The Final Day

Plymouth back to Exminster

 

Today: 93km and 1390m ascent/descent.

Started 9am and finished 615pm.

OVERALL: 984km with 14,460m ascent/descent.

YES!! I finished on time, with a few strategic short cuts over the course of the second half of the ride meaning the total distance ended up just under rather than just over 1000km. And "almost twice the height of Everest" became "1.6341088 times the height of Everest"😁

Here's what I saw on the final day.

First, the final photo of the day so that it appears as the cover photo for today's blog.

which can be compared with the selfie taken at 540am nine days earlier.

And now back to the start of the day.

Plymouth

I knew I needed to be away by 9am. So when I woke up ahead of my alarm at 415am I got up, and got going. There was yesterday's blog to write. And packing up my kit for one final time, which sounds easy but, as usual, my room looked like a bomb site because most bags (I had several per pannier) had been opened and used!  

By 8am I had checked out of the Travelodge, which was only 11 hours after I'd checked in.

815am: Breakfast at Wetherspoons. I decided to over order because I didn't want to waste anytime should I still be hungry after eating what I had ordered. My eyes were indeed bigger than my belly as I only ate the rasher of bacon off the fry up🙄 Both pancake dishes were emptied though😁

915am: a couple of views from Plymouth Hoe, which is one end of the Devon coast to coast cycle route. The other end, in Ilfracombe, I visited on day 4.

10am: As I approach Plympton, I spot the first sign that I'm homeward bound - Cycle Route 2 passes through Exminster.

11am. The River Erme close to Ivybridge. A Dipper flew past me at high speed along the river as I was taking this photo🙂

1230pm. Totnes station is my first rendez-vous, where Chris and Mark join me for the ride back to Exminster.

155pm. View of Paignton as the three of us descend towards Torquay.

230pm: We're meeting Adam in Torquay - here's the photo he took of two and a quarter of us arriving at the Clock Tower - Mark's right arm and leg are on the right edge of the picture! 

345pm. Adam, Mark, Chris and me on the way to Teignmouth.

350pm. We meet up with Bridget, Colin, Mick and Segolene on Shaldon Bridge. Here's the photo Segolene snapped as we approached them - Shaldon is in the background.

515pm: I've arranged to get back to the Royal Oak at 615pm. So, just time for a cheeky beer at the Anchor in Cockwood.

Left to right we have Mark, Bridget, Colin, Adam, me, Chris, Segolene and Mick.

Exminster

620pm: Challenge...DONE😁 The picture shows the same eight as the previous one, with two non-cycling additions. First, Rich (wearing the black cap) who'd flown all the way from South America to be here! Whilst that might sound like This Is Your Life, he really did only get back to Exeter at 3pm.  

And second, Andy (directly behind me). Really that should read Lola (his dog) and Andy. However, by the time this photo was taken Lola was back inside the pub doing what she does best - going round all the customers getting cuddles off them all! 

I first met Lola in May 2021, back in lockdown times when I was in a very dark place - it was around the same time that Colin and I started going for regular bike rides with a pub trip to end. The regular walks I had with Andy and Lola were just as important in keeping me going. Indeed, I shall never forget one conversation I had with Andy whilst sat having a beer outside the Royal Oak. In that conversation he managed to cut through the noise inside my scrambled mind in a way that I desperately - very desperately - needed at that time.

I've shared this because we all know people who are having a tough time. What we're unlikely to know is just how bad a time they're having because, like I did, they will put their happy mask on. Also, they might be behaving in ways that feel like they're pushing you away, like I was. Despite that behaviour, I just encourage you to offer to have a chat with them - It's good to talk. And listen. You just never know how important that conversation could be. 

And to finish, a few wildlife photos

So I'd chosen to take my 3kgs wildlife camera on the trip. Until I loaded these photos up onto my laptop, I really didn't think it was worth the effort! However, now that I've seen them up close, I'm glad I did😊

Photos taken from, or close to, the Avalon Hide at RSPB Ham Wall (day 2). First of a female Marsh Harrier.

And a distant shot with her mate.

Looking the other way, a couple of Coots were in hormonally charged fight action. 

A dream shot is to get a Marsh Harrier in front of Glastonbury Tor. Whilst I dream, here's the Tor with a couple of Canadian Geese flying in front of it.

Finally from Ham Wall, more geese. Or, more precisely, a Greylag Goose and it's four goslings.

The final photo is the only photo taken whilst on the move, which is a Roe Deer that I saw on the Camel Trail (day 6) and, as the picture shows, it saw me.

Final thoughts

First, I've been very surprised at how well my old bod has held up to the day after day cycling. The last time I did 100+ miles in the day was 1992 (yes, over a third of a century ago!) and that was part of a three day tour, which was my longest tour before this one.

The fact I never got cramp just amazes me! That said, I now have evidence that electrolyte tablets do actually work! I used 40 of them over the course of the 10 days, which means I drank 30 litres of water from my water bottles.

Second, I had precisely zero vehicle drivers get frustrated at "that bleeping cyclist". That was my biggest worry ahead of the ride as a metal box beats a bicycle every time. I addressed my worry by always getting out of the way at the earliest opportunity. Indeed, the only horns tooted at me were in thanks, rather than in frustration.  The closest encounter I had was down an incredibly narrow lane where I had to turn my handlebars 45 degrees as the car inched past me - the bottom of their wing mirror just touched the top of my handlebar as they inched past! 

Finally finally

To those of you who have been holding off making a donation until you saw me complete this challenge. Well, I have, and I had to dig deep to do so. So now it's over to you to dig as deep as you can into your pockets and donate to Both Parents Matter using my Justgiving page. Thank you very much for doing so🙂