It all ends - Tintagel to St.Day

Hi Guys,

After a brutal 75 mile day on day 4, through the endless rolling hills of Devon and into Cornwall we woke up in the spectacular setting of Tintagel Youth Hostel, right on the rocky coastline of Northern Cornwall.

Carlos and I cooked breakfast, with a little help from Ade on toast duty before we loaded up the van. The road surface meant that along with our bags, we also loaded our bikes and ourselves in the back of the van to make the trip up the road to where we had finished the previous day. Holding on for dear life we were thrown about in the back while Barry (who I'm sure was doing it on purpose!) bounced the van along the coastal path.

The terrain was still very much up and down and we were hit with a really steep hill very early on. We all just about managed to change gear quickly enough! The previous day had contained the funniest moment of the ride, when immediately after flying down a huge step hill we were confronted with a near vertical climb (well it seemed it! - the sign said 25%) Richard collapsed off his bike shouting "too high gear, too high gear", Ade swerved him, only to have the same problem and collapsed in hysterical laughter just past Richard. Somehow, and I have no idea how, but my gears managed to change in time. I was then faced with a balance issue as I was too in hysterical laughter. Carlos also managed to change gear just in time, lucky he had that brand new derailleur really! We all managed to get to the top, and I really can't quite do the hill justice as to how high and steep it was. The next time you go to Cornwall, take the B3227 through Devon and you'll see what I mean!
We headed upwards and inland before swinging out towards the coast again for my little indulgence of the day. I love Watergate Bay, it's such a beautiful place, filled with energy and vibrance, from both the natural landscape and also the people who visit there. It also is the home of my favourite restaurant in the world, Fifteen Cornwall. We were going to head down into Mawgan Porth, which is the bay just above Watergate Bay, climb up the steep hill out and then have the descent into Watergate Bay before having the steep climb out of there too.
I feared mutiny, but the sun was finally out and we had just stopped for lunch, so everyone seemed up for the challenge. It was a brilliant feeling and a spectacular view. I had hung back from the front 2 and just had the moment to myself. Carlos was miles back as usual! At the top of Watergate Bay I began to think about the enormity of what we were doing, why I was doing it, and who I was doing it for. I began to get a little emotional. I was determined to keep a lid on it though, as we still had another 18 miles to go.

We rode into Newquay knowing that we would pass the 300 mile mark on the other side, before we did that though came a moment of cycle rage. Newquay was full of traffic and we were all doing our best to get past the cars by scooting along between them and the curb. This was going pretty well before I met an arrogant moron of a bus driver who just wanted to squash me. He could see me, and pointed out so by opening his doors to yell some abuse at me. I squeezed past him and gave him the stare that I give idiot motorists, he then decided to drive his bus at me again, at which point I punched the side of his bus and yelled out what I though of him at the top of my voice. I apologise to everyone in Newquay who heard what I called him, it was a combination of how stupid a bus driver he was, and also the emotion of nearing the end of our journey that had completely taken me over.

I struggled with the emotion all the way down to the point where Richard gave me the lead about 4 miles away from my Nan's. He then decided he wanted it back (he really doesn't like anyone in front of him!) but I wasn't going to have any of it. This was mine, and I essentially raced him all the way to the edge of St.Day where we pulled into a line to finish together. Halfway down my Nan's road, they told me to go first. I saw my Nan and all the emotion came back but this time there was no holding it back. As I hugged my Nan I just started to cry, I was in pieces.
I sat down on the grass and tried to pull myself back together. It took what seemed like an age, eventually I was able to hug the rest of the guys and tell them how amazing they all were.
I have never felt anything quite like that before, it had been a year of my life in planning and training and suddenly it was over. Physically I was fine, mentally I was gone.

I have lived and breathed this cycle ride for the last 12 months, what started as a crazy idea turned into probably the best week of my life. I have so many people to thank and I think I'll have to do that in another blog post.

For now, I have a huge thankyou to say to each and every one of you who have been reading this blog.

I hope you've enjoyed reading, it's been brilliant to do and is something I will look back on in many years to come.

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