"A moor pleasant cycle"

Day 2

“A moor pleasant cycle”

Route – Golant to Chagford

Stats:

Distance: 60 miles

Time: 4hours 29mins

Top Speed: 43 MPH

Getting up this morning was less than fun – legs ached, shoulders were tense and the thought of facing what was to be ‘the toughest day of the ride’ did not really inspire us to get out of bed. After a DIY breakfast of porridge made without milk, in the microwave and sweetened with honey (which Joss aptly likened to a liquid flapjack – the hard version of which have become a staple of the ride, I will be personally happy never to eat another golden oaty slice again). We packed our panniers with slight trepidation and set off for Plymouth; our lunch pit stop 35 miles away. The hills which we were warned against kicked in pretty much as soon as we turned out of the hostel, and did not really stop until we reached the ferry at Torpoint. We had a brief five minute stop in the morning on our first ferry ride of the day at Fowey, which I managed to get for free by rattling out the old ‘We are on a charity bike ride’ line, never fails….. ! There were one or two demoralising moments when we were passed by teams of rather fitter Cornish cyclists who sped up the hills but we persevered and reached Plymouth in good time. The support team had been busy buying lunch supplies, Cornish pasties for the boys, and we had a brief sleep on the concrete ferry terminal floor before heading off for the Dartmoor hills.  The climb out of Plymouth was less than pleasant but we had the thought of Dad and a promise of tea at the next stop in Princetown, 15 miles away and halfway into Dartmoor Park, to spur us on. There was one gigantic hill up into Dartmoor Park however once that was done the Park was not as bad as we had built it up to be, and was in fact rather beautiful and quite a nice cycle.  Jerry and Rosie were waiting in Princetown  with the calor stove boiling away and tea has never tasted better.  There were only 15 miles to Chagford where a night of home comforts awaited at the Dooley’s. We are fully carb loaded up after a lovely dinner in Chagford and have been joined by a new team member, Miss Mary Erskine. She has prepared herself well for tomorrow after tackling the 6 mile hill out of Exeter, an apparently aptly named stretch of road from Exeter to Chagford. Her ride got a little harder after a brief stop at a local pub in Moretonhampstead for a cider; essential carb loading of course. It will be nice to have another girl on board tomorrow, especially as it is a 70 mile day tomorrow. All in all it was a good day, yes a little hilly, but not as bad as we had imagined.