A Cycling Weekend

25th September, 2010

Luxe House, Annette and Richard Leithall

Over this past week has been quite hectic! My bag zipper broke half way along the zip, so most of my clothes in that section could be seen by the world (well everyone between Reading and Southampton)! Bag hunting took several days (there is sooooo many bags to choose from!!!) so eventually I found two smaller bags that just work so well together, making my life so much easier!

Amidst dizzy spells and sleepiness, I made it to Bere Alston, to visit Becky's parents again. I spent all afternoon on a train to get there, and boy - it was freezing cold, and rickety and just perfect! I had such a blast! I got into Luxe House, and had an amazing sleep in a comfy bed - a luxury I haven't had for some time!

The weekend was only to get better! On Saturday, we drove down to a place called Wadebridge, to join onto an old train line, converted into a cycling / walking path, known as the Camel Trail. It's 5.2 miles (8.37km) from Wadebridge to Padstow, which is the route we took. The tide was out, so there was no water in the river but you could smell the ocean. It was amazing! I loved every moment of riding down the path, stopping every so often to take photos or just take in the view.

Sunday was harder. Richard drove me down to a place called Morwellham Quay, (Morwellham Quay is a historic river port in Devon, England that developed to support the local mines. The port had its peak in the Victorian era and is now run as a tourist attraction and museum. It is the terminus of the Tavistock Canal, and has its own copper mine.)
Richard took me down to Morwellham Quay in the Stag, but I don't remember the year - It was amazing! I had such a blast in that car! I spent all morning walking around the mining history of the hamlet, and when Richard came back to get me, he was in his new toy - A BRIGHT RED MINI ROVER!!! It was so awesome!! I absolutely adore his new car! It's sooo cool!

By the time we got back to the house, Annette was back from church, and we were soon ready to go to Sourton to ride the Granite Trail, from Sourton to Okehampton. It was hard work, but the view and the ride was amazing! It went along another old train line, with a quarry and the Dartmoor National Park for a part of the way. The air got quite cold, and there were annoying little insects that wouldn't have bothered me if I was walking, but because of the speed you build up when riding - just like Dash Incredible, in the Incredibles, I had a splatter of bugs across my face! It was hilarious! And I had one go in my eye as I was turning a corner. Just lovely!

On the way back to Bere Alston, we drove past highland cattle, sheep (lots), and a very old church on top of a steep scramble, which is still used by the village beneath it today. It was very late, but with a creative use of my skivvy and my camera on timer, I managed to get a photo of the amazing placement of this church. People were climbing down from the night's service, many of them were quite old, and it was very late, so it was incredible that they were able to make it up and down from the church!

The weekend was spectacular. Full of good food, cats to cuddle, sunny days, loads of exercise, just everything of this weekend was lovely!