|
Rain,
Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain…
I new the weather forecast was for rain early, but clearing later, so I
wasn’t in a rush to leave. John (Rosie’s Brother) cooked me a really nice
breakfast, with a pot of coffee. By the time it was 10.00am (my normal
start time) it was really raining, so we had another coffee and waited, and
waited. 11.00am came and it was still raining, so I waited… By the time
11.30am came and it was still raining I new that I would have to bite the
bullet and set off…
Initially the rain wasn’t too bad, it looked like it was starting to
clear in line with the forecast and I hoped that my decision to linger was
a good one.
I set the Sat Nav to take me to Land’s End and the route it chose took
me across country to join the A30 just before Launceston. If I programmed
it go directly to Launceston, it took me on some strange route, directly
west and then south and I wanted to leave Okehampton as an option of things
got too wet.
It is hilly in Cornwall and Devon you know. As I cycled into South Molton the hills started. I can never cycle up hills when I first start so I
always have to push the bike a bit. Once into South Molton it was a grand
down hill stretch for the first 3 or 4 miles and with sky clearing I
thought my luck was in.
The Sat Nav took me basically south with a little bit of west. This
seemed to enhance the hilliness of the terrain, and so for the next 3 hours
I spent all my time pushing my bikes up hills that were too steep to cycle,
and then down the other side really slowly because they were really too
steep to descend especially in the rain.
The rain didn’t stop, but came in waves of heavy downpours on top of
constant rain. Today would have been the day to test all my rain gear but
for whatever reason I didn’t bother with my water proof leggings, or
putting all my sensitive paperwork in plastic bags.
With the terrain being so hilly my progress was really slow, even with
the land flattening out toward the end, I still only managed 7 miles per
hour average.
By 3.00pm I had enough, my shoes and socked were water logged, and I was
starting to feel like a prune. I think I had done 20 miles. I decided to go
the plan B, and make for Okehampton. I was still 7 miles away, but I would
be travelling on better B roads instead of the little lanes which I had
been using up to now. Hopefully these would be flatter and quicker.
I probably arrived into Okehampton about 4.00pm; my first plan was to go
for the YHA. This took a while locating, but turned out to be at the top of
a really steep and long hill. John had told me that this YHA catered to a
lot of schools, and when kids were using it, it was closed to the public. So
I new I was in trouble when a mini bus of 10 year olds went flying past. Rosie
rang the hostel for me, and sure enough it was closed.
I returned to the main street and located a nice pub B+B which had taken
my fancy when I first arrived. I was a bit disappointed when the room I was
staying in didn’t have a radiator, since everything I was standing in was
sodden. However the room was very warm, and when I traced the source, it
turned out that the end wall in the bathroom hid an airing cupboard. I
successfully managed to wash and dry all my clothes which I think was
brilliant.
All my paperwork was damp; maps, tickets e.t.c, but I managed to dry
them out, and then went to the shop to get some plactic bags to put them
in.
The pub had a really nice bar, so I had a couple of pints of San Miguel
and a nice meat and ale pie for tea.
For such a wet day, everything turned out alright in the end…
Tomorrow will have to be Bodmin, if I am going to finish in time.
Speak to you tomorrow Phil
You can email me here. Send me
your comments and tips.
|