only to get lost immediately, because it looked like the cycle path was closed. We might have missed a scenic ride along the seashore. Happily, we found the start of the route (after a little hunting).

What a lovely sunny day! The many huge hills (up and down) were more than compensated for by the lovely Cornish scenery, and exciting meetings with other cyclists on their way to the far north at John O’Groats.

In the pretty town centre of Redruth, we ate a delicious English breakfast at a cafe called Boesti. There we encountered two more cyclists on their way north. Danny and Jordan, whose Granddad had rung to tell them about an old granny doing Le-Jog – and here I was. Danny was raising money for Christies (a charity looking after people with Cancer in Cheshire) and Jordan was raising money for Ronald McDonald House. If either of you see this blog post, please link to your donations pages so people can give to your causes too!

This was the first big day of cycling, and it’s been unforgettable. Maybe it was even a dream. Arriving at my accommodation for the night (the pretty apartment at Rose Cottage) when round the corner of the house came my two grandsons. I really thought that I was hallucinating, but it was something that they had planned to surprise me… and it did!

My lovely AirBnB hostess, Donna, added to my happiness by giving me a large bunch of flowers and a bottle of wine. And now we are celebrating in a top fish restaurant in Newquay (Fish House Fistral)

Stats

41.6 miles (51.6 miles total), 2,375ft ascent, 2,125ft descent