Last year Roger Saunders rode the Devon coast to coast route which is mainly on dedicated cycle trails away from main roads from Ilfracombe to Plymouth. His blog is here. He enjoyed it so much he organised a weekend for the Spinners to ride either the whole route in 2 days or half the route from Okehampton in 1 day. Steve Carpenter and Roger devised a cunning plan to provide the riders with transport to the start and end of the route with their bikes as we had no support drivers to carry our bags and bikes.
The plan was for 5 of us to ride from the start in Ilfracombe to our overnight stop, The George Inn at Hatherleigh which at 50 miles was exactly half way. However on arrival in Ilfracombe Steve suddenly realised he had left his shoes and helmet at Hatherleigh so he left the remaining 4 (Jennie, Roger, Mike and Simon) to ride south whilst he returned to pick up his kit and then rode back up to meet them from the lunch stop at the Puffing Billy near Gt Torrington. Apart from the initial tough climb out of Ilfracombe to the former railway station it was easy riding once on the Tarka Trail as it is flat for 30 miles along the river Taw with lovely views across the estuary. Coffee and cake at Braunton provided a good launching pad for the Tarka Trail. The tide was out so some time was spent looking at the many birds along the estuary including Oyster Catchers. After a circuitous route around Barnstable Steve joined the group and then all 5 Spinners rode to lunch at the Puffing Billy an ideal stop.
After lunch and later ice creams, close to the end of the Tarka Trail the route takes you off the trail and on to roads. Two steep hills were then tackled before finally reaching the town of Hatherleigh at around 5pm. The George Inn was a good place to stay storing the bikes and providing a good evening meal to 5 tired riders and Mike was able to recharge his e-bike. The hotel also agreed to start breakfast early just for us so we could keep to the timetable of an 8:30 departure.
The plan was for Jennie, Mike and Simon to continue their ride south on the route to Okehampton station and meet up with Lynn, Sue and Liz who were going to ride the second half of the route to Plymouth. Simon was navigating using Komoot which seemed to have a mind of its own and guided them up a few false trails before they managed to reach Okehampton. Having met up the 6 riders headed out along the Granite Way crossing the Meldon Viaduct and stopping at Lydford for a coffee/tea. After that there was a short half a mile off-road stretch before Peter Tavy which Liz was not very impressed with.
Meanwhile Steve and Roger drove to the end point in Plymouth to leave the transport there and they cycled north up the trail to meet the others. The meet up was made just south of Peter Tavy. Eight Spinners then headed to Tavistock where lunch was taken in a cyclist cafe with 10% reduction for those arriving by bike and pizzas named after famous Tour de France cyclists which Mike approved of ordering a Miguel Indurain.
After Tavistock apart from one big uphill ramp at Yelverton, which nearly defeated Mike even with an engine, it was all gently downhill on the Drake Way. Two tunnels added some excitement for those with no front lights and there were numerous viaducts to ride over and marvel at how high they were over the valleys. The approach to Plymouth was via the National Trust Saltram estate along the river Plym. The final ride into Plymouth was through a variety of landscapes passing the Aquarium and the lighthouse on the Hoe to the nominal endpoint where the photo was taken with all in Spinners livery. Despite the forecast we managed to dodge all the rain.
This coast to coast ride has three great cycle trails which alone would make a good days riding so this probably won’t be the last time Spinners go out and enjoy these trails.