Day 0 | Orientation Day

I think I’ve finally adjusted to local time, which was the main reason for arriving two days early. I check out of the hotel at noon and wait in the lobby for my 2:00 taxi. I struggle to stay focused on my book because I keep thinking about what the next nine days will be like. I have a rough idea, but the weather is a huge contributing factor to how each day plays out. So far it looks ok for today and tomorrow.

When I get to basecamp, I get a sense of the scale of this event. I drop my bags and find my way to registration, then I queue up for tent allocation. I am given various tags to attach to my luggage and my bike, and stickers for my helmet. There are over 800 riders here, ranging in age from 20-75, so they have to be extraordinarily organised to pull this off.

The next job is to get my bike assembled and make sure nothing was damaged in transit. Once that’s done, I place it on the rack until morning.

Land’s End is really picturesque on a clear day. The cliffs look much like Ireland. A short walk from basecamp brings me to the most southwestern tip of England.

I go to the meal tent for dinner and return to the same spot later for the evening briefing at 8:00.

Before bedding down for the night, I place tomorrow’s bike clothes in the foot of my sleeping bag. This way they’ll be nice and warm by morning.

4 Comments

  1. Well you finally made it to the start! Hope you manage to sleep, it really is a weird environment. Enjoy Cornwall, just remember as soon as you’re at the bottom of a hill, another one is just in front. Leave a bit for the last 20 miles, it’s a relentless uphill drag to the base camp.

Leave a reply to Judy McLellan Cancel reply