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Some final reflections

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Some hassle but overall it was great fun and really worth doing! Over a thousand miles I reckon (using the route I followed anyway). Great doing the first bit with my son Peter - that was over 300 miles! I have just done a 'vague calculation' and I won't share the workings, but I think the whole trip might have involved (at least) a million revolutions of the cranks of my bike! (By the way, the bike has kept going really well - but is still making that annoying noise from the sprocket - I will get that fixed when I return!) I've also probably eaten 5 years worth of my normal ration of sweets and cakes - and I think I have eaten about 15 full English or Scottish breakfasts! I reckon the UK, despite the numbers of cars and people is still a great place with amazing countryside - beautiful really .... if you can get off the beaten track. Amazingly no punctures (on my bike anyway) - very surprising given the crazy routes I followed by using Google maps - down small tracks ...
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Mission Accomplished!

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Made it! After some crucial return travel and B&B admin etc - I took a look around St Ives.  What a great place - bustling with people, art galleries and super restaurants-  I couldn't help thinking why isn't Ilfracombe a little bit more like this.   I guess it's true that Ilfracombe doesn't have quite such good beaches. I took the coast road towards Land's End which had more hills - but was more scenic I reckon. It was a lovely (hot) day and so I stopped at Zennor which was really nice -  the re-hydration at the pub + crisps- were good too. Various further old tin mine remains en route - quite impressive. Mining really was a big thing around here of course. Nearly there! (I had forgotten Lands End had an airport) Lands End at last - entrance to the commercial bit! Made it!! This is a photo with the stone I picked up from John o' Groats (definitely over a 1,000 miles away - on the route I took anyway!) (John o' Groats 16 August)  I'll probably make s...
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Nearly there .... Camelford to St Ives

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Started probably a bit later than I should have this morning, - and when getting food supplies for the route in the local shop, I found that my card PIN didn't work and had been locked. I already had a few bananas, water and other stuff, so of course I carried on regardless. However after the initial flat cycling on the 'Camel Trail' (another ex railway line) - I think maybe I was running a bit low on energy - and there seemed to be loads of unforgiving hills! There was of course plenty more amazing scenery often with wind turbines - Great weather and skies too ..... and great Cornish place names (wasn't Demelza in Poldark?) I stayed concentrated during the afternoon by finishing off the detective audiobook I mentioned yesterday - though the ending I thought was a bit weak! By the time I got to Redruth, I think I was a bit weak too - but that's where I was able to use a cash point to unlock my PIN ..... after which I had a fantastic meal of pie and chips from a fish...
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Camelford and Tintagel

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Cycled with James along the 'Tarka Trail' (ex railway line) alongside the Taw Estuary as far as the new Bideford Bridge - great! Bike comparison ...... Trainspotting and reflections at Bideford station. They had a kind of mini rail museum and cafe at Bideford, and as a train enthusiast, I had to stop.  I went on the last rail tour on this branch line before they took the rails up in the 1980s - I was a bit of a train spotter from an early age.  Anyway, in the little museum they had a picture of the very rail tour in question, see middle photo! Whilst I was drinking tea and eating my flapjack on the station platform, I reflected on the fact that my dad must have arrived at this very station in the 1940s when he was evacuated to Bideford!  This is is his  account  /"blog" (you have to scroll down a bit to get to the part about Bideford). I also ended up talking about food hygiene with the cafe owner as it came up in conversation- free consultancy provided! Audiobo...
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Ilfracombe - a tour of the town - on foot!

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 After a lie in and breakfast at the Dilkhusa - I wandered around the town, visited a few art galleries, sat aimlessly on a few benches and now having coffee in a new High Street gallery coffee shop with good wifi. - In the Swiss Cottage Cafe they seemed almost offended I wanted wifi - "no we don't have that here - our customers talk to each other" they said only half jokingly.   Ilfracombe is a funny old place - it sort of needs bringing up to date - and getting more 'connected economically' - with more visitors.  I think it has great potential for this - as it has so many positives - with the sea, the scenery/ Victorian heritage etc etc.   There have been some really great initiatives over the years - and Ilfracombe seems to be getting quite 'arty' I reckon, which is great - but the town could still do with that extra boost - maybe when my book set in Ilfracombe is published that might ( in a very small way ) help! Anyway, some pictures from my wander ro...
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