Previous Chapter    Return to Tony's Home Page

Day 2    Saturday 24^th April 2004

Carnon Downs to Boscastle Youth Hostel

I had asked for breakfast at 7.30 this morning.  I had also requested a slightly smaller breakfast although the intention was to stick to the full English while I was cycling.  It may not be too good for the cholesterol but it sure gets you off to a good start and delays the 11’s break which for some reason, more often than not, happens around 10.  The landlady told me this morning, that the vicar and lady friend had returned in the small hours of the night – I hadn’t heard them come in – they had been out for a meal with friends.  The landlady was doing her WI market but she wasn’t in a rush – there was no hope of getting the vicar up early after the previous nights revelry and she had arranged for a friend to man the stall until she got there.  These markets are held on the first Saturday in the month at the church hall for anyone interested.

The weather this morning was very low cloud – almost a mist – with a fine drizzle falling.  I was going to pick up the CTC route in Truro – about 4 miles down the main A39 road.  For some of the route there was a cycle path – for the remainder I was able to follow a narrow lane which was at one time the old main road into Truro .  By the time I got to the city the drizzle had cleared.

The town of Truro is dominated by two landmarks – the Cathedral and the Railway viaduct.  Planning rules in the 19^th century were not the same as they are now - they never would have obtained permission to build the railway viaduct if that were the case.  I tried to pick up the CTC route from the Cathedral but the central area is heavily pedestrianised and signposts to Shortlanesend and Idless did not appear on my horizon.  My attempts to follow the river to Idless resulted in my  finding a cycle track under  the viaduct alongside the west bank of the river.

This looked very promising until I got to the far end of the track and discovered it was a footpath with a narrow kissing gate at the far end which proved difficult to get the bike through.  I ended up in a small estate of bungalows on a hill overlooking the city and was able to get a good photo of a train crossing the viaduct with the cathedral behind.  Carrying on up the hill, I asked a man who was tending his garden, the right way to Idless.  Just round the corner and I was on the correct road again.  As so often is the case, as soon as you stop to chat to someone they begin to relate the days when they rode their bike and the enjoyment they had.  He wished he could still do it.

Because I hadn’t been on the CTC route, I had put the typed CTC direction sheet in between the folds of my transparent map case – it seemed quite safe in here and was easy to extract if required.  No zips to undo or straps to release.  I was still able to read the map like this.  The light wasn’t so good this morning and I was struggling to read the smaller place names on the map without my glasses on.  Perhaps this is why I got lost in Truro!  Somehow, somewhere on the road to Idless the typed instruction sheet must have fallen out, but I was sure that I had read them in the past mile or even less.  Time to backtrack maybe, as this sheet contained directions for the next 20 miles.  Not a disaster if lost, as the sheets for the remainder of the trip were safety stored away.  I cycled back along the road and there they were lying in the middle of the lane no more than ½ mile from where I had turned round.  No cars had used the road since I had passed and they hadn’t ended up in the wet verge.   I turned round and started in the right direction again. 

Near St. Newlyn East I happened across the Lappa Valley railway.  This is a narrow gauge railway and although I am not particularly interested in trains I thought I might be able to get a cup of tea for my 11’s.  They looked as though they had just opened for the day - the cup of tea was provided and the loos came in handy.  I took a photo of Zebedee – one of the trains – which I hope was not in the habit of jumping off the tracks.

The section of the route from St Columb Major until just after Wadebridge uses the main A39.  I wasn’t looking forward to 12 miles of main road but the alternative is to go up onto the moor to the east.  It wasn’t too bad in the end.  I avoided some of this road by going through the village of St Columb and later on I deviated into Wadebridge itself rather than take the bypass.  The main road for the most part has a dotted white safety line running along the verge about 2 ft from the edge of the tarmac and although not a proper cycle lane, afforded some protection from the passing traffic.  The main problem with these lanes is that they get full of grit and other debris as the traffic hardly ever uses them and road sweepers are few and far between.   Just outside Wadebridge there were lovely views across to Padstow Bay – by this time there was hardly a cloud in the sky

By taking the road into Wadebridge I soon came across the local Tesco on the edge of the town.  It was time for a lunch break.  I had a vegetable lasagne together with peas and carrots – this certainly made up for the lack of veg over the last couple of days - and then I did a bit of shopping for tea.  Boscastle Youth Hostel is self catering so having dinner in the middle of the day would reduce on cooking time later.  Hopefully I would be able to buy food for breakfast either at the Youth Hostel or in the village of Boscastle .  I bought too much food – it wouldn’t fit into my rear saddlebag even with the extension opened.  I couldn’t resist buying chocolate muffins – but these only come in packs of 4.  The yoghurt wouldn’t go in – so this was eaten at Tesco before I left.

A couple of miles after Wadebridge I was able to leave the A39 and take to the lanes again, this time aiming for Tintagel and Boscastle beyond.  St Kew is a bit of a maze but having stopped to ask an elderly lady if I was on the right road and receiving a rather muddled answer, I guess that which ever way you choose through the village you ultimately end up on the right road.  The disadvantage of being near the coast is that there are more hills and they were becoming steeper.  Treknow is a classic - 20% down followed very shortly afterwards by 20% up.  And then I continued into Tintagel itself – and on a hot Saturday a very popular tourist spot.  I rang home from here to tell Christine of my progress and then I proceeded to buy my first ice-cream of the trip – a £1 double cornet with a choice of toppings.  Chocolate chip and peppermint went down a treat.  In talking on the phone I find that Christine has already received my card from Land’s End .  Well, it did have a first class stamp but that’s an achievement by the PO which deserves to be recognised.  Perhaps it would be a good idea to buy a postcard everyday so that I have an alternative record of the trip – other than the photos that is.  So off I went to buy a postcard of the castle to be written and sent later.

Leaving Tintagel I then made my way into Boscastle to find the Youth Hostel which was originally the stable for the horses which pulled the boats up onto the quay.  This is a lovely hostel right on the edge of the harbour wall.  I spent some time down by the harbour writing today’s postcard and watching some children playing in the water and just generally relaxing.  I then went for a walk in the village hoping to find a shop to sell me something for breakfast.  I had left it too late – being a Saturday everyone had closed up shop for the day.  Oh well – never mind – breakfast will have to be very similar to my tea tonight.  They don’t make Youth Hostels like they did in the good old days with a shop where you can buy 1 egg, 2 weetabix etc.  I guess there are too many corner shops open all hours – and anyway – people, more often than not, arrive in their cars with their cool-boxes and provisions, cycles on top or boots and rucksacks in the back.  The traditional cyclist and walker are few and far between.  At least the hostel provided me with a free cup of coffee.

I tried for another sunset picture later in the evening – the clouds on the horizon were beginning to clear but unfortunately the picture was not to be.  The clouds got in the way just as the sun was setting.

Today’s mileage was 49.3 at an average of 8.7 mph.  This brings the total mileage up to 102.3

Next Chapter    Return to Tony's Home Page