On Sunday April 28th I took the train from Paddington Station to Penzance arriving at 5:15pm. I originally planned to camp at Mousehole (pronounced mowzel); however, because of the weather forecast, I changed my plans and stayed in a hotel. It was a good decision!

Penzance is quite close to St Michael‘s Mount so after getting established in my room, I rode my bike along the promenade and took a couple of photographs. I found a lovely little seafood restaurant in Newlyn for dinner, the Mackeral Sky Cafe where I had a light dinner and a glass of wine before cycling back to my hotel. It was a great start 👍

Next Morning…

I had noticed that my front wheel felt a tad wobbly on the 5 mile ride from Islington to Paddington Station on Sunday morning, so I decided to be safe and have a bike shop look at it before I headed off to the ‘end of the earth’. I went to Ride On EBikes in Penzance. The wheel needed a minor adjustment but as I was giving it a spin to test it, the chain came off and got stuck between the rear cluster and the frame. I couldn’t get it out.

I remembered that my kick stand had been smashed when I finally retrieved the bike box from British Airways on Thursday, so I had taken the bike to a bike shop in Surrey to get a new kickstand. They didn’t have time to do a full inspection, so off I went with a new and better kickstand. However, the drop out had been bent with the impact of whatever smashed the kickstand. I hadn’t noticed the problem until I changed gears on a hill when testing the front wheel!

Luckily I was not far from the bike shop, so Zac helped me carry my bike back to the shop (it couldn’t be wheeled). George and John worked on the bike for a couple of hours and got me back on track 🙏

Ride to the Lands End…

I left the bike shop and headed back down to the promenade to start the ride to Lands End. The bike felt good and all was well until I got to the prom and felt the full force of the wind. For a moment, I thought I might have to postpone until Tuesday, but I decided to weather the storm.

The ride was beautiful or it would have been in better weather. Sometimes it was hard to stay on the bike and move forward, but then suddenly I’d be riding in between the hedgerows and sheltered from the worst of the wind and driving rain. I was thankful for my great waterproof clothing and shoes!! 🌧️

I passed through the lovely villages of Newlyn and Mousehole along the coast before heading inland through St Bunyan and Sennen and then into Lands End. I felt like I’d accomplished the mission but it was just the start. 🏁

Lands End to St Just

After the obligatory photograph by the sign I set off again. I had planned to get to St Ives today but the very late start and head wind changed my plans. I got quite cold at Lands End and decided to cut the day short. I booked The Commercial Hotel at St Just. I started my ride out of Lands End along the Cornish Way – Lovely! I passed Sennen Cove and remembered sunbathing on that beach with my friend Ann in the mid 1980’s!!

I arrived at the Commercial Hotel in St Just around 6pm. I warmed up in a hot shower and had more mussels for dinner. It was a good day despite the weather 🙂