Day one was packed with challenges. Starting a little later than we hoped, we got our photo taken by the Lands End sign and cycled a solid 10 minutes before we had our first issue. It took just 2.1miles before Robin's bike broke (terminal gear failure). Mick, our helper for the week did well not to laugh at us, instead he set Robin up with a spare bike and charged off to hunt down a bike shop that could help.
Apparently Cornwall is stunning - we wouldn't know as the weather was truly miserable throughout. We were all wet to the core for the whole day, and given we were in cloud all day, visibility was non existent. The only view we had was of calves and white lines on a road. All were in agreement that despite him having a rubbish bike, Robin has the best calves!
Mick was a hero and the fixed bike was returned within a couple of hours. If we have any pretence of knowing what we are doing on a bike, none of us showed it today. Azon's cleat fell off, we were forever stopping, there was no cohesion in the way we rode and the miles were covered very slow.
Despite this, it was great to get started and we covered one of the hardest days, in the most foul conditions - great fun.
Fines for unacceptable lack of protocol went to;
Robin - for having a rubbish bike, causing extensive faffing time, wearing white gloves and excessive Garmin chat at dinner.
Azon - for wearing arm warmers over his shirt, his cleat falling off, and smearing chamois cream to the exterior of his shorts.
Cormac - for being too skinny and getting cold.
Willis - for wearing his helmet in doors and having both a Garmin and iPhone mounted on his bike.
Jones - for wearing 'tiny women's tennis socks' and for having a pump and tri bag on my bike.
Only Graham avoided a fine!
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| Happy at the start |
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| Miserable conditions all day |
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| The first mechanical |
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| We saw absolutely nothing in Cornwall, but hoping for better throughout the week |
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