Westcountry Way MTB ride - Day 3

Day 3 - Horseford B&B to Tregonwell house B&B, Minehead

Distance - 83km (estimated), 73km (actual)

Total ascent - 1320m

Altitude at start - 210m

Altitude at finish - 0m

Estimated total riding time - 7:30

As you can see from the stats this is the longest day with the most elevation gain. Most of the distance was offroad also meaning more work.

I set off later than anticipated full of a traditional cooked english breakfast. I hadn't slept as well as I would have liked last night, being up and down all night for toilet breaks, trying to get comfortable on the bed then noting the rooster who announced the approaching morning.

The weather was glorious sunny and was already pretty warm when I set off at 9:45. The legs moaned and complained as I rejoined the main route, forcing a stop to stretch out against a field gate.

I crossed the busy A361 and passed through Knowstone about 1 hour later.

Then it was off the country lanes and onto the rough stuff as the route took me back through the forest, out through a farmers field before climbing up a technical rocky trail to the entrance of the smaller (but no less beautiful) Exmoor national park.

Then it became the case of scaring the sheep, dodging the big boulders and opening and closing a million gates. The route briefly followed the moors before descending into a forest and following a gurgling river up to a bridge made up of rock slabs called Tarr steps which was indeed a very popular spot for the bank holiday. In fact it was teeming with tourists and I fought my way over the bridge and got out quick.

Right after this my back wheel promptly dislodged from the bike. But since I was not really moving it was a quick fix and counting a blessing that this had not happened while I was moving at speed.

There was a boggy field to negotiate after with a brief moment trying to find the right way then a quick lunch stop at corners gate, before pressing on realising this indeed would be a long day.

This confirmed when I reached Exford and discovered the slow leak in my rear tyre had leaked to much air so it was a quick tube change and then straight up again to more Exford moors.

I opted to detour to the highest point in Exford which was well worth the reward, as the clear 360° panoramic views were well received. With a fun and bike breaking technical downhill, skipping around big rocks I gently dropping down another 200m of elevation loss.

Back down on lower ground there were several villages to pass through and a small river to cross. The book said to use the footbridge instead of risking a ride across. I didn't see a footbridge so risked a ride across only to get stuck and get wet feet and splash my precious maps. Once I had crossed I could see the footbridge only 20m upstream. Doh!

I knew in the back of my mind there was one big hill still to come before the long descent into Minehead and it didn't disappoint.

I cycled half of it then rounded a corner on the climb and saw the rest of the hill stretch into the distance like Jacobs ladder. At that point the legs gave out and it was a bike push to more level ground.

I stopped at Selworthy beacon, drunk in the views of the coastline with Wales in the distance, then headed down a sweeping descent which threatened carnage if one was distracted by the views of the harbour. The descent whisked me back amongst the trees then before I knew it I was back at sea level in the harbour of Minehead. 10 minutes later I was at the front door of the B&B, tired, ravenous, satisfied and still elated after the downhill section to finish the day. It hadn't been quite as painful as I had imagined.

After a wash I headed down to Weatherspoons for a cheap reload of carbs and some local cider before taking an evening wander around the waterfront. Day 3 done!

Westcountry Way MTB ride - Day 2

Day 2 - Bellever YHA to Horseford B&B, South Molton

Distance - 75km

Total ascent - 1050m

Altitude at start - 335m

Altitude at finish - 210m

Estimated total riding time - 5:55

After an annoying night in a dorm with a "thunder" snorer I downed a massive breakfast and hit the Dartmoor road to ominous grey skies, a sharp breeze and more adventures waiting to be had.

Flowering yellow and purple gorse bushes, shaggy sheep and more Dartmoor hills appeared before me on that nippy grey morning. After some paddock pedaling I mistook a private drive for a bridleway which resulted in 5 minutes of friendly banter with some locals and I was off again grinding up through more the Dartmoor farm fields.

I opted for a big road climb as opposed to a big offroad climb and spun my way to the highest point of Dartmoor at 500m.

With the wind blowing and temperature quite low I stood at a cross of tracks next to Hookney Tor stone boundary wall and debated which way I should go.

The compass came in handy and off I headed only to confirm with some oncoming fellow mountain bikers that I indeed should have gone through the gate just behind me. They were a God send as I probably would have descended down the wrong part of the mountain. So checking my speed on a fun steep singletrack descent to Shapely village I arrived with burning brakes and a grin as wide as the ocean.

Then the rough stuff turned into tame english lanes which consisted of some brutal short climbs through Changford. I was back offroad and hour or so later cycling above the spectacular Teigh valley with a big gorge dropping away to my right. Impressive views.

I crossed the A30 then the rain came, light at first then heavy as I huddled under a tree thankful for the waterproofs and pack cover.

Within 10 minutes it had blown past and I was off again with wind behind me and the sun shining. It was back onto some more bridleway as I continued the two moors crossing, stopping again to shelter from a longer and heavier squall shower. Then back on some brief singletrack of the Taka trail and I swept down a dark descent to Chulmleigh, opting for the shortcut and frowned as I cycled past a sign which read 25% gradient. And it was a steep final granny cog climb up another English lane, through a long dark tunnel of trees and then pressed on with screaming legs and behind to my next overnight stop at the Horseford B&B.

It was easy to find the B&B and only a 2k detour off the main route. I turned up and they knew immediately who I was. I guess it’s not common to arrive on a bike somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Horseford B&B was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

It was a 1400's farm house, huge with old wooden beams everywhere, low doors and ceilings downstairs (people were shorter in those days). There was an original spiral staircase up to the first floor where I was staying. The kitchen was dominated by a huge solid wood table which could have seated 16 people.

Cilla had cooked that night for me as I had requested, so I sat down with the couple to enjoy a hearty helping of cottage pie and apple crumble.

There were 5 other guests staying in the B&B that night also. Four physio girls and a guy married to one of them who was training to be a minister at Oak hill bible college. I hit it off with him immediately. Everyone was very interested in my journey and why I was doing it so it had to be explained several times that I cycled up big hills and 75k today just for fun.

I also learnt that Horseford farm rescue wild ponies from Dartmoor that have been abused by their owners and try and make them manageable for people.

Westcountry Way MTB ride - Day 1

Day 1 - Plymouth to Bellever YHA in central Dartmoor national park.

Distance - 50km (estimated), 62km (actual)

Total ascent - 960m

Altitude at start - 0m (sea level)

Altitude at finish - 335m

Estimated total riding time - 5:45

The trip started not quite to plan. After a sleepless night at the anticipation of the upcoming ride I hauled myself and gear down to catch the 6:22am train.

My first meeting was with a Maori fellow from Wellington who had decided to cycle the Taka trail three days ago but had not booked any accommodation. Good luck I said, it’s a long weekend and everywhere will be full. Kiwi ingenuity and a nice smile works he said. I had spent the last month planning my trip so I didn't envy him trying to find a place to stay when tired and hungry.

Four and a half hours later I stepped out of the Plymouth main line rail station into a warm sunny summer’s day, but immediately there was a problem.

I had been diligent in replacing everything worn including my chain to reduce the chance of gear failure, but had failed to spot that the rear cassette was also badly worn. This meant that the new chain would not slot into the worn cogs so as a result the chain was skipping which meant peddling was impossible.

So I tried to find the bike shop listed in my ride book but it didn't exist anymore. Then it was off to find tourist information that was at the bottom of the hill. They then sent me back up the hill into town again and I finally located very well hidden bike shop and the student mechanic promptly identified the problem and replaced the rear cassette.

So finally I was ready to start. I returned to the information centre again and set off from the starting point which I though was Smeaton’s tower, but it wasn't.

After about half an hour of going round in circles I realised that I was in the wrong location and promptly located Smeaton’s tower (a lighthouse), took a photo and went.

It was now 13:45, about 2.5 hours after I had planned to start and I was quite worried that I would not make it to the hostel before dark as I had about 50km's to cover with quite a lot of up to get there.

So it was pedal to the metal. The first part of the ride followed the national cycle route 27 which took me back to my original starting point then followed a costal path around the Plymouth harbour before heading inland.

I promptly got lost trying to decide which maze of routes to follow, but then finally found the start of the west Devon way and pinned back the ears concise that I had lost more valuable time.

The west Devon way followed an old disused train line and it gently climbed to 100m altitude, occasionally busting out of the forest to pass over valleys with rivers and forest below.

With a steep granny cog climb over Clearbrook common I entered Dartmoor national park and promptly missed the critical turn. After about 3k I realised the error when I saw that I was heading back to Plymouth. Oh well I got a great view of my starting point and headed back up the road to take the correct turn.

Dartmoor was phenomenal. After a decent amount of road climbing, finally the proper offroad started as I climbed up a demanding rough bridleway to near Hartor Tor at 440m. On the way I had passed close to the filmset of the new Steven Spielberg movie which I wasn't allowed to know about but was invited to detour to have a look at. Unfortunately time didn't allow for detours so I continued.

The trail eventually flattened out onto beautiful almost silky smooth single track and I raced on stopping only to snap pictures of the marvellous views and Dartmoor ponies.

It was stunningly peaceful and beautiful in the Dartmoor moors. I saw a few people and several locals stopped me for a chat. I guess you don't see someone riding singletrack with a big pack on everyday.

I wisely avoided the "boggy" shortcut option and descended into Princetown in gusto and stopped to recharge energy levels.

The evening was beginning to set in so I hurried on to get stumped at a weird bridleway junction, but found the correct route and headed up for the hills again onto Dartmoor way technical singletrack stuff.

The book mentions you should check the river levels before attempting the preferred Dartmoor stepping stones routes via excellent technical singletrack. River levels looked ok to me despite the deluge of rain the area had had in the last week, so I decided to make an adventure out of the trip and took the preferred option.

Technical singletrack what the heck? What is this guy on who wrote the ride guide? It was about 50% un-ridable at best due to the amount of tree roots but at least the stepping stones were absolutely fine. I got lost again high on a field full of gorse, and began to panic that I wouldn't get a bed or meal at the hostel and called them to say I was an hour away and pre order dinner.

I quick found where I needed to go and bushwacked through the gorse back to the correct bridleway, crossed the river via more stepping stones, pushed my bike up another un-ridable track and to my relief found the fire road road which got me to the hostel in 5 minutes! I was closer than anticipated and ended up arriving at 17:15 just as dusk began to approach from the sky.

Relieved, hungry, tired, sore, I checked in. It had been a gruelling and nervous first day with a number of wrong turns, but I had seen some of the most beautiful countryside in England and was away from the bustle of London. A very action packed first day.