LEJOG day 1 - Land's End to Bodmin

113 km  Elev gain: 1699 m  (70 miles / 5574 ft)
6 °C (real feel 1 °C)

A beautiful start to the day at The Land's End Hotel. Seeing a pink glow in the sky from my window, I rush outside in time to watch the sun come up.

Down to the iconic landmark after breakfast. It's too early in the day or year for the official photographer, so I get the mini tripod out and spend a few minutes doing the "self timer dash". After a few fails I get the shot I want.

Then to the start line. No big send off, just a brief chat with a solitary long distance hiker who's passing through.  Spirits high, I cross the line and make a left turn onto the gravel track to Sennen Cove - straight into a strong headwind that's going to dog me most of the day. I'm loving the buzz of getting started to care too much as I take in the Cornish coastline.

Sennen Cove

That headwind! I'm slowed down so much that my planned mid morning coffee stop at Portreath morphs into lunch. The friendly Portreath Arms is a great find though, and I take a little time trying to get the perfect crashing waves shot at the harbour wall, where the sea is positively churning. Mostly I just get wet.

Portreath harbour

The rest of the day passes grinding out the miles into the wind, following a lumpy route through country lanes with the occasional punishingly steep hill. I discover there's a price to pay for putting blind faith in the cycle.travel route planner (tagline: "Life's too short to ride busy roads"). Normally I love going out of my way to take on a 16% gradient - not so much when I'm hauling 11kg of luggage. Gripe over, I stop for a short rest at Saint Columb Major - the final town before I reach my destination at Bodmin and check into my AirBnB for the night.

There don't seem to be many food options in Bodmin on this Tuesday night, so I end up in a nearby Indian restaurant. The food is ok but I order way too much. I hate wasting food - one of the reasons why I'm fundraising for The Felix Project - so I take the leftovers home for breakfast.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

LEJOG day zero - to the start line

10 weeks after hatching my plan, the day before the day of action has arrived. My friend Julian has kindly lent me his bright yellow Ortlieb waterproof panniers. They're so well designed and easy to fit, "basically idiot proof" he tells me. I pedal off to the station, waving confidently to my wife standing on the doorstep. I'm just out of sight 100 metres down the street, over the first speed bump when a pannier comes flying off. Fortunately there's no 10 ton truck in the vicinity to run it over, only a car that steers around it as I retrieve it from the middle of the road and refit it carefully.

I get to Paddington via Hyde Park and catch the train to Penzance, then ride the long way to Land's End via the pretty fishing village of Mousehole. I reach The Land's End Hotel by 5pm, in time to watch a magical sunset while drinking a celebratory bottle of Proper Job Cornish IPA - it would be rude not to.

The hotel is perfect, with references to the "End to End" adorning the walls. I'm inspired by this one at the reception desk. 

I'm a little more troubled by the posters on the stairwell celebrating the records for fastest LEJOG via unorthodox means.

Hopefully I'll beat that skateboard. 

It Has To Be Felix

Although LEJOG started out as a personal project, it would be a missed opportunity if I didn't raise some money for charity.

I've been volunteering at The Felix Project for the past 9 months, giving some of my spare time in the evenings to help prepare meals and reduce food waste.

Find out more and sponsor me at www.justgiving.com/page/wardill