June 17th – Not Friday 13th
Then, at about 4 in the afternoon I was struck by a panic attack in that I had only 1 hour of shopping time left before local cycle shops closed and I couldn't buy more gear for the ride. This was slightly complicated in that those big bags had already made their way to Devon, so whatever I bought as a spur of the moment purchase had to be something I could carry on trains down to Penzance. A spare bike was probably out of the question then, but I had to buy something.
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​I probably looked like one of those people that you see dashing around shops on December 24th with a stressed faraway look in their eyes as they seek the ultimate present in the only shop left open, which probably only sells items up to £1.
4:15 now and I am in the shop. What do I need? Well, to be honest, not much as I had been pretty thorough in my planning, I take after my daughter there.
I did manage to find a few things that looked useful, some over shoes, some more gels and energy biscuits and some Chammy Butta as I had been told by someone who had done a long ride that they had found it useful.
0 miles cycled – total so far = 0
0 feet of climbing – total so far = 0
Max elevation 0 feet
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No.
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Penzance comes later.
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Friday was a funny day as I would love to have had a little ride around, but no bike. I am not one of those people who own 75 bikes and still don't have enough! So, it was a pottering around day, filling the time.
They also said it felt very strange for the first 10 minutes, a bit like sitting in cold custard, not sure how they knew that, but I thought nothing ventured.
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Shop shut, that's it, no more time to buy anything, really, that is it. What to do now.... get the tickets for the train. Can pick them up on the way home. They were also odd. Buy a through ticket to Penzance, about £80. Buy one to Clapham Junction, and then one to Penzance, £5 and £34 for those, meaning over £40 less. Madness.
On the way home, it rained. Nor just any old rain, this was out of the bible. Water shooting upwards out of drains removing covers, it came down so heavily, roads flooded in minutes. No frogs or locusts though, but I couldn't help but hope that I got nothing like that over the next two weeks.
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Back home, packing the bag to go down with on the train, which will be mostly picnic to avoid any risk of being poisoned by overpriced sub-quality food from some dodgy outlet. That may be a bit of a harking back to the good old days of British Rail and the curly cheese sandwich, but what would be for sure would be that it would be over priced and I don't like being taken for a ride. Check the tickets, yep, still there.
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This all now has the kind of feeling of being before the Lord Mayor's show, or Christmas Eve, or the day before your first A level. Anyway, do I want time to go quickly or slowly. I pack the food bag in a manner that I can dispose of things as I go, so am not adding to the total that will come with me up the country. Check the other bag that has the last minute purchases. Check the train tickets again.
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It's just me and Jenni tonight as Ruth is away on holiday at the moment, getting sunburnt a lot and Sam is at Uni still.
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Bags by the door for the morning.
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Food, beer, and sleep. Try to sleep….
