Kieran Day 2 Bodmin-Crediton

Weather
Contiuuing kind, a fine day not too sunny with a light breeze.

Not feeling too bad at all, though the 2 pints of Cornish Coaster were perhaps not the rehydrating beverage we should have taken last night. First job after a full English breakfast was to lcate a cycle shop to buy a new tyre and some spare inner tubes!

Then we were off a little later than we would have liked at 10am. Today has been alot harder, rode more continously (no breaks for punctures!) and so felt absolutely exhausted at the end, much more so than yesterday.

The route we took was pleasanter though the hills seemed plentiful, long and drawn out. We went north from Bodmin up the River Camel valley and then the ground began to rise. There was no respite even when we turned east to Launceston through Lifton and on to Okehampton. In general though the topography was fairer in that what went up did also come down, though the enjoyment of cycling the downslopes was a bit marred by the knowledge that the land would rise again very soon!. The final descent into Crediton was marked with whooops of glee until we checked the map and found our B& B was up the hill again out of the town!

Our rural education continued in that we learned today the genus 'cow' can also be benificent , as the giver of beautiful thick creamy milk. Also discovered the culinary delight of 'malt loaf' . Must buy Doron one tomorrow as I ate most of his today. I think we are learning a bit about this cycling thing, hill climbing technique is definately more cunning than on Day 1 and a few more stops may be a good idea. Frankly these first two days were gruelling and we are pleased just to have got through them on target.

Staying on a working farm with nice cows at Great Park Farm where we were treated to a lovely cooked tea that was totally unexpected and a jug brimming with fresh creamy milk for bedtime, which is around 8.15pm!!

Route
Bodmin
Camelford
Launceston
Lifton
Then we shadowed the A30 to Okehampton
Today we stayed on the smaller B roads!

Statistics
Miles today 70.9
Miles so far 157.8
Average mph 11.7
Maximum speed 36.7
Saddle time 6 hours 1 minute