CYCLING DAY 3 and 4 – Lostwithiel –Okehampton – 41.85 miles and Okehampton – Sampford Peverel – 46.29 miles

As we are now staying at a Campsite in Sampford Peverel we took the first train back on Sundaymorning to Lostwithiel. As this took 2 ½ hours we didn’t start cycling until nearly midday. Took the A390 to Dobwalls, across the A38 to Redgate, Minnions(we had a Cornish Cream Tea here and had our verification sheet stamped, as they were also a Post Office) Berriowbridge, Launceston, Lifton, Lewdown, Okehampton. We had to find a B&B as there is no railway station there. We found one right on the road we were cycling on and which was very welcome, because we were shattered. It was again a hard day’s ride, 7 hours in total, but we enjoyed it. Past Dobwalls we noticed an interesting ancient monument. It was the King Doniert's Inscribed monument and relates to a 9th century Cornish King. We also notice the many disused Cornish Tin mines, often a ruin. There is however one preserved and listed as a World Heritage Site. We didn't go in to see it, it would hold us up too long. We decided to leave that for another year. The next morning we left at 9 and found the terrain easier. Went from Okehampton on a country road next to the A30 to South Zeal, Cheriton Bishop, Tedburn St.Mary, Exeter, up alongside the M5 to Broadclyst, Cullompton, finishing again at Sampford Peverel. Along the way late in the morning, we were overtaken by 4 young riders and I quickly asked them as they passed if they were End2Enders, which they confirmed. They stopped and we had quite a chat about their journey and ours. They have the back-up of a friend with a caravan. They will do the run in 12 days as they have to go back to work. One of them was Dutch and we shall have a look at his website. They left and we found them later –as they were having a cup of tea along the way- waiting for us to pass by and they took a picture of us. That was nice. By one o'clock we were getting quite exhausted and needed sustenance and decided on the first pub we passed. The Royal Oak in Whitestone just before Exeter, looked very well after us. It was your usual local Devon Pub with a number of men drinking their midday beers. Nice crowd, and of course they wanted to know everything. One of the man came over on his way out to shake our hands and told us we were mad, but he liked what we were doing. We have just had our evening meal, ready for a coffee and we shall be off to sleep soon.