Today was brought to you by the letter A and the number 390. Some days it's simply not worth taking the scenic route, instead opting for the fast car express, which on a bike is a pretty miserable experience. Luckily, we had some detours planned, and as we got closer to Callington the fast cars were routed elsewhere and we had the big climbs all to ourselves. Boy oh boy, were the climbs big! Sitting in our granny gear, we could do nothing but follow the twis...

Today was all about ticking boxes... namely Lands End and Lizard Point. After a little faffing, we left our panniers at the B&B and did a quick loop to Lands End and back, thankfully down a 16% gradient back into Penzance (which had we gone the other way round, we would have had to climb straight after breakfast). The journey to and from Lands End was spectacular: it was amazing to see the country shrink before you with the sea on both sides getting close...

Penzance - we have at least made it to the start - well…… 10 miles to Lands End from here. All the planning of routes and purchasing of kit is now over (including some mudguards for Andy, which are currently strapped to E's panniers, but she's hopeful they will be on A's bike before we set off!), and we are ready to rumble … Slowly. After packing last night we made the curious decision to weigh our bikes. Loaded with two weeks worth of kit, our LEJOG b...

Four days to go until the greatest cycle adventure in the UK and I am lying face down in the road on London's Embankment. Just another statistic on Boris' cycling superhighways. I am second in a line of cyclist to hit a car that has just pulled across the traffic and cycle lane towards a petrol station. 40kph to zero in about 10metres.... The guy in front has less time and his bike is now in three pieces spinning down the road. Don't move! The army medic wh...

Today is a day of firsts: First blog, first journey with loaded panniers and first time we meet little baby Leila, our new niece. Having never travelled with panniers before, we thought it would be a good idea to load them up and do a dress rehearsal by cycling to Portsmouth. Andy is chickening out and not planning to take everything, but to be honest I'm more interested in winning the mudguard argument: he's refusing to put any on, which I think utterly self...