Day 2 : Land’s End

As the picture says

The Second  day does not start well. Around one minute after I started from HQ, the needles of speedo and tacho “freeze” (exactly like a computer would), remaining hanged in the middle (30 mph, whatever the bike’s actual speed). The screen goes dark, there are no indicators and (presumably) stop lights. The engine still works, so I decide to ride back to HQ as, if I have to wait half an eternity for the assistance, I prefer to do it from there.

I fear an electronic gremlin or an electronic component giving up, but as I ride home I keep noticing that not only the engine still sings, but the things which don’t work appear to be simple electric circuits (say: electric windscreen). Once at HQ I check the fuses hoping that the problem is just a blown fuse. Unfortunately, they are both perfect. I “clean” and put them in place again, reflecting that I am now at the end of my very limited knowledge in the matter.  I am almost resigned to call the assistance, which on a Sunday morning will probably allow me to cook lunch first.

Very, very luckily, when I try again everything is hunky-dory. Perhaps the vibrations had done something to the fuse, but the possibility of a gremlin remains because the fuses were fully and solidly inserted in their seat, with no vibrations or dirt whatsoever. Be it as it may, everything works and I am happy with that. I can say to you now that the problem did not represent itself during the trip. New mental note: buy extra fuses, “Mini Blade” type, 7.5 A and 15 A.

I start now my ride (with some delay) and ride around the coastal villages, on a road  prepared at home during the long winter months. The route leads me through Porthtowan, Portreath, Carbis Bay, St. Ives (very beautiful), Porthmeor and St Just (also beautiful) before heading straight for the small village of Sennen, which is right there by the great attraction: Land’s End.

By this time it is very grey and windy, and the still impressive Land’s End is not at its best. I plan to, perhaps, ride back again on a sunny day, but then again I do not like interruptions to my rides and, were I to be able to ride back in the sun, I would more likely enjoy the wonderful scenery whilst riding.

Land’s End parking lot, main building and back of hotel (with the parked motorbikes in the background).

Yes, the scenery. Breathtaking. This place is above all expectations I might have had, and the coastal tour is a succession of beautiful hilly landscape and sudden appearance of the sea in the distance. It is so beautiful one must make an effort to watch the road ahead. It is also, on the windy and grey morning, a mixture of “Poldark” (hey, don’t judge… What I watched of it I did only for the beautiful landscape and women) and “Wuthering Heights”. I recognise the coastal landscape from the TV show, but that had not prepared me for the beauty I am now seeing.

After Land’s End, I decide to ride back because it is now very late for lunch. The fastest road back is the A30. In this section, the A30 is not only single carriageway, but utterly spectacular. It’s not the road you ride to arrive home fast. It’s the road you ride because you want to.

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The (now advanced) afternoon begins with some rain but then stops. This time, I ride initially towards the north and visit Newquay (beautiful place, this one) and Padstow (with a spectacular hotel, very possibly the sign of very elegant tourism in past times, before the age of cheap flights to Spain).  Then I decide to “lose myself” riding around the beautiful villages, with the sun now out, and more spectacular views. I end up at the other side of the Cornish coast, in a nice village called Polperro. From there I ride back along the B3359, stunning and panoramic, then along the A38, also beautiful; then it is the A30 again, this time with a lot of dual carriageway but never boring.

I see many wind turbines, which must be an eyesore to some. I find them not ugly at all, and actually majestic in their own way in the middle of the countryside.

Back to HQ in a glorious evening, I profit from the weather and sit outside writing some travel. The neighbour’s cat comes to visit. It is an obviously well-fed animal, and shows to me a friendliness I am unaware of having earned in any way. Sorry, my furry friend: no food and no petting, either, because I am actually, literally, allergic to the likes of you. Poor cat becomes bored and goes away without even a “meow” of farewell.

Alas, he will not speak well of me to his fellow felines.