Sat 9th February

After yesterday's long run I didn't really mean to go far but the weather was just too brilliant to stay indoors and 'the top of the world' was an inviting prospect. This is my name for the highest point round here, where (on a fine day) you can see 'from sea to shining sea' - ie the Atlantic to the north and the English Channel (or at least the Western Approaches) beyond Falmouth to the south. The true high point is at Four Lanes close to the huge TV mast but my destination was on the Stithians road out of Redruth - where I once discovered I can drink in an amazing 360° view if I climb up on the old milk churn stand outside Tresthow Farm!

So, having chugged up the hill through Pendarves wood to Troon, followed by another upward mile or so to the old Nine Maidens school, and finally through the long ribbon development of Four Lanes, I reached my vantage point . . . . . only to be disappointed! A bank of mist enveloped the north cliffs and the south coast was beneath a grey haze; neither 'shining sea' was visible yet I was basking in full bright sunshine (and pretty hot too after all those hills)! Well, the closer scenery was some reward: Stithians Lake (west Cornwall's largest reservoir), Carn Marth and St Agnes Beacon, Carn Brea with its monument, Trink and Trencrom hills in the south west distance and all punctuated with too many mine engine houses and chimneys to count - its a shame that no photo can do justice to such a rich scene.

Downhill most of the way home, I captured today's photo just outside Carnkie - a few of those mine engine houses and chimneys framing the Basset Monument atop Carn Brea.

Fri 8th February

My longest trip to date this year -32 miles - today I rode to Truro. It turned out to be a morning of 'bottoms and smells'! Not what you think, but the quaintly named Park Bottom, Greenbottom and Skinners Bottom which lay on my route! As for the smells: the aromas from the kitchen of the Inn for All Seasons on the outskirts of Redruth (clever play on "Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons" name, but I don't know if the food is as good!); next the heady perfume of the gorse flowers, which filled both sides of the hill down into Chacewater; and lastly (OK you were right) a farmer 'muck spreading' just over the hedge from me as I rode home through Blackwater. Our senses are denied so much by travelling in cars!

Truro was bustling, as ever, but I scooted through stopping off to treat myself to a capuccino in M&S, sitting in the window looking out over the Plaza below, followed by a quick visit to the Cathedral. I'd heard about a very unusual bit of theatre being staged inside: 'Of All the People in All the World' put on by Stan's Cafe (an offshoot of Cornwall's own theatre company, Kneehigh). It amounted to measured piles of rice laid out on sheets of white paper on the floor, each bearing a label. The 2 actors wearing brown storekeepers' coats, surrounded by sacks of rice, worked at a long table with scales, scoops and a printer creating more piles. One grain of rice corresponded to one person, so 'The Population of Cornwall' alongside 'The Population of Bradford' were roughly equal piles. Simialrly 'The Number of Millionaires in the World' was about the same as 'The Number of Refugees in the World'. All around the cathedral many more unlikely population statistics were compared in piles of rice: very thought-provoking. On the way out I only just noticed a medium-sized pile of rice almost hidden under a table: 'The Number of FBI Agents in USA' - very typical of Kneehigh's wit!

My contrasts of the morning were the Eastern European migrant workers picking daffodils at Park Bottom and my fellow coffee drinkers in M&S.

Wed 6th February

A perfect cycling day, no wind and a warm sun. Richard's good friend Alex came to lunch and as they set off afterwards for the North Cliffs to see if the Ravens had started nest-building, I followed but on a more circuitous route! Through Penponds to Carnhell Green on NCR3 but there I turned off northwards. Over the railway at Gwinnear Road level crossing it was an easy ride passed Connors Downs and on to Gwithian. The first view of the sea on reaching the brow of the hill was as magical as ever: Godrevy Lighthouse on its island with the wave-washed rocks beyond and the village with its church and cluster of houses snuggled safely at the foot of the sand dunes. It was pretty 'claggy' in the cauliflower field I scrambled into to get my picture!

Back along the cliff road I passed our car parked at Hell's Mouth and thought about riding out to join Richard and Alex, but the coastal footpath is still pretty slippery in places so decided not to. Instead I carried on to Portreath where the tide was well in and huge breakers were crashing over the end of the outer harbour. Not much wind today but the sea swell was left over from the recent weather system; I was amazed to see several surfers taking advantage of the waves - a bit too close to the harbour wall for my liking! I lingered rather too long (hoping to get a more dramatic photo!) and began to get cold, but after racing along the valley and up the hill into Illogan, the final 'double-up-and-down' of Tehidy and Roscroggan served to warm me up - as did the wonderful orange sunset. A good 18 miles which worked off a bigger lunch than I'm used to!

Mon & Tues 4th & 5th February

Monday
Much to Richard's horror, I was up at 6am, downed half a bowl of porridge, gathered my kit and was astride a Spinning bike by 7am! The instructor this morning was Smiley Simon (SS); it was a much cosier atmosphere with just 7 in the class and we followed much the same pattern as before - with ONE exception: on reaching the 'jumps' SS worked round the class nodding 'UP' to each of us in turn - so I had to try! The main trouble was that I was the first in line, so in theory had to stay 'UP' the longest - needless to say I didn't! However, I survived the 45 minutes, cooled off with a few lengths in the pool then headed back home to finish off my porridge. A bit like Goldilocks!

Tuesday
I've decided early morning gym sessions are best as they don't mess up the day! Using a different selection of apparatus from last time (apart from the rowing machine which I can tell is doing me good) the only notable achievement of my hour was on the Stepper. Having remembered to take my glasses I could read the 'Workout Summary' at the end: after 10 minutes I had climbed the equivalent of 95 floors! EXTRAORDINARY!!!

Sat 2nd February

Another grey drizzly day brightened a little after lunch and I set off for the coast. I hadn't been to Portreath (our nearest beach) for ages and it's much nicer in winter without any crowds. Less than 3 miles from home, as I suspected there were only a few on the beach and a couple surfers hoping the waves would improve. I passed the beach car park and climbed part way up Lighthouse Hill on the far side to capture today's photo. The tide was almost in filling the outer harbour below me as I looked across to North Hill - with Smugglers Cove tucked in the corner and Black Rock offshore.

The rain was threatening again but returning home meant tackling the steep half mile hill I'd just come down (which I didn't fancy) so I continued on the more gentle route up the valley towards Redruth. No activity on the vast BMX track after the Porthtowan turn - unusual for a weekend - but plenty of coaches outside Treasure Park, a favourite stop for pensioners down from the north staying in Newquay or Falmouth at this time of year. Through Redruth town centre, I thought it about time I tried NCR3 again along the edge of Carn Brea. It was a real slog up through the village (just as remembered) but with the next spinning class in mind, I tried a fair part of it standing up - which is UNKNOWN for me! Much easier going at the top with Carn Brea Monument and Castle above me on the left and industrial Pool laid out below on the right with the coast beyond; but another switchback followed (through Brea) before I reached Camborne. A quick stop at Tesco was NOT quick at 5pm on a Saturday and it was dark when I finally emerged - had to rig up my lights for the last mile home where Richard was wondering where I'd got to. It never did rain and I clocked up 18 miles!

Wed & Thurs 30th & 31st January

Wednesday
With another gym induction session tomorrow I thought I'd better consolidate what I'd learnt already and as I really don't like being indoors when the sun is shining I swapped the early spinning class for the gym instead. I still seemed to spend too long working out instructions but 'rowed' 2000m in 11minutes, did 30 'repeats' on 3 different weight machines and 10 minutes 'random/climbing' on the treadmill at 4mph - so felt I acheived something in the hour. A lovely half hour relaxing in the sauna afterwards was my reward.


Thursday
My good intentions yesterday weren't necessary - Christian greeted me at 11am and said I didn't really need to learn much more, given my reasons for joining the gym - ie preparing for my bike ride. So I continued with my consolidation alone! Plenty of apparatus to choose from without repeating any of yesterday's, I alternated CV (cardio-vascular) machines with weights and felt a little more confident by the time my hour was up. Where else but the sauna to finish off an energetic morning?!

Monday 28th January

The lovely weekend weather didn't last but as it was still dry I fancied going west for a change, back on National Cycle Route (NCR) No 3 - much ridden in 2005, both in training and all 450 miles from Bristol to Land's End on the last leg of my John o'Groats to Land's End ride. Not so far today - just down to Hayle!

I joined the route at Penponds beside the little river and had just turned uphill towards Carnhell Green when a sparrowhawk swooped low over the daffodil field on my right - a good start to the morning! Halfway up the hill it was my turn to be studied - by the owner of a mobile home and his five Alsation dogs -luckily he kept them well under control - not a single bark in my direction - I wondered what his dog food bill must be each week.

At Carnhell Green (John Wesley once preached there) I bought a cauliflower and some spring greens from the farm gate stall (beautifully fresh and so cheap) packed them into my panniers, then carried on to Gwinnear. The village is little more than a row of houses but does have a pub and also boasts a 'Hall for Gwinnear' - if Truro has a 'Hall for Cornwall' - why not?! Half a mile further on the morning session at the little granite primary school had just ended and the infants were coming out eager to show off the morning's artwork to their mums waiting at the gate.

Another of Cornwall's 'big dippers' ahead - I whizzed down past the ancient church, taking care of the slight bend on the bridge at the bottom before pedalling crazily to try and get at least part way up Nanpusker Hill on the other side! It was still a long haul to the top but after a sharp right over the railway bridge it was downhill again (very steep and narrow) into Angarrack.

Brunel's immense viaduct carrying the main London to Penzance railway line dominates the village - I looked up its community website and discovered they have just celebrated the viaduct's bicentenary; they're also very proud of their Christmas light displays - which you will notice from my photo . . . are still up!

Luckily the way out of the village was not 'up' but along the valley to Loggans Mill, the enlarged A30 junction outside Hayle. A new branch of M&S has just sprung up here and I couldn't resist going in for a quick browse even though I looked a little out of place among the smart shoppers of west Cornwall in my back and gold cycling kit . . . . . but I did take my helmet off! I couldn't stay long (it was far too hot inside) and felt quite smug as I left, breezing past the queuing cars - the car park is totally inadequate and it isn't even summer! I'd had no trouble parking my bike!

Nearly into Hayle I stayed on NCR3 around the edge of Copperhouse Pool, over the bridge housing the tidal gates at the seaward end and back onto the road alongside the inner harbour. By now it was well past 1 o'clock so I succumbed to the aromas wafting out of the bakery and decided to buy a pasty for lunch. Tucked in a sheltered spot, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the kingfisher flitting between the boats, but sadly not, just a couple of egrets, a curlew and several gulls. Not a bad picnic site even so!

I briefly popped in to see an old friend of Richard's before heading back to Camborne. Choosing a slightly different route with gentler inclines(!) I took the coast road out of Hayle turning inland after about 2 miles to cross, first the new A30 then the old one at Connor Downs; back through Carnhell Green I finally retraced my outward route home. A very pleasant way to spend a Monday morning and I'd clocked up another 20 miles.

Today's photo - (Part of) Brunel's viaduct at Angarrack.