Sorry still no pictures, they won't upload at the moment.
On 26th July, following straight on from 2 days cycling in Derbyshire, I went straight down to Witney to carry on to Helston.
Day 3
The first day was a long one, James and I set off from Witney and followed route 47 through the lanes to Burford and then Northleach, two Cotswold market towns full of shops with Joules and Cath Kidston stuff! No time for shopping though, it was on to route 48 running parallel to the Fosseway and on into Cirencester, again straight through the main shopping area and out the other side. A few miles south of the town we met up with Tim and had lunch then James went off in the car and I continued on my own. The good thing about today was that all my stuff was in the car, so nothing on the bike, after lunch Tim and the children drove on to my campsite and set up the tent before continuing on to visit Grandad. In the afternoon my route took me through Malmsbury and then over the M4 motorway before reaching the town of Corsham, here I managed to find a Coop to buy supplies for dinner and breakfast. My campsite at South Wraxall took a bit of finding but after a couple of wrong turns I eventually found where my tent had been pitched!
Day 4
Today I followed the canal into Bath, cycling along the towpath past boats of all shapes and sizes where people live full time, it all felt very hippy. Loads of the boats had bikes next to them with trailers for transporting shopping etc, there were planters full of herbs on the roofs and tables and chairs on the edge of the towpath. I felt a bit like I was cycling though people's front gardens! It seemed to take ages to get through Bath but then I was turning south and heading out on the West Country Way - route 3 to Cornwall. At first the route was relatively easy through villages - several people stopped to chat including a couple who were on their 4th day of cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats for their holiday! At West Harptree I stopped at the village shop to buy a filled roll and an ice lolly for lunch, I then set off in the blazing sunshine for the climb up into the Mendip Hills. It wasn't long before I was walking and pushing my fully loaded bike up a very long and very steep hill, by the time I got to the top I was absolutely dripping and had drunk almost all my water. Fortunately once climbed I was then along the tops and then a really, really steep downhill past Ebor Gorge and Wookey Hole into Wells. I was so glad that I had new brake blocks on my bike, at times I thought the luggage on the back was going to overtake me going down the hill! Straight through Wells past the cathedral and then onto Glastonbury where I was met by Tim and rejoined by Kez. We cycled through the middle of Glastonbury, stopping at the Coop (again) to buy food supplies. I left Kez outside the shop with the bikes while I did the shopping, when I came out she commented on the strong smell of 'hemp' in the town! From there it was a relatively flat ride through the Somerset Levels to our campsite near Westonzoyland, this was a very basic site with minimal facilities so Kez and I made a new invention of using wet wipes to do the washing up with!
Day 5
Today was a day of canals and lanes which was a bit of a mixed blessing, the canals are flat which means no hills but the downside of this is that you cycle continuously in the same position so get really saddle sore. From Bridgewater we followed the canal into Taunton, then through the lanes before following another canal towards Tiverton. Tim returned to collect Kez at Sampford Peverell and I carried on into Tiverton where again I found a Coop to buy dinner from. When booking campsites there had not been a big choice in this area as most of the sites are up into Exmoor or further south on Dartmoor. I had found a lovely site online called West Middlewick Farm in a place called Nomansland - the only problem was getting there, I had to follow the B3137 out of Tiverton along which the cars went at the full 60 mph. The first bit out of Tiverton is called Long Drag Hill - luckily it had a pavement along it, I pushed the bike up the hill for over a mile! From here it was one hill after another - I had definitely entered Devon! Eventually I reached the campsite - it was well worth the hills, georgous views - I camped in the bottom field which had tents along the top edge while the rest was cut for hay. The site is a working dairy farm, I had to wait for the cows to go out from milking before I could get through the yard to go the showers!
Day 6
Within a few miles of setting off from the campsite today I knew I didn't feel quite right, as I walked up yet another hill I realised that I was completely exhausted from the 50+ miles a day that I had been doing and now the hills were bigger, along with this the sun was getting hotter. I got to North Tawton and stopped at a cafe for a bacon roll and a coffee - this was great but I made the mistake of sitting outside in the sunshine. I continued on slowly towards Okehampton - eventually deciding that perhaps I had heat exhaustion, obviously my head wasn't as fuzzy as it felt because I hit on the idea of pouring most of my bottle of water over my head to cool it down. This followed by a whizz downhill got me going again and probably stopped me from complete meltdown. I carried on into Okehampton and then up the hill out of the town to join route 27 to Tavistock, just then the heavens opened and there was a really heavy summer downpour. Luckily I was right next to Okehampton station - on the Dartmoor railway - where they have a great buffet. I went in to shelter and cooled down with some really cold water and an ice lolly, I sat watching the rain gushing over the gutters and bouncing off the edges of the platform. Once the rain had stopped I cycled down to Lydford where James joined me for the last bit into Tavistock. Great campsite here - camping and caravan club site - wonderful facilities.
Day 7
Nice easy start to today down the Plym valley and into Plymouth, it was strange being back where we used to live, I cycled into the town centre and then up onto the Hoe. From Plymouth I took the Cremyl Ferry across the river Tamar and into Cornwall, at last the final county. Tim and the children had gone on ahead to find a campsite and they sent a text to say that nothing was available near Fowey so had found one near St Austell adding an extra 10ish miles to the end of my day! Tim did offer to collect me early if I needed him to. I followed the coast along to Looe and then Fowey where I got another ferry across the river, again the route was hilly and my right knee was hurting but I didn't have any luggage on the bike and I just got into a rhythm of walking up hills and then cycling the flat and downhill bits. I got on really well and it wasn't long before I rolled into the campsite at St Austell, I must have been more tired though than I thought as I fell asleep before dinner!
Day 8
A day off!! At last a day of rest - I really should have done this after about 5 days as by now I was feeling quite exhausted. Had a great day today, went to visit the Eden project which was truly inspirational, there was loads going on for the children to get involved with including den building and circus skills - actually the adults were involved as much as the children! The biomes were amazing and the Core was fascinating too. Went into Fowey in the evening for fish and chips.
Day 9
The final day!
I followed cycle route 3 out of St Austell which was mostly off road down to Mevagissy. Went to the bakers here for a Saffron Bun (A fruit bun with the yellow colour/flavour of saffron), haven't had one of those for years. Then I cycled through the lanes to the King Harry Ferry across the river Fal, I had bought a Cornish Pasty earlier so I stopped at the entrance to Trelissick Gardens to eat it - a real Cornish food day today! After my lunch I continued through the lanes to pick up the B3297 into Helston, I had gone down it just a short way when I was stopped by the police who had closed the road into Helston as a lorry had gone sideways and there was glass all over the place. I had a nice chat with the policeman who said he was also a cyclist and I explained where I was going - he directed me down a lane which actually turned into quite a good shortcut into the town. Finally after 8 days of cycling I managed to complete the end of my journey and cycled into the centre of Helston - I was met by Tim, the children, a lady from the paper and a lady from Cancer Research UK - Wow!
So I have completed my challenge, I have travelled from Berwick to Helston, walking, running and cycling a total of more than 800 miles! I started in January 2010 and finished August 1st 2011 - it has been an amazing journey, most of it enjoyable, all of it memorable - the laughs and the tears. A big thank-you to my friends and family for supporting me - yes I do know I am mad! And thank-you for all your donations to Cancer Research UK, its why I did it in the first place.
So onto the next challenge...