Day 2

Sunday, June 11
St Columb Major to Drewsteignton
111km

Today was billed as the toughest day of the trip.  I can certainly see why - lots of steep climbs.  More climbing, and tougher climbing, than any day from the France trip.  Roe says it was the toughest day of cycling she's ever done.  I still think that the ride out of Hope on the Tour du Canada was the toughest day for me.  It had less climbing, but more total distance...and I am likely in better shape now.

Roe started the day with a flat tire, which we repaired quickly...although I did discover the joys of stinging nettles when I leaned my bike into the hedge at the side of the road.

There were loads of narrow roads today, with tall hedges on either side.  This made the decents especially difficult.  After my practise in France, I felt confident going down at up to 60km/h, but more people seemed to be hard on their brakes the entire way down.  They complained of sore hands arms and sholders from all the intense braking, and one rider said that his legs were covered in brake pad dust by the end of the ride.

We stopped for lunch at a little tea shop in Minions - the highest town in the county of Cornwall.  The food here is so expensive.  Lunch for two was 18 pounds...about 36 Canadian dollers!

The toughest climb of the day was into Dartmoor National Park.  It was almost 10km of climbing, with a few flattish bits in the middle along with a few very steep sections.

Coming down from that climb, I took a wrong turn and Roe and I sailed down the steepest decent of the day only to realize my mistake and climb right back up again.  I'm sure that no one from my France trip would be surprised by this misadventure - but I really am doing a pretty good job navigating most of the time.

After 8 hours of riding, we finally arrived in camp at 6:45pm.  Quick shower, dinner at a pub, and time for bed now.