Could not have asked for a better day on Lundy as the sun shone down us climbing the immaculate Devil’s slide. I was certainly feeling the nerves before setting off on the climb, the first of 83. The route has a reputation for not having much protection and its lives up to this as I mange to place 4 runners in 150feet of climbing! Fortunately the gradient is friendly and the climbing straightforward, although it was until after he had negotiated the final tricky traverse did my brother Ben have a smile on his face…
After a tough couple of days cycling over the up and down terrain of Devon and Cornwall it was a welcome sight to meet my partners for Cornwall James and Rob at the Chair ladder carpark. The remaining top pitches of Terriers tooth (the bottom fell into the sea a few years ago) were a delight, the climbing on pendulum chimney was great, but James took the brunt of the local sea gull populations fury at our presence. A quick pedal over to Sennen cove in the afternoon for the Demo route and then on the Count house above Bosigran. We decided Doorpost could wait till the next morning in favour of a pleasant sunny evening on the terrace chatting with other CC climbers enjoying the fine Cornish weather. Doorpost is probably the pick of the Cornish climbs, but we then had time to pop along the coast to do Right Angle at Gunard Head (not in Classic Rock but supposedly Ken Wilson would have included it if he had known about it at the time) before I set off on my journey back east.
A very hilly 100miles brought me to the Dewerstone, again to meet James at what is actually his local crag. The ledges of Climberc Club Ordinary are currently making a fine home for some local Kestrels, so as not to disturb them we climbed a very worthy alternative route of Central Grooves just around the corner. To ignore the welfare of the natural inhabitants of the crags would definitely not been in keeping with the spirit of this adventure so for me missing this climb doesn’t detract from the adventure at all.
After leaving Devon I had a flat 100mile run into the Bristol across the Somerset levels, a welcome break for my tired legs. Thunderstorms threatened on the bank holiday monday, but never came , allowing Caz and I a fun climb up Piton Route followed by the reward of ice-cream at sea walls lookout.
A rest day today and tomorrow I set off for North Wales, where the balance of cycling/climbing will move much more in the favour of climbing!
Classic Rock by Bike 