Day 12 (M) Callington (otherwise known as the day of the Moor!!)

I set off from Exeter expecting this to be the penultimate day that would just be a 70 mile breeze with pleasant stretch across Dartmoor, but I was very very wrong! I also found out the hard way why most people avoid cycling across the moor.

Straight from Frenchie's house it was pretty much an up hill climb all the way on to the moor which was several miles. I had to stop in Moreton Hampstead for lunch to refuel! There was a fantastic cafe there and with 'Shinedown' blaring I set off. Unfortunately the respite I was expecting crossing Dartmoor just didn't happen. After all the stress of the earlier climbs I hit the most horrific head winds when at best my top speed was 9 mph on the down hills! I eventually hit Tavistock in the late afternoon. Realising I wasn't going to be able to manage the additional planned 35 miles to St. Austell, after a quick refuel of Cornish pastie, I pushed on as best as I could. I managed to get to Callington, which set me up for almost 80 miles left to Lands End. Unfortunately I hadn't fully appreciated the hills and head winds of Cornwall at this point, or accounted for the torrential rain that was to come!!