With the last two rides ending up rather damp when we headed towards the centre and north of the county we decided (after a brief discussion) to head south towards the Lizard. The coffee at the Regent Café was Amanda’s key objective so we only had to decide how to get there. This was left to Ian ‘The Map’ Murrells so we were always destined to find the odd hill or two, if only to keep Phil happy. We headed back through Mawnan Smith before cutting out towards High Cross. That way we could enjoy the climb up into Constantine. From there it was on to Gweek where we met another group of intrepid cyclists. Up along Gweek Drive in great conditions and on through Trelowarren before we took a minor diversion to visit the Camel Farm but when we got there there wasn’t a camel in sight. Undeterred we headed on only to fine the road blocked by, you guessed it, camels. They weren’t keen to move out of the way – one in particular seemed keener on blocking the way – but we made our way through.
Then it was a chase across the downs and on down to the Lizard. Conditions were still good so we enjoyed the coffee, bacon sandwiches etc. sitting outside in the sun. The route back now had to be determined and there were one or two murmurs of dissent when we decided to go for Poldhu – but then what’s another hill? Back through Helston and Muddy (well dusty!) Lane the next decision was whether to go back along the main road or through Porkellis and Carnkie (more hills!). The Star Inn was the deciding factor for some of us so Porkellis it was. We split up at that point but even those of us that stayed at the Star got back in the dry. 55 fabulous miles – a great day.