Three Peaks Jogle blog day ten - epic finish to an epic adventure
Just for a change the day started with the team getting lost. Having studied the map the night before it was decided the best way out of Exeter was ride towards the signs for the hospital (only one on the map) then pick up the signs for St Thomas train station (lots of stations, only one called St Thomas). The confusion came when there was more than one hospital! However, accustomed to finding their way by instinct, they were soon back on the right road and heading into the depths of Dartmoor. Now, Dartmoor isn't known for its flat roads and nice weather, a fact that the team seem to have forgotten when planning the route for the final day.
Chick and Howard caught the team up, strangely right alongside Dartmoor prison. This is a foreboding and extremely unwelcoming looking sight, but by the look on the cyclists faces they would rather be spending the rest of the day there than carrying on with what they were doing. Sparks looked shattered, Josh looked like he had had enough and even Billy the Robot, although suffering from sickness, looked like the hills were getting to him. Even in the car we thought it looked extremely hilly and with the trip meter telling us we were averaging just 13mpg for the day it was obvious the guys had had a tough morning.
We drove ahead, again to find a breakfast stop, and reached the lovely town of Tavistock where another full english was devoured to fuel the next few miles of the ride. One of the highlights of the morning was that the feared Six Mile Hill was only four miles long, although the team were not as thrilled with Chick telling them this as he thought they may have been. The hills were absolutely relentless, the worst thing about the landscape was that even at the start of a long downhill, you could see the next longer, steeper climb you faced staring right at you. For anyone out there who thinks this is an easy challenge, just go to Cornwall and cycle around for a few hours and see what you think then. Through St Austell, Truro, Helston and on to Penzance the already exhausted riders carried on. Hill after hill after hill they pushed on, reaching Penzance as the sun was already low in the sky. Not finishing today wasn't an option, so on they pressed. Just after Penzance, the injured Chick donned his lycra battle gear and with the team reunited they cycled the last 8 miles as a unit, the sun long set, the moon high in the sky and relying almost on night vision, instinct and pure luck we rolled in to the finish at 21:30. With relief in the faces of everyone at having got to the end of such a massive task, there was little time left for some high fives, back slaps, all round congratulations and obligatory photos before the team packed up and headed off. Chick, with his girlfriend Esther, to Newquay to spend a few days and the others off to their digs for the night in Bristol, still a 4 hour drive away!
Thanks to all of you who have followed the team on their journey and who have supported us with sponsorship and all your good wishes!