|
Left our campsite at Wiveliscombe, near Taunton, at 8.30 this morning to continue our journey to the start at Lands End. Many thanks to Tony and Anne for looking after us so well and sorting our electrics out in the motor home for us last night. At Land's End we were greeted by Keith Naylor, Annie Patterson, and Graham Richardson from The Royal British Legion who had come from Truro to see us off. We work very closely with the RBL and it was great to see Annie and Graham who refer many families to us.
I signed in at the hotel to register to become an End to Ender and we had our photo taken by the signpost. As you can see, the signpost says John O'Groats 874 miles. Whoever worked out the mileage wasn't going via Hull! Keith very kindly agreed to ride with me for the first day and so off we set on our 1150 mile adventure. Keith is a very keen cyclist and has done L' Etape which is one of the mountain stages of the Tour de France.
After only four miles we came to the first hill and foolishly I tried to keep pace with Keith as he went up it. Well when we came to a hairpin bend I realised that I was not going to make it up to the top, so admitting defeat I had to get off and walk up the steepest bit. Not a good start and after only 4 miles! Keith very kindly waited for me and he told me that was the steepest hill we would find today. So that cheered me up a bit and so set off to Newlyn to meet up with Superintendent Keith Dixon of the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen. We arrived safely at Newlyn where we were joined by one of our families, Michael and his five year old daughter Phoebe, who cycled with us for a few miles. It was so nice to see them again as it is three years since I visited them at their home. Keith and I continued to the Haven Holidays site at Riviera Sands, Hayle.
|
Keith Naylor and I at the signpost at Land's End
|
