ajft

  Odometer: 736.9km
  Today: 112.24km
  Trip total: ??km

A few minor misreadings of the map and my estimated 80km trip turned into 112km!

Three ferry crossing during the day; three very different styles of ferry. There was a very touristy pedestrian one from Falmouth to St. Mawes, at Fowey a creaking little car ferry drawn along on chains, then another pedestrian ferry right at the end of the day into Plymouth.

Lunch at St. Austell, a place I thought was a bit of a dump. Dingy concrete shopping malls straight out of the 80's, unemployed and single mums just hanging around hopelessly everywhere. The bakery staff warned me to a keep a close eye on my bike and all my stuff if I wanted to keep it.

I did manage to find another of the cross-country bike routes though, “NCN3” I think it is, but without any maps of these and of where they go, I don't find them particularly useful! Before coming away on this tour I had tried emailing the CTC, Britain's cycling group, as they seem to have a large amount of information on touring. Unfortunately they seem to only make this available to their members, I couldn't download any of the useful material from their web-site, and they never responded to the email enquiries. A shame really, as I've been assured that they are very helpful normally!

Met an older couple who are doing the end-to-end ride. I saw them yesterday near Penzance, and we're all staying at the Plymouth Backpackers. The backpackers was still as I remembered it from 1998, more importantly, it was still where I remembered it from 1998, since the street signs didn't seem to help in finding it.

Where?

Falmouth, St. Mawes, Fowey, St. Austell, Plymouth.