Appologies for not adding anything after Day 1, but there was no mobile network available in Boscastle.

After a good nights kip in Hayle, we headed off to meet the Mayor. Being greeted by a very warm welcome and refreshments, we took the opportunity to gather a bit of local knowledge on the gradients (good and bad) we would experience on our route. We were even met by one of the local residents (Ann Foreman) who has connections with Norfolk…along with the Mayor, she also made a very kind donation…Thank you to both the Mayor, Mayoress and Ann for the donations!

“When the lord made Cornwall he had a few hills left over…he gave them to Devon” Mayor of Hayle

Traveling North, we quickly encountered more of the same sleep hills. Taking a brief moment to check out a recommended view of Hells Mouth…wow! Memories of California came flooding back.

Undulating hills and amazing scenery continued until our journey was interupted by the first puncture of the journey (reliable old Paul). Quickly followed by the second puncture of the journey…well done Paul! Stopping for lunch in St Columb Major in a rather unfriendly pub car park, we ate to refresh our energy whilst taking a few minutes to relax.

After lunch, we moved on further North, with hills and an unbelievable climb to 865 feet, where our official cycling route ended after a 61.5 mile journey covered over 4 hours and 46 minutes.

Just for fun, we decided to risk death by cycling the road down to Boscastle…descending the 865 feet (we had just climbed) to sea level (and the point hit with maximum force in the floods a few years ago) in just 1.5 miles…scary and knackering to our brake pads…mmmm burning rubber.

Checking in to our evenings accomodation at the YHA Boscastle, we cooked some food, took an opportunity to take a few snaps of Boscastle, a game of Top Trumps and Pass the Pigs, before retiring to bed.

After a rather broken nights sleep, we took advantage of the Hostels facilities, with Kevin making us a cooked breakfast of bacon and eggs…yummy!!! After packing our stuff into the support vehicles, we were met by the Chairman of Boscastle, Ferett, who told us many stories of how the floods affected the area. Following the usual photo shoot, we proceeded up the hill to pick up the route from where we left off the day before.

With around 75-80 mile to complete, we headed South East towards our lunch spot in Okehampton…after a rapid 25 miles, we left Cornwall…horah!…only to be met by the hills of Devon (how far is Norfolk?). After over 40 miles of cycling, we made it to Okehampton for a more relaxing lunch stop in a Waitrose car park. A feast of pasta, bread rolls, meat and other sugary snacks (eating this many calories in a day will never be this forgiving ever again) later, we left to crack off some more miles from the journey.

Heading North East towards Tiverton, we started with a slightly flatter terrain…but that didn’t last too long and ‘Anderson the Hill Slayer’ was eating the hills for Afternoon Tea. The rest of us just held him up. Blasting through Tiverton, hungry for the post ride food, we had just 7 miles left to cover…these are always the longest miles of the day. Still, we made it to our hotel after running the gauntlet on a busy dual carriageway and over the M5. Day 2 saw us cover 76 miles in 6 hours, 2 minutes. Most impressively reaching a top speed (on a rather hair-raising downhill section) of 38.3 mph.

We have most of the evening to relax, then time for a well deserved sleep before we encounter Day 3 (our 4th straight day of cycling) to Chippenham. Our longest day of cycling yet, at around 85-90 miles in total.