JOGLE day 8

We are in Cornwall, how on earth did that happen. It was a strange day for me passing through my home county of Devon, admittedly I didn't know all of the route but I had a good idea of what hills lay around each corner. I think I might have annoyed my group slightly when pointing out various landmarks in which they blatantly had no interest, although I was a little disappointed that the route did not show off our wonderful coastlines or moorland. It was another tough one for most with climb after climb and a constant southwesterly "breeze" accompanied by torrential showers. The fact the route was considerably shorter than yesterday was soon balanced out by the terrain and it became a little too much for some who had come so far but could not quite finish the penultimate day.

The combination of my excitement from being so close to home with knowing all the sites already gave me a perfect opportunity to push out of my comfort zone and ride with the fast boys. I soon learnt that this is a very different style of riding to what I've become accustomed to; talking was not encouraged, pit stops were very brief and there were no let ups in the pace. All of that aside I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the biggest bonus was arriving in camp two hours earlier than normal; this meant only one thing, more time to appreciate the exceptional food on offer.

I have mentioned the slight competitive nature I display every now and again, today I demonstrated this perfectly when scoring a hat-rick and moving to the top of the leader board. This time I think I might have taken it too far though as I am now winning for the greatest number of falls. Yes I hit the deck for a third time on this ride and was saved from a forth by a lovely yet unsuspecting fellow cyclist who's coat luckily didn't rip when I grabbed on for balance. After eight days of cycling I have got stronger but not so sure my skills have improved that significantly.