Wobbling Winos: Day 8: Hatherleigh to Camelford

Day 8: Hatherleigh to Camelford. 82 km

We set off on a cooler day after a delicious English breakfast made by Janice in the dinky dining room of Pipers Cottage.

We are now back on Route 27 which took us along small country lanes through Highworthy at Sheepwash the route split with one going down to Plymouth and the other to Bude we changed to route 3 but had to take a short diversion as there were road works. It was a pretty straight forward cycle however there were some steep hills to negotiate to Hollworthy where we stopped for coffee and ate the delicious coffee cake Janice had baked. As this was the last biggish town we would be passing through, we picked up some lunch and set off. It was quite a challenge getting out of Hollworthy and we had to rely on Garmin which is always a gambol, after coaxing her with the name of the next village we eventually found our way out of the town.

As we crossed over the border from Devon to Cornwall at Bridgerule we caught the first glimpse of the ocean on the horizon and with that we found that the distances between the villages have become longer and at times we felt quite isolated.

To psyche myself up for climbing a hill as we approached I thought that with every stroke of the pedal I was getting closer to the exhilaration of riding down the other side with the wind blowing through my hair but all too soon I was laboring up the next hill. Fortunately it was a cool day which helped with the recovery.

The last 10 km was along a disused runway through the stark Bodmin Moor with its grazing cattle, sheep and horses.The approach to Camelford was up a steep hill and through the upper part of the town where we eventually found our B&B, a modest self catering establishment on the outskirts of Camelford. Supper was a ready cooked pasta dish from the Co-Op and salad which was delicious.