30 May - Start of the journey

We have to cycle to Temple Meads to catch the 6.40 train to Penzance. This means aiming to leave home around 5.30 am, though in truth it's nearer 6 am by the time I've faffed around a bit.  I'm was up at 3 am as I couldn't sleep, but I'm ashamed to say that although I got most things done, I didn't manage to wash my kitchen floor, Sheila.

We hurtle down the Gloucester Road, which is like ghost city, due to it being a Bank Holiday and 6am. We see 2 cars! The only people about are a group of 3 people sitting outside a doorway- they look as if they've slept rough, and there's a man intent on picking up a spent cigarette end. 

We can't believe the oceans of litter we are cycling through in Stokes Croft. We've never seen it this bad.

Going through Old Market, we see a couple of largish groups of chirpy-looking 20-somethings - if I'd had time I would've stopped and asked them - were they still up from the night before or were they just off to an early breakfast?

We get to platform 12 (up and down in the lifts with our bikes) with 10 minutes to spare. The train starts from Temple Meads (it normally starts from Parkway but it's a bank holiday and there are works on the line). It's extremely fortunate for us that we are with the train from the start of its journey as we have an excellent chance of getting our bikes on board; we were unable to make cycle reservations for this journey. It's one of those trains where the seats have been flapped up and held with tape to accommodate a few bikes. We heave a sigh of relief.

This is a 5¾ hour journey and there are no refreshment facilities on the train (luckily we have our truy flasks of tea, but oh for a cappuccino, Rose!), 1 toilet – and only 3 coaches. This is a bank holiday, as we've said, and it's gorgeous weather. It's also half term. As we are to find out further down the line, and as Julia Roberts famously says in “Pretty Woman” - big mistake, big big mistake!A group of boys bring on their bikes and they jostle for space with ours. A family get on with a baby in a pushchair. A friendly woman gets on and chats to us about our journey; she is sad because she and her husband have an old VW motor home in good condition, and she'd still love to journey out in it but he just doesn't want to anymore. It's become the subject they mustn't discuss as they'll just argue about it. I tell the woman about my friend Sue who still tows her little caravan to various caravan zsites she used to go to with her husband, before he died of cancer a few years ago. How's that for inspirational guts and a determination to grasp life with both hands?

The woman asks for the blog address and wishes us well when she gets off the train, which is now starting to fill up big time. Soon there is standing room only and people are packed like sardines into the train. At each station there are more and more people wanting to board the train; eventually the train simply has no more room and people are left on the station platforms. I would think that there will be some angry phone calls and emails to the train company.

A young girl aged about 11 faints in front of us, luckily she soon comes around.

We have a long chat with a couple a little younger than us who have teenagers and “20's” still living at home. We remember that!

During much of the journey, but especially in Cornwall, there has been some breathtaking scenery. Finally we arrive at our destination – it's wonderful to be by the sea again! Near to Penzance station is a “greasy spoon” cafe, but because it has huge windows we can park our bikes right outside and keep an eye on them. The cappuccino is surprisingly good.

We drop off our panniers at our B&B (a beautiful old house in the countryside) and make our way towards Land's End, stopping a little away from the roadside to have our picnic lunch (which we'd brought from home – the helpful lady in the greasy spoon cafe has refilled our flasks -“just put something in the charity box”)

The A30 from Penzance to Land's End is not a pleasant road to be on because of the volume of traffic; it's quite narrow for much of the way, and reasonably hilly, though no hills to have to walk up today. Many car drivers are extremely patient and courteous but some aren't. I was glad of my neon-yellow waistcoat (George!) We hopefully won't be going on main roads too much in our 1,000 mile journey, but today it's a case of getting to the official starting point, and getting our form stamped so that it can be stamped again when we arrive at John O' Groats.

Land's End is teeming with tourists – of which we are 2! We find the hotel where you get your forms stamped. We discover we are officially called “end to enders” and the journey is called “LEJOG”! In the hotel there's a book where you can write your names and any comments. The nice male receptionist says they've run out of forms, but he has the official stamp, which he puts on the back of a postcard, together with the hotel's address, his name and phone number, our names, and the date.

On our way back, we notice again the most beautiful wild flowers in the hedgerows. I am glad to reach our B & B after getting up at 3 am. We bath, sleep, then pop out to the local fishing port, Newlyn, a mile down the road, for possibly the best fish and chips we've ever tasted.

We have difficulty getting wifi here – I'm writing this in Open Office and may have to paste it later into blog.