13 Jan. Down to the shining sea
Clean the bike first.....or get warm? Decisions. I needed a hot shower to warm up today and this is in the benign 'sub tropical' (hah!) climate of the far south west. The frost was so heavy on the van windows this morning, it took me ten minutes to clear it before driving west for ten miles so I can start the ride without three big hills. There are hills enough anyway.
Onto the dark, dank and cold lanes then. The trees are managing to hide the sun even without leaves and the cold air has been gathering all night. It sits there, heavy, immobile, breathing is like inhaling a thin frozen soup. Autumn's leaves are still piled up at the roadside but frozen now, a web of white glass holding them together in an uncooperative pile, causing my wheels to skitter and shake. I am very cold, inadequately dressed, the freezing air finding a gap between shorts and leg warmers, between neck and collar, the fronts of my arms. Every now and then I shiver, hunching my shoulders, concerned my fingers may not respond to instructions.
So almost grateful for the uphill, I pedal steeply towards the sun, body warming with exertion. Up onto the high, green moorlands of west Cornwall, granite studded fields between Cornish hedges, distant vistas of old mining villages, smudged by mist in the valley floors. A low sun slanting light, shadowing the land, picking out the ridges and tree tops.
Morning mist
More rolling lanes, some steeply up and some slippery down but nothing that will stop me today. Then arriving at the busy town of Helston, fighting traffic on the roundabouts, dodging through the one way system and out onto the tarmac bridleway through the Penrose Estate. Weaving between prams and dogs before a final up and down into Porthleven, my destination today, an old fishing village on the south coast.
Everyone's heading for Porthleven today
Apparently Porthleven is now a 'foodie haven', whatever that means? Maybe it means more expensive and with smaller portions? The local papers carry pictures of stars from TV and film who have been here this summer - but there are very few people here today. The sun is out now, weakly, and by standing in the right place I can feel it on my face, although the shivering has come back now I have stopped. Tea and a cake from an expensive cafe, sitting outside as I still fear Covid 19. There are surfers on the swell which peaks along the harbour wall and the sea is shining silver in the low winter sun. One small fishing boat ventures out of the harbour. It will be even colder out there on the water and the crew are hunched in thick waterproofs and fleeces, sheltering in the lee of a small cockpit cover.
Porthleven harbour
From here the route heads past the harbour and up a steep hill, hugging the cliffs and rising until it reaches a flatter lane, the shining sea now a hundred metres lower and the distant sweep of Mounts Bay, Penzance and Mousehole visible in the clear, cold light.
More lanes, more hills, more moor top riding, the sun appearing from time to time as the low cloud breaks up and a clear blue sky appears and as quickly clouds over again.
Sunny for a moment....but still cold.
By the time I reach the van again, I have still not warmed up properly, just maintained enough life to function, to react to changing road surfaces, bends and short, steep uphills, slip sliding downhills.
Arriving home, I ponder; hot shower first versus bike cleaning first?
Easy decision...the bike wasn't that dirty.
