In Plymouth: An easier last ride

September 11, 2022

We have another rideable day, and we have all day to ride in it - our ferry doesn’t leave until 10 tonight. And we have a workable logistics plan for the day - our apartment hotel will store our panniers for the day, and we found a fish restaurant on the harbor that was willing to let us bring our bikes inside where they’ll be safe this evening while we have dinner.

What we don’t quite have though is a ride plan. I mapped out another ride up into the moors, but Rachael’s suspicious after looking at the profile - she wants to make sure there’s not another 23% slope hidden in there somewhere. She’s not sure about this one and asks for something easier. I stare at the map some more and come up with an alternate idea, riding the NCN east toward Ivybridge and then turning inward to a spot on the edge of the moors that looks like it might give us some views. It’s not easy, but it does appear at least somewhat easier. Truly easy rides don’t appear to be in the cards in this part of the world.

She signs off, and as checkout time approaches we pack up and carry our panniers down three flights of stairs (the elevator is still out) for the last time. At least we don’t have to carry the bikes down - we have them locked up for the night out back.

So how was our last ride in Britain? Eh. We did get up high enough for some views, but we could only see a wedge of them ahead down the road because we’re in a tunnel of green most of the way. And, in the end it wasn’t all that easy either. We didn’t have any gruesome slopes to contend with fortunately, but we put in nearly as much elevation gain as we did yesterday. So, maybe not the most memorable ride to end up on. Which is fine of course - they can’t all be stellar on a three month long tour, and we definitely had our share.

After passing through Ivybridge we turn north toward the moors, following the River Erme.

Most of this part of the ride looks like this - moderately hilly, hemmed in between parallel green walls.

Occasionally we come to a break in the green wall and can get a somewhat longer view.

For real excitement though we have to wait for some chickens in the road. She didn’t notice, but one of the roosters made a feint to take a peck at her as she biked past. She wouldn’t have liked that - she’s been attacked by a rooster before.

Finally we come to the high point of the ride and get a view of the moors ahead. This is all the view we get though, this narrow slice between the hedgerows. We’ll bike another three or four miles but never get a better view than this.

Well, I do get one decent view when I detour up a side lane and find an opening with a view across the field.

Our last lunch break in Britain, sitting on the steps of the war memorial in Cornwood.

Video sound track: Sailing, by Classic Dream Orchestra

Surprisingly, the most interesting sight of the day comes after we’ve returned to town, only a few blocks from our hotel. We’ve been here four days but this is the first time we’ve ridden this direction.

Charles Church was founded in 1634 in an age of religious controversy as an alternative to nearby Saint Andrew’s Church, only about four blocks away.

The church was destroyed by incendiary bombing during the Plymouth Blitz in 1941. After the war it was decided to leave the church in its ruined state as a living memorial to the 1,200 Plymouth citizens killed in the raids.

Our dinner plan worked well. We were back in town at 4 and headed down to the waterfront after picking up our luggage, arriving early for our reservation with time to take turns heading to the restroom to change clothes and make ourselves as presentable as circumstances permitted. We really appreciated being able to just wheel our bikes inside and lean them against empty tables, and being allowed to take our time and hang out as long as we wished.

It was nearing 7 when it felt time to move on, not wanting to overstay our welcome or bike to the terminal after sundown. We arrived at the terminal not long after 7 and queued up for clearance to board, happy to see that cars were already being admitted. We thought this was great news, and imagined boarding imminently and being able to sit around in the lounge or our room rather than waiting around outside the terminal for a couple of hours.

We misunderstood the situation though, as became immediately apparent when we got to the loading platform and saw that our ship wasn’t even in port yet. It wouldn’t arrive for another hour and a half, but time went quickly as we found ourselves in a lengthy and engaging conversation with four others - a pair of bike travelers from London, just starting a two week tour of Brittany and Normandy from Roscoff to Dieppe; and an elderly couple from nearby - the woman has been happily living in Devon her whole life - on their way to visit friends that live in Normandy. It made for an appealing last encounter in Britain. In the coming months we’ll miss the frequent casual conversations we’ve enjoyed in our stay here.

Travelers are being cleared for boarding when we arrive at just after 7, nearly three hours before departure. We’re pleased at the prospect of boarding early, until we realize that the ship isn’t even in port yet.

We’re checked in and waiting to board two and a half hours before departure, and the ship won’t even arrive for over an hour still. We’re lucky that it’s a warm, dry evening and we have four interesting fellow travelers to pass the time with.

We’re leaving England on a full moon! An omen of something I’m sure, and hopefully a favorable one.

We were handed our boarding passes when we checked in prior to boarding. It doubles as the key to our room.

Close quarters, but we’ve definitely seen worse.

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Ride stats today: 42 miles, 3,100’; for the tour: 2,591 miles, 160,800’

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 2,590 miles (4,168 km)

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