St Ives

Porthtowan Campsite

Track to Portreath

Busy Portreath beach : Surf Club

Finally! I found the flat bit! From Porthtowan was reasonably flat most of the way to Hayle. I was able to go above 10mph at times, something I'd forgotten how to do. After a breakfast of ... more cookies, I visited Portreath in search of food The Portreath Bakery was open at 9am on a Sunday, as they are an essential service. The lady there told me that they were able to open during the 2020 lockdown, as they bake the vital bread and pasties on site. A Pasty at 9am didn't seem quite right, so I settled for an Eccles cake.  

It was another sunny morning and there was a steady stream of people heading to the beach, many in wetsuits and several with bare feet. I wondered where they kept their keys.

A posse of motor cyclists, all wearing tweed jackets, throbbed through the town. A couple more stopped at the bakery and I complimented them on their stylish attire. They were on the Distinguished Gentleman's ride, 100 or so riders from Hayle to Helston via Lands End, in aid of Prostate Cancer. Expecting to arrive at Helston around 3pm today. It will take me a lot longer.

After the hill out of Portreath, I joined the main B road. This was a long relatively flattish bit, and I saw lots of LEJoG cyclists (Lands End to John o'Groats), going faster than me and carrying no luggage. Also some JoGLE, cyclists, who didn't look quite so fresh. I forgot to mention yesterday that on one of the beastly hills, I saw a couple of cyclists looking exhausted at the top of a hill. They were cycling to John o'Groats but "doing their own route, sticking to the coast". I wished them luck and didn't ask too many questions. Or volunteer any info.

 

Hell's Mouth

The LEJoGers all sped past Hell's Mouth without stopping, (it was worth a visit) and The Towans near Hayle (it wasn't - it was just a caravan park). I didn't seem to see much of Hayle, which has a mainline station, unusual on the north coast. Then I followed a quiet track to Carbis Bay, riding with a local for a bit. I turned off to go down to the sea at Carbis Bay and he warned me about a steep hill back out. He wasn't joking: it was a very steep narrow path.

St Ives was now just around the corner. It's another beautifully situated town on a big crescent beach, like Newquay, but smaller. Lots of people milling around on the sea front doing bank holiday things. I liked it, especially the tiny back streets off the harbour front.

St Ives

I stopped at a small, empty Wetherspoons and had a large lunch. I also took the plunge and booked a room at the Youth Hostel at Sennen, near Lands End. A whole room, for £35. I could have camped for £9, but you can have too much of a good thing.

Lands End!!

There was still another 20 miles to do, though. A beast of a hill out of St Ives, aided and abetted by my diversions to stay near the coast, meant I climbed it three times. After that, it was mostly rolling moorland terrain, with the sea always in view in several directions. I passed a sign to Penzance ... 4 hilly miles.

Floral verges

Moorland ponies

The Party's Here!

I'd planned to stop for tea in St Just but it was getting late. A hamlet I'd never heard of, Morvah, advertised crafts and cake, so I stopped. A tiny place but the party was in full swing. A bunch of locals had been tidying the graveyard, and they were now in the cafe having more fun than anyone I'd seen in St Ives.   They were also finalising plans for the forthcoming Morvah Pasty Day.  A cream tea later, I was best friends with Olivia, a formidable lady who had lived in the hamlet (as she called it) her whole life.

 

Tin mines

Track

Tin mine

YHA Lands End is a few miles before Lands End. It took me a few more miles to find it, as Google Maps was on strike, and a crucial YHA sign was missing. Before that, I had an exciting detour on a rocky bridleway around the coast, past several old tin mines. Very scenic. A trip to Cape Cornwall, after which I decided against another detour along a bridleway, which looked extremely hilly. It might have meant a lot of walking.

 

Cape Cornwall 

The hostel is small, lovely, out of the way, and seemingly empty. Beautiful view down the valley where the sun is setting into the ocean.

 

YHA Lands End Hostel

St Just

No evening meal though, so I rode back to St Just (three pubs) and had an excellent fish & chips.

I have decided that I'll return home tomorrow, from Penzance.   Save the next bit for fresh eyes and fresh legs.   It's still going well, but there have been so many beautiful beaches they are all beginning to merge together.