Day 5 - Newquay to Carbis Bay. Target achieved!

Day five should have begun with smiles and cheer, but instead our valiant seven woke up in various versions of grumpy, grumpy moods. Start time was delayed, but the time was used wisely for blagging our stay for free. Who can resist a charity escapade? Not Hendra Holidays of Newquay, that's for sure. Good job guys!

The beginning of the day followed much the same formula of the previous afternoon, cue lots of rolling Cornish hills. Progress was good, and all our spirits lifted as we went along, although we did have our first and only roadside puncture - Luke's back wheel decided to give up the ghost on the uphill. Being the stellar team we are, everybody cycled to the top to wait for Luke, who then carried his bike up on his shoulders like a regular iron man. We used the waiting time for an early break, and due to a lack of trees the one banana skin is now hanging on a roadside sign.

Puncture fixed we cracked on. Unfortunately for us, so did the wind. Right into our faces. Forever. It was almost relentless, seeming to stop only when we were in the very bottom valley between hills. Even going downhill seemed a chore, the downward slope and pedalling in our highest gears combined could hardly get us going a good speed. After the 25mph stint yesterday it felt very slow indeed. At one point we all pulled over just so that we could have a good bitch about it (and some food, of course - don't forget to eat before you're hungry to keep your energy levels up!).

And then it was A30 time. We joined in our previously discussed beautiful swan formation, but it turns out that even being a flock of brave birds is pretty intense with traffic speeding by and the cycle lane being gritty and peppered with debris. There was worry that it might be punture city, but we flew through it with two chains off as our only mishaps. After exiting the dual carriageway it began to feel like lunch time, and we stopped at a little pub that had a gypsy-caravan-organ-mobile just around the corner. It played lovely organ music just for us as we ate our yummy lunches. Chilli vinegar for the win!

After lunch the wind dropped a little and and hope shot right up when we saw our first sign for Hayle (the next beach along from our destination). We rejoined the treacherous A30, but by this point our biking skills were so great that it didn't faze us anymore, and we were even overtaking cars by the dozen. There was a traffic jam, yes, but you can't deny our awesomeness. We stopped on the verge to eat some more, go to the loo in nature and watch a man pull over to kick his exhaust pipe back on, and then it was once more time for action.

Our last part of the epic journey were the roads we knew so well. The last few hills were hardcore, but we were so close and full of that "almost there" feeling. Before we knew it we were all going down the hill to Carbis Bay beach together. "We started together and we ended together", in the words of Ben "Poetic" Williams (not his official nickname, but a fitting one none the less).

A lovely bunch of wonderful people were there to celebrate our arrival with us, there were balloons, banners, champagne and a lot of hugs - brilliant! Our pilgrimage was complete when we'd climbed the rocks to see Bestie.

The concluding adventure for our cycle bum shorts was into the ocean for a rather chilly experiment into just how much water those padded bottoms could absorb. Not as much as we expected, it has to be said. And now with our journey complete and an enormous shared feeling of satisfaction we're chilling on the beach and having a drink. Bliss.

The End.

Until next year...