Day 9 - We made it

The final day called for an even earlier start than usual to be in with a chance of getting back to Bluebell and the girls on the same day. So we were up at 4:30am packed up for the last time and off at 6am with our Cadbury/EDF Energy team time trial formation intact from yesterday.

Whilst we thought Jonathan was a sophisticated London marketing professional, he turned out to be a simple country boy from Cornwall and his local knowledge of the 15 hills in the first leg proved invaluable. We even went past his primary school which called for the first photo opportunity of the day.

After the early start, I was struggling to keep my eyes open whilst cycling so it was most welcome when Team Cadbury came up trumps at the pit stop with a mobile coffee shop.

Lucky they were taken over by Kraft

The middle leg of the day was a delight with some good conversation and not too many steep hills. Luckily, for everyone concerned, I decided not to join in with Siobhan's singing. Halfords even turned up when Jonathan had a puncture.

Black stripes, orange paint...you know what it is

At the final pit stop of the ride, Jonathan helped Cadbury on their way to their mission of being the UK's number 1 snacking company.

Just one more Finger of Fudge and I'll get to 3 figures

The final leg had the steepest hill of the whole ride, a 16% incline hill going out of Newlyn, 10 miles from the end so we took it fairly easy until then with a few photo opportunities along the way.

10 more hills to go

Even time for a tourist shot of St Michael's Mount

After a very pleasant few miles around Penzance, we all did a few Go Gels at the bottom of the climb and it was indeed a ridiculous road to climb on a bike.

Jonathan at the top

But we all got to the top and then it was a short 10 miles to the finish at Land's End, which was fantastic to get to, but as usual, it was the journey rather than the destination that will stick in my mind. Even so, it would be remiss of me not to include a couple of photos of the end.

Random people finishing

The EDF Energy Four

Due to the hills and the chat, we finished the 111 miles and 3,200 metres of climbing at a social 12 mph. but importantly, with the aid of a lift from Claire's mum to Gatwick, I succeeded in my quest to get home the same day.

So that's it. A great ride with some great people. But there's no place like home.