Day 2... Worst day ever!

Day two started with such optimism. After the disasterous journey down to Penzance, surely the only way was up...oh how wrong we were! After a nice hearty breakfast, the four of us were full of optimism...which was very quickly destroyed. We had the task of first making it to Land's End before we could even begin our long awaited trek. However, after just 6 miles of cycling we got our first puncture. This was more of an annoyance than anything and was sorted by Ben in no time, however, just a few minutes after setting off again we got our second puncture. This was more of a concern seeing as it was in the same place as the previous one. We found the source of the problem and after help from a nice man in a caravan (he gave us some Bostick!!) we started sorting out the tire. This was our biggest mistake. Through no fault of his own, Ben accidentally pierced the inner tube with a screw driver. This meant that we had no more inner tubes and a tire of which was useless to us. We decided that as we still had one working tandem, two would cycle to Land's End, come back, and then the other two would do the same. This was a good idea...in theory. Unfortunately luck was not with us and Sam and Joe (the first pair) made it to Land's End OK but when ready to leave had trouble with the rear wheel which meant that it was not only unridable, but very difficult to walk back.

In the meantime, myself and Ben were waiting patiently for our friends' return. We kept ourselves occupied by doing a bit of exercise (sounds daft I know, but really, we were THAT bored!). However, after a while of waiting we became a tad concerned and after conversing with Sam, found out that problems were beginning to be our speciality! After getting monumentally drenched by a wonderfully timed rain shower, we decided to walk back the punctured tandem and meet the other two at the hostel whenever they managed to make it back.

This is when our own angel appeared...in the form of a fellow cyclist. His name was Lez (a postman) and he was just completing his 8th (that's right...EIGHTH!!) finish of the Land's End to John O'Groates journey. He stopped us while walking, gave us another inner tube and actually helped us inflate (and keep inflated) the tire! This allowed us to cycle the bike back which was an unbelievable relief! But that is not all, Lez bumped into Joe and Sam also and fixed their broken wheel, which was enough to make it back! We all arrived at the hostel (not our previous plan), both irritated and tired. We worked on the bikes to make sure everything was in working order, and as it was 3pm by the time all was ready, we decided to cut our loses and delay our "start" until tomorrow.

So after a long and tiring day, we have made it to Land's End (at least 2 of us have) and when we leave tomorrow we will have done just 10 miles of the trek. Lots more to do and a day behind! Not a great start! However, we are now sitting in Wetherspoons enjoying some much needed food (and drink!) preparing to leave Penzance tomorrow (at least that's the plan!). So we will leave it there and hope that today really will be the worst day of the trip!

Love, The Tandem Team.