Dan's blog.

Day 2 was a much friendlier stage and i finished with a smile on my face, despite a bit of inclement weather (‘Mizzle”) for the first coupe of hours. Whilst not quite cracking 100 miles today (95 miles) – I reached Barnstaple – my target.

The day began with a relaxing jaunt down the Camel Valley trail. It just so happened that Bob Linda, one of Geoffs ex-RAF colleagues, owns the fantastic Camel Valley wine yard which is just off the bike trail. It would have been rude not to pop in. Bob has kindly sponsored the journey and sent his best wishes to Geoff. In the spirit of reciprocation – I ordered some wine that will be delivered next week. Special mention to Jack – who works at the Vineyard. Really helpful and interesting – and opened the wine shop early for me. Thanks Jack.

The climb out of Bodmin up to Bodmin moor was challenging – but the views at the top were beautiful. Sorry I didn’t take any photos up there. The first days journey was through lots of tourist hotspots. Today was a day in proper, agricultural and beautiful Cornwall and Devon. The car count in the country lanes was about 5!

Whoever devised the National Cycle Network (that I’m attempting to follow) was feeling good about life when they devised todays route. The last 40km into Barnstaple was almost all down hill – in stark contrast to yesterdays not happy ending.

I haven’t seen many people today because the landscape has been remote. I did manage to have a short bike race – after 125k. My much young competitor lost the race and then said “I’m drunk” which was the best excuse Ive heard since “I left my gym kit at home”.