Day 16 - the wettest day (West Devon to St Austell)

Reminiscing about all those summer holidays I had in Cornwall as a boy. The sound of the rain drumming on the windscreen. Watching the winds lash in the rain against our hotel window, nose pressed against the glass hoping it would stop and I could play outside. Feeling the first drops of rain sat on the beach and running for shelter. Hiding in a doorway for shelter whilst trying to enjoy and ice cream.

All these memories came flooding back on the ride today - the wettest day. For the first hour we had lovely sunshine, we even complained that we were too hot.

This all changed as we rode out of Oakhampton. We had seen the weather looming on Dartmoor, but we didn't reach it until we had done the long climb out of the town. Then we hit the excellent Granite way - a disused railway line rising gently into Dartmoor. A really excellent ride.

But as we approached, a cloud of drizzly rain envelopes us. As we progressed it got worse and worse. We were drenched. Tempers frayed. Route 27 turned from fine path into impassable muddy quagmire.

Sodden and hungry we pulled into the Trout and Tackle pub. Drying off we ate the most amazing trout for lunch, caught next door. The barman donated £20 to MSF and one of the other patrons gave us £4.

We hoped the weather would lift, it relented a little in Plymouth. But then got worse. As well as driving rain, the fog visibility reduced to about 10m.

The rain had turned many of the steep and narrow lanes into tricky surfaces. Slippery to climb up, treacherous to descend. With 30 miles left, and having already done an unreasonable amount of climbing (Cornwall is5 very up and down!) we decided that the narrow steep lanes were too dangerous. Instead we hit the main roads. Less traffic because it was later, and the rain seemed to have put people off, we made much quicker progress. If was still very hilly. But I love a good hill so i quite enjoyed the last run in. Big swèping descents, followed by a good grind uphill.

We've showered double quick and rushed out to get food before everything shuts. We'll need it for the last push to the end of Cornwall.