Cornwall Tour - Day Five - Pirates of Penzance

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 A 7:07 alarm this morning meant a much more civilised start to the day than the earlier times kept by some of the psychopaths I am travelling with.  Premier Inn breakfast was pretty good, although I would only score it at 7 on 10 due to the poor placement of the sausages which did not enable them to form a breakwater between the beans and the egg.  After a bit of mechanical work swapping wheels around we were ready for an 8:30 depart.

Due to the new rules from today we were a bit more careful than previously to separate into groups of no more than six.  I remained with the A-team who were last to depart.  Today's ride to Penzance was a good bit shorter than previous days at only 55 miles ish.  This wasn't good enough for our bunch so we promptly went the wrong way out of the hotel, down a massive hill then back up it when we realised what had happened.

I forgot to mention yesterday we passed a comedy club owned by Jethrow the West Country comedian a local legend whose DVDs are available in all good petrol stations.

Our route today seemed to mainly follow the route of the old A30, which had some benefits in that it meant mostly wide roads befitting its former A road status.  The downside of this is the other road users are mostly pensioners reliant on 1970's AA road atlases so as a cyclist you had to have your wits about you.

Our first stop was in Truro where we enjoyed a pasty and a slice of bakewell.  The best bit about this stop was a pigeon doing a massive shit mostly on Padraig.  I laughed quite a lot until I realised that some of the poo was probably in my coffee.

The next stop was the goal of the trip, the other Camborne.  For anyone who is fed up of life in the real Cambourne (the one near Cambridge) take a trip to the one in Cornwall.  A wretched hive of scum and villainy.  Which is a shame because the rest of Cornwall is quite nice.  

Cambodians visit the other Cambourne

After our photo op it was time for a quick ride to our finishing point at Penzance.  For pragmatic reasons the finish line was at the Enterprise rent a car shed on a grim industrial estate.  Luckily we stopped for photos at some more scenic points:

The A-Team with a church on a rock on an island

A quick change and student shower (deodorant spray) saw us on our way.  I was driving the appropriately black A-team van.  We got on the road and onto the good bit of the A30 before stopping for a healthy McDonald's lunch and a tank of fuel. 

The journey went well until our second stop for coffee which was after dark.  We then noticed that the van's headlights did not in fact work.  This was OK in busy traffic, we had front fog lights so could be seen.  The problem occured when there were no other cars where the only option was to use high-beam which did not earn us any love from approaching lorry drivers.  That said we would likely still be waiting on the M5 for a repair 5 hours later so we took the only available option.

On arrival at Cambourne (Cambs) we unloaded the van and said our goodbyes.  Everyone was walking in a way that gave the impression they had had toilet accidents on the way home but they all assured me was the result of aching legs.

I have had a fantastic time over the past few days, even when my body had lost enthusiasm for cycling I was still smiling thanks to the great bunch I was with.  The support crew did an amazing job, always in the right place with a top up of a water bottle or a puncture repair kit, the guys who organised the event likewise truly appreciated.

This will be the last post in the Cornwall Tour series.  I will be back when my next adventure happens.

Now does anyone want to buy a bike ?

Me with a church on a rock in the sea




 

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