Ferry number 2 started today, from Fowey (pronounced “Foy” or the locals spit in your drink! ) across the river to a long uphill, the funny thing about ferries is you cruise downhill to them in your big ring gear…then inevitably have to stand on the ferry with your back wheel in the air, manually changing gear in order to get off the ferry, up the slipway and the hill that follows!
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| The Harbour at Fowey |
We had a great morning’s ride, lots of hills and descents and amazing scenery, and the legs felt ok. Ruby struggled a bit with being dirty as it had rained through the night and a fair amount of grit and muck was being thrown up from the road…I will wash her at the next Youth hostel tomorrow night! We stopped for lunch after about 30 miles just outside Plymouth, another lovely buffet with loads of carbs.
Our journey continued with another ferry crossing where Chicken managed to get photographed and was rewarded with a few donations from some of the car drivers.
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| Chicken collecting donations on the ferry! |
We then had to navigate through Plymouth which wasn’t an easy task, taking it in turns to trailblaze and lead the group. Charley, our resident comedian but all round great guy, dashed off trying to prove his prowess on a mountain bike, up the wrong road…we sent Nick, our youngest group member at 16 off up the hill after him! When we re-grouped we successfully navigated the maze that is Plymouth, picking up another smaller lost goup from our tour at the same time. For a while we all rode as a big group, around 15 of us, but as the hills of Dartmoor started to kick in, the peloton began to separate.
As we ascended Dartmoor the sun popped out now and again from behind the clouds, the scenery was stunning. Some beautiful wild ponies made their appearance to have a drink from a watering hole, as we were stopped at the support van for a well needed cuppa (and biscuit) before our final 16 miles.
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| Dartmoor Ponies |
The descents of Dartmoor were amazing, my confidence in descending has improved greatly , and max speed today from Ruby and me was 48mph…Go Ruby Go!!
Rachel and Me were making our way towards Moreton Hampstead having many laughs on the way down pretending we were in the Tour De France and commentating at the same time…well, we laughed!
I found my B & B for the night “B & B Plus”, 20 Pound Lane, Moretonhampstead, highly recommended by me…showered, then went to the Union Pub to meet the others for tea.
An amazing day’s riding, Dartmoor is stunning.
Weather –warm, cloudy with sunny intervals
Major Roadkil – 4 x rabbits, 1 x squished football, 1 x golf ball, 1 x sock (whitish grey!) and Rachel lying on the verge after a 300m 22% climb!! (ok, she’s still alive)
Mechanicals – none that were with us…
Lost chicken feathers – I have stopped counting!
Wild Dartmoor Ponies – Around 25
Sheep – zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….night night x
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