The way of the Camel

Cycling was something of a past time of mine in Holland, but it's not something that I often do back home - too many hills for one, access to a car for another. But the other day I decided to take my bike to the most Dutch part of Cornwall - the Camel trail. The Camel trail follows a disused railway line from Padstein (nee, Padstow) to Bodmin, and is therefore wonderfully flat.

That does not however mean that it wasn't hard work. It took four hours to go from Padstow to Bodmin, onto Wenford Bridge, then back to Padstow, by which time placing my leg in a fully straight position resulted in an awkward locking problem, and sudden movements resulted in uncontrollable stumbling. Clearly something has happened in the two months I've been back from Holland, but I'd dread to think what I'd have been like on the hills slightly closer to home.

But cycling, even when I'm cycling, does seem to be a slightly more consistent and reliable way of travelling than the trains do. Yesterday I was on my way back from Truro after visiting Jess when my train, one of those little sprinters, amazingly stalled after leaving St. Erth station and coasted down the track before stopping. I'd never really thought about trains stalling, but then the driver obviously turned the key before it spluttered back into life and continued spluttering all the way into Penzance. Kind of sums up First Great Western.