Preparation

My bike dealer offered me a free service in preparation for the ride and I took him up on his offer last Wednesday. On the way back I was filtering past stationary traffic when a car pulled out of the line and sent me crashing to the floor. I suffered only minor injuries but the bike has a few damaged panels that I fear won't be sorted before I start the ride. The bike is still roadworthy so it's not a great problem but I would have preferred to have had a pristine bike to show off.

Friends

I have been amazed at the number of people offering to accompany me on various parts of the trip and the very generous offers of a bed, food, petrol and a laugh on the way. Some of the offers are from people I only know from forums and it will be good to see them in the flesh.

Missed some people due to tight schedule but to those who did meet me, feed me and supply fuel thank you for everything, it made a big difference.

Accommodation

Let down by the YHA, they failed to confirm one booking and I now find that I have to book into a B&B, more costs । *sigh*

Update: Managed to find a B&B close to the YHA so no need to change route plan *phew*

Edit: YHA cancelled a booking in favour of a group and wanted to shunt me into a hostel many miles away but told them it was impossible because of my schedule so they booked me into a B&B at their expense. It works out better for me as the B&B is right in the middle of Salcombe.

Garmin

I bought the Garmin Zumo 500 and have finally made the route plan using the PC and downloading the route to an SD card, that way I will have a back up if I lose any of them, deity forbid.

The Garmin froze on me once and I didn't know how to reboot it at the time but with the help of a friendly cycle shop mechanic I got the battery out and rebooted it that way, was given an allen key in case it happened again which thankfully it didn't.