Day 1: Land’s End to St Austell

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” - Mike Tyson 

Really hard day. 


Started off nicely enough. A 5 mile roll to Land’s End to get the obligatory signpost shot (see below!). There were probably 30 other folk there doing LEJOG as well but I was the only one unsupported (they had no on-bike luggage, support vehicles, hotels / B&B’s every night). You do have to ask yourself why I was the only one who thought my approach was a good idea!


And we’re off!


Made my first route reading mistake relatively early on (it’s good to get it out of the way!). I misread my Garmin and went off towards where I’d stayed the night before. Realised after a few miles - once I’d got to Land’s End Airport (used for the Scilly Isles) again and climbed over a hill to get back on route, probably 10 miles down the road. Eventually on course at Penzance and all was well… or so I thought. 


LEJOG mechanical #1


I noticed that my bike was not shifting to its easiest gear. Normally I would have been ok but the luggage was tremendously heavy (I struggled to lift the back of the bike), and it was so hard to get up hills… and there are a lot of hills in Cornwall (or Kernow as all the car stickers say). I got up all of the hills but it was a real struggle with some very low cadence grinding. Using muscles rather than spinning (using cardio) can work for a while… but your heart recovers more quickly than your muscles; eventually the muscles will just get too tired and then things get really hard. Given how hard tomorrow is (even more climbing than today!), these first few days are quite the baptism of fire! 


I’ve fixed the gear problem I think (in the hotel room!), so I hope it holds. Also… I’ve thrown away about a third of my stuff!


Dark clouds gathering


The weather had been saying rain and thunder all week. I thought I’d been really lucky with the weather in the first few hours, but then… boom. The rain became torrential very quickly and got worse as the ride went on. It just didn’t stop. I was absolutely drenched and couldn’t use Google Maps as my phone was just soaked (in fact, the rain was randomly pressing buttons and even called the campsite!). This was quite annoying as I was using the phone to supplement the rudimentary mapping on my very basic Garmin. 


I ended up taking some detours I didn’t like, including on a road that was too busy for me to be comfortable (still in biblical rain - I tried to take another video at one point but my hands to were too wet to use the phone, even after attempting to dry them). I pulled over and doubled back a short way to get an off-road route. A much better route into St Austell. 


Hotel, motel… Travelodge


I had planned to camp but the forecast was terrible (it’s just started raining in St Austell again). I had hoped to camp a reasonable amount but the thought of pitching in a downpour did not appeal, especially as my phone and Garmin were now really low, my bike needed looking at and my clothes were soaked. 


I booked an amazing Travelodge for £50, and splashed out on breakfast as well. I may not have the hair of the people on the L’Oreal commercials but, given the struggles of today and how cold and wet I was, I decided that I was worth it.


Interesting folk


Met a few cool folk en route. Had a chat with a nice retired maths and physics teacher who was sitting on the same bench as me. He did JOGLE (LEJOG but starting in John o’Groats) himself twenty years ago. He stayed in three castles (now hostels) and thought me turning up having bought a route complete with GPS and not knowing where I was going was very modern! He clearly planned his trip to within an inch of its life. I’m more of a meander kind of guy… 


On the King Harry Ferry (a river crossing platform pulled by a chain - costing £2!), I spoke to one of the guides of an organised tour. A nice lady who supports LEJOG three or four times a year, and does fortnight long riding tours in France as well. She’s going to go an unsupported tour of the US for her own entertainment soon (tent on the back). Not for me thanks!


I also met a nice chap from Halifax who is a member of the Cycle Touring Club. More of a pro than I will ever be.


Professional nutrition strategy 


Dinner this evening is what I have on my doorstep… a large Big Mac meal… extra salt on chips… ice cream… and a second desert of a Zinger burger from KFC next door!


I massively messed up my pre- and during ride nutrition today. Time to put the universe back in balance. 


Worth the trip to Land’s End for the breakfast

Deja vu.

Obligatory! A nice bloke offered to take it.

Just the 1,000 miles then.

A regular alert today. Just the 2 miles for this one.

The King Harry Ferry crossing

Cool huh? It’s dragged by underwater chains.

Me and about 20 other LEJOG cyclists caught this.

Rained on from a great height.

Just get in!!!

Look closely and you may be able to spot a few raindrops




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