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I had a good day at work today – it was exciting to go through my rather large inbox and deposit paperwork around the office for other people to work through whilst I had a lovely long break. Or would I? While I started to come to terms with the fact that it looked like I really would be heading off in the morning to cycle the length of the UK, our tour guides extraordinaire were already chugging along on a 12-hour, perfectly timed train journey to Penzance.

I spent the evening packing my stuff, whilst David (or Bert from here on in) watched, only realising at about midnight that he also should be doing something… true to form. All set by 2am, having hastily set up a ‘Just Giving’ page in recognition that, yes, I really was planning to do a mega bike ride in the morning. 

Meanwhile, in the Penzance YHA, Arthur and Calum ate pizza, looked at the rain, and met a lovely lass called Jane in the kitchen.

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Got up and left home at about 8:15am, allowing time for puncture mending without missing the train if necessary (and having a new toolkit in my new waterproof Ortlieb panniers, I was ready for action). Bert and I travelled south admiring the flooded land along the way, whilst our patient comrades idled in cafes – we heard a rumour about some confusion re table service, but the long wait was welcome as it helped them dodge the cold and wet. 

We met some lads on the train who were doing LEJOG over three weeks like us, but they were camping and climbing the ‘three peaks’ along the way… we also met some lads who were cycling back to Bristol; I felt quietly proud that I was doing ‘the real thing’. Arrived in Penzance at 1:30pm and I met Calum for the first time, and Arthur for the second. I was really nervous, though I did feel quite groovy in my new ¾ length waterproof trousers. But how would I keep up with these bicycling experts? How long would it take them to realise that I was a complete novice? Would they be very annoyed when I held them back? Bert took the pressure off me by being overly excited to see his friends, and after discussing our lack of luggage (two panniers each, not four) we set off down the A30 to Land’s End, with me pedalling like crazy in my personal bid to hide my ‘novice-ness’ for as long as possible. 

After signing the ‘end to end’ register and taking some photos (along with tantalising promises of the real Arthur’s cycle quest soon to come. Oh no – the British Cycle Quest I mean…or is it the same thing?) we set off to Zennor on the north coast, battling against a low mist, miserable drizzle and what I thought was a strong wind (but wasn’t mentioned by the others, leading me to quietly conclude that I must be a lightweight and so put on a brave, nonchalant face when we arrived, despite the fact I was already wondering how on earth I would get through tomorrow). 

The hostel was a lovely converted chapel, though with no kitchen and tiny rooms. I quickly migrated from an overcrowded girls dorm into the boys more spacious room, and we headed to the pub next door for delicious food and wine. The boys had beer, but Calum’s Zennor Mermaid was too strong for him, leading to the barmaid suggesting he hold back from a third pint. 

Before bedtime we walked along the path to the shore (not to the field) to check out the views; Arthur played on a stone cattle grid so that David could fulfil his photography aspirations; and then I answered my first ever BCQ, which was strangely disappointing in its level of difficulty. Back at the hostel Bert managed to entice three Romanians and an English lady into a random conversation. Good to see he’s the same wherever he goes. I was bemused to almost witness ‘fisticuffs’ between Calum and Bert at bedtime when the last to bed forgot to turn the light off, ensuing in a rather confused discussion and a lack of reading progress for Calum, who by the end of day one had only reached page 21. 

Highlight of the day: Calum discovered Cornish pasties made with cheese and not meat. Or should it be that a legend was discovered, and we would experience that legend for the next three weeks?