Situated at the most southwestern tip of England in County Cornwall, Land’s End is perched on the cliffs overlooking the rugged Celtic Sea. Surrounded by quaint fishing villages and farmland, its geographic marvels lend itself to an idyllic and picturesque starting point of an epic adventure.
Idyllic it was for its setting; ideal it was not for rando logistics. The closest rail station was in the town of Penzance about 10 miles to the east of Land’s End. If you were flying to the UK, one needed to figure out how to store bike box and other belongings while before embarking on this grand British adventure.
I rented a car upon arrival. After staying in London visiting friends for a couple of days, one of whom offered up her home to store my bike box and other personal items while I was away, I drove out to Sennen, the village next to Land’s End, to check into the Airbnb to get ready. Michael chose to take the train to Penzance where I picked him up at the station. LA Matt from PCH Randos, a dyed-in-the-wool rando, took the train from London then rode from Penzance to the Airbnb fully loaded with his gear. Once the car had served its purpose, I dropped it off at the rental agency in Penzance and rode back to Sennen.
By a stroke of good fortune, Andy’s choice for the start HQ at the Sennen community center where we could pick up our brevet cards and drop off our 2 bags was about a quarter of a mile from our Airbnb. We walked there. Once relieved of our obligatory administrative chores, we stopped at Shantys Fish Bar for fish and chips to celebrate our start. Michael had a last-minute procurement visit to the SPAR convenience store next to the chip shop.
That night before the start, sleep was an endeavor, not a realization. The anticipation of the upcoming adventure inevitably aroused the countless thoughts of uncertainties, fears, doubts, imagined mishaps and remembered failures, becoming a boiling sleeplessness stew mixed and stirred as I tossed and turned.
By 3:02AM, I acquiesced to the fact that it would be another sleep-deprived start in the morning….