Microadventuring, mini tours etc

That looks amazing. Have you got a route for it?

Didn't know Wales had bothies, thought that was just a Scottish thing.

Quite a few in Wales and The North of England.

https://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/bothies/location-map/

1 Attachment

Yeah, just had a quick look around the website. Never used one as I'm not often that far off the beaten path, but would be cool to check some out at some stage.

They vary from dark and damp side to absolutely lovely. Just try not to shit yourself when someone staggers in at midnight and you've just drifted off.

The route out was pretty much this although unintentionally stumbled off it a few times with the inevitable back tracks

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/2706283

Route back used Sustrans route via Faversham, Howt Green, Gravesend and Dartford then along the Thames

https://www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map?lat=52.9399536226057&lng=-2.3247582499999453&zoom=6&route-type=all-routes&region=England

The trip wires and anti-personnel mines I'm testing pre-Brexit should fix that issue.

Or the earplugs.

Hello. I suddenly have a whole Friday and half of Saturday free and I would like to do some kind of mini trip setting off from Cambridge with I guess a BnB or hostel overnight. 35mm tyres on the bike but minimal experience with this kind of thing. I did a nice trip from king's Lynn to sheringham overnighting in deepdale earlier in the year and something like that would appeal again? I was thinking maybe something via Norwich? No idea really. Does anyone have any ideas?

Also this is my first post :)

Cambridge to Ely along the NCN paths is lovely. 45km or so, easy on 35s.
From there going on to Kings Lynn I found pretty damn boring, I have to say.

Going to do the West Country Way NCN with a couple mates from Bristol to Bude (or maybe Barnstaple/Bodmin for train links and depending on time).

Any suggestions for wild camping spots in Exmoor? Looks quite exposed and a lot of farmland from Google maps, little in the way of woodland?

In the end I cycled to Bury St Edmunds, got a coffee at Guat's Up, carried on to Stowmarket and got the train home thus managing to have the wind behind me for the whole day.

Ncn51 was pretty boring from Cambridge to Newmarket though I must say it improved after that. There's a YHA in Bury so could potentially use that as an overnight and then carry on to... Somewhere

Did a Welsh bothy trip back in the summer, easily my favourite couple of days on the bike this year

https://strava.app.link/0YGKaU6MBR
https://strava.app.link/kdkI9ljNBR

Looks way to sunny to be Wales. Photoshopped.. ;)

Where did you come up with the route?

Someone on here did a similar route, I think I found it on the "Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers" thread maybe?

Mid November is great time to go camping said no one ever.

Me and a couple of pals really wanted to try but didn’t feel brave enough and got hunting for other options. Turns out there’s a few bothies on the north coast of Devon - a good hard days loaded ride from my mum’s in the Quantocks. Set on Peppercombe bothy boasting sea views, a roof, some walls, a tap and a proper toilet. I set about planning a route that would show my comrades parts of Exmoor I’ve cycled before and other parts I’ve always wanted to but have never managed as I always take my fixed gear with me - for the pure masochism.

Day one we set off from my Mum’s bright and early. There were three of us who’d all travelled up the night before from different start points - me from London, Phil from Bristol and John from Penzance. The route started taking in the coastal roads through Watchet and Blue Anchor up to Dunster and then the climb up to Wheddon Cross. The weather presented some great atmosphere - a heavy mist in a way that you just get damp, not wet, but damp everywhere and everything looks perfectly grim in a beautiful way. The climb out of Dunster is one of my favourites. It’s like a mini alpine mountain climb slowly and consistently it ramps up, a few twists and a bit of a peak at the top and after some continual steady pushing you find yourself ~1500ft up. We continued on to Exford which is a perfectly fine and enjoyable road but pales in comparison to the climb out along Landacre Lane to give you a real taste of the moorland. Popping out of the tree cover, a hump bridge over the River Barle presents itself and the road winds on and up ahead through barren hills. It’s just so beautiful.

We rolled our way down to Barnstable off the moor through beautiful flowing lanes ready for some lunch. We debating which direction to head into town to find somewhere - age old problem, wanna keep an eye on the bikes. Also wanna be warm. John has a bright idea of pointing at the big bike shop over the road and suggesting asking there. He then had an even brighter idea once stood outside of suggesting we eat the food they’re serving at the bike shop. More of a bike complex, The Bike Shed in Barnstable did us proud with soups and paninis which in fairness were nothing to write home about but did exactly what you need in the situation. Was also fun to have a nosey at their extensive stock on display. Some nice bits and bobs!

When planning the route I decided that as it’s essentially a big there and back I’d not cover the same path twice. Instead of taking the Tarka Trail towards Bideford, the hills were calling. Those sorts of hills where you can’t really tell if the road you’re riding up has decided to become a wall or is in fact still a road. This bit was lumpy. Very lumpy. And a bit draining.

Peppercombe bothy is down a track just off the A road running through Horns Cross. You have to book and it’s £21 a night so not quite the Scottish bothies you think of but it does mean no unexpected guests during the night and you can happily fit four or five sleepers on the platforms so it doesn’t work out too bad. It’s through National Trust so hopefully that £21 goes towards protecting something important. There’s also a pub just on the a-Road which looks to be a Green King pub on google but turns out to be something looking like it needs a bit of love. We were all a bit disappointed looking at it - it was about 3:15 in the afternoon and were quite looking forward to having a nice pub dinner before settling into a cold building with no way of making a fire. There’s a fireplace but you can’t use it. Popped my head into the pub to check about food and was told from 6pm is fine, straight away asked what time we would be there, got stared at by the two customers and was pointed to the chalkboard menu on the wall. Scarpered outta there super quick! Well this is a bit shit. We’ve got a stove to make tomorrow’s breakfast but it’s a nasty drag down a busy road to get any food to cook and it’s gonna get dark in an hour or so. Down to the bothy to get settled in for be night...

The track down was treacherous - all muddy and rocky. But fuck me alive it was all so worth it! Such an amazing spot to spend the night. See pic. Just gorgeous. Setting up inflatable mats, cooking up some hot chocolate, having a look around and it’s like quarter to 4:00. Let’s close the curtains to keep the little bit of warmth in! (Not fully dark out yet). Ok! It’s weird sitting in the dark here, with all the curtains and door closed. We’ve got some dice. Let’s just go to the pub and play dice. It’s gonna be shit but, let’s go anyway. It’s cold.

Opting to walk back up as the track was gonna be sloopy slidey and dressed in the warm clothes we packed we realised that bombing down to the bothy was actually a steady crawl - turned out it didn’t take anywhere near as long to walk up as expected. The pub was quite busy when we got there and the landlady was happy to see us. Couple of beers and fear of the likely microwaved packed curry on offer we started to realise it was actually quite a nice pub. We had it confirmed when loads of people took it in turns to come over to chat, the pub team were so keen to make sure we had everything we needed and the food... was actually pretty good! The two veggies had vegetable curry and I went for tradition - gammon, egg, pineapple, chips and peas. Top! We all had puds and when we tried to pay up they insisted we stay even if we didn’t want anything else quite concerned about our warmth and comfort. We all wanted to go to bed.

I’ll come back to finish day two at some point. Currently on the train home glowing from it all and not sure if that will carry me to finish it another time. We’ll see...

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28796886

5 Attachments

Excited to hear part two!

Nice write-up thanks!
I lived round there for a bit, that toll road up from Porlock very pretty, nice views of the coast from up there.

Part one of day two - We started with a downhill dash along the a-Road underneath the most beautiful star filled sky. Tundling along the Tarka Trail we debated using the flat of the former train line as a chance to get ahead of time and pushing on or jut rolling through casually and enjoying it. We rolled - that’s what the weekend was all about. The sun was rising over the marshes along The Torridge and set a start to the day of just being mesmerised by beautiful scenes. There was a plan to dip back into Barnstable and grab some food for the day. It wasn’t likely a Sunday through small hamlets would prove fruitful so we wanted to stock up for the day. Pasties were brought for £1 each from the Asda Superstore petrol station. So many pasties.

Swinging out of Barnstable towards Muddiford we didn’t consider the irony of what was about to happen as the road was closed and we road three abreast through the valley just talking about how great life is, how great the outside is and just how great getting places on bicycles is. Glorious road, would ride again even if open to cars.

To get out of spending too much time on busy roads I’d found a small track coming out of Muddiford in the direction of Combe Martin. Up we went along, I don’t know what you call the type of road service but that type where it’s made out of concrete slabs laid out one after another. The climb up was beautiful, lightly tree covered through the combe towards some small farm buildings. That’s where Muddiford lives up to its name and turned into a mud bath. We battled cows, climbed fences, did that thing to get through bushes a bit like where Homer Simpson disappears into a bush in the famous gif. The tracks were rocky steep and tough and not quite suited to the adventure bikes we were on designed for adventuring. Looking back the right turn after Muddiford up Whitefield Hill which we later joined would have been a much better option as its was again just glorious and we were back to talking about how excellent everything was.

Further down the road we see a great white farm building on a junction where we are turning to shelter from the wind for a break. The sun is out - it’s pure golden balls. Whilst we’re stood around chatting (probably about who’s got the biggest willy or something) some old dude pops out from one of the lanes and grins wildly as soon as we all make eye contact. “Ere lads. 68 I am an still ridin’. Fit as a fiddle!” He’s sat atop some run of the mill 90’s mountain bike. He tells us all about the Tour of Britain coming through the area and asks where we’re going. His jealousy is wild and enthusiasm for the scenery we’ll come across high. We all ride onwards together briefly before he beckons us to shoot off ahead while he spins up an incline. We’re climbing towards the descent into Invention Wood. At the peak we get the first real glimpse of what is ahead of us for the rest of the day. Pure unadulterated scenery porn.

5 Attachments

Great stuff!

yeah, this is great @jaeyukdapbap

Awesome writeup!

Day two part two - Everything so far has been incredible. Just really great riding, all the right problems to solve and the best of spirits. The next part of the ride was always going to blow everything else before out of the water.

And it was going to be hard.

The first part of the descent into Invention Wood rolled beautifully. A couple of quick stops for photos and then the roller coaster. We plunged downwards. Holding brakes down full and feeling just the right side of out of control. Terrifying but fun stuff. What goes down must come up and we met out first (marked) 25% climb. We all spent a bit of time prepping before tackling it and opted for a bit of a run up. John is light as a feather and on really low gearing and managed to spin all the way. I tried to follow but the back end of my bike started to slip around on loose leaves and gravel. I took the heroic decision to get off and walk for the really steep bit and as I did so turned around to see Phil making the same decision. We shared a look of ‘what the fuck?!?’ Regaining a bit of footing hopped back on the bike and caught up with John and recovered together at the top of the hill waiting for Phil to join us.

I knew what was coming next. The valley of the rocks. It’s one of my favourite places and I couldn’t wait to show the others. What I didn’t realise was the road we were on to get there was set to be one of the best I’ve ever ridden. With heavy bikes and tired legs Slatterslade lane just flows. Every quick up perfectly timed for a gentle push of the pedals to boost you over and every twist and turn offering glimmers of the coastline through the trees. Popping out of the woods into the open and a climb past Lee Abbey before the rocks present themselves.

I’m not gonna try and wax on about how great this place is, quite aware of how wanky this all sounds already but in short, it’s a must see. John has a climb up to the top to get some photos whilst me and Phil day eating cake.

It was getting to that point in the day where we start having to assess our timings. Lynton is over the hill, then on to Porlock and either of the two are the last chances to get some warmth before home. We have about 3 hours of daylight left and Dunkery Beacon is the final climb of the day. We settle on the plan of a quick stock coffee in Lynton and to push on after that.

After climbing out of Lynton, Hookway Hill alongside the Oare is the path to take and again, we find ourselves on another delightful road. Slowly meandering through the valley, slowly climbing we all feel tired but are spurred on by the prospect of the Porlock Toll Road descent. Phil basically hasn’t ridden his bike all year outside of commuting so whilst climbing together we discuss the option of taking the main road out of porlock straight to Minehead or carry on with the planned ascent of Dunkery. He’s tired but strong and wants to do Dunkery. I was secretly hoping he would opt for the shorter route as I’m feeling pretty wrecked at this point.

We crawl to the top, smash along a small stretch of main road before turning off for the toll road. Again, it’s hard to explain how great an experience this is. Just a really great descent that competes with the Alps and The Pyrenees. Just a bit smaller. Another must.

Out of Porlock and begging god the climb to Dunkery John talks about his experience of riding it before. We meet the quick kick up to 18% with the handily places cattle grid and slowly split as we all take it at our own pace. The road levels out to reveal a clearing and it’s got to that time of day where the sun is just touching the peaks of the hills around us as it sets. This is the highest road in Exmoor we’re climbing and it’s been timed perfectly for golden hour. The views are vast and the light unbelievable. We’re treated to a herd of wild horses milling around in the sunset at the peak. Couldn’t be more perfect.

We opted for coming off the route and dropping back down on the A396 into Dunster. It’s a wide gently descending road and daylight is quickly disappearing. John still has a drive back to Cornwall ages of him and we’ve gotta get Phil on his train back to Briz. We roll back into the quantocks along the coastal roads we came out on yesterday and are greeted by a huge roast dinner and showers before sending John and Phil on their way.

I got a bit over emotional about this weekend away. It was just perfect and so good to spend it with two people who have the exact same riding/living ethos. everyone should consider Exmoor for a cycling trip If they haven’t already been. It’s tough (the relive recording gives an idea) but it’s all so rewarding. As a group we normally do a long week or two cycling trip in the summer but have settled for just doing long weekends like this next year and slowly ticking off all of the UK national parks and AONB’s. We’re all very lucky to live here.

Disclaimer: This was all written on my phone and the autocorrect has doen some funny things. I'm not actually an idiot.

5 Attachments

Amazing write up and photos, what a ride!

Well jel. Looks ace and a great write up.

You had me at hello <3