The north coast of Cornwall and Devon is pretty rugged, with many streams cutting through the high ground so that any journey which follows the coast must go up and down steeply – time after time after time. And that was what I had to do today.
I set off from Tintagel with Richard Dugdale and we were soon at Boscastle, scene of catastrophic flooding seven years ago – and you can see why, as the rivers that drain a wide expanse of hinterland converge in a narrow channel through the centre of the village.
Normally when you’re cycling a route with ups and downs you can make a bit of time up on the downhills, but not here – especially after the overnight rain, as the hills are so steep, damp and greasy, descents have to be made with the utmost care.
Crackington Haven is absolutely spectacular, and although it may be difficult to see in the photograph, the deeply folded rock strata are quite striking. The ascent from sea level up Millook Hill is a long, steep hill rated at 30% - an absolute killer!
Further on, Widemouth Bay is also impressive, and today the strong westerly wind was bringing in some big breakers, making it a surfers’ paradise.
Coming into Bude I was caught by a sudden crosswind as I was doing about 25 mph, and pushed on to a wet manhole cover. Although it all happened very quickly, it was a pretty frightening skid with (fortunately) a quick correction – and I managed to stay on the bike, but it was a ‘near-do’.
I knew that much of the Devon / Cornwall border follows the River Tamar, but I hadn’t realised for just how far! The Tamar rises only a few miles from the north coast and appears to flow the ‘wrong way’ to the sea. I crossed into Devon on the A39 here, then headed back towards the coast through Welcombe, Stoke and eventually Hartland Point.
Hartland Point
Around this time a shower came across, and I thought it would soon be over – in fact, it lasted for three hours and necessitated me changing into full waterproofs for the afternoon. I had done 45 miles and nearly all the climbing – over 1,850 metres (6,000 feet) had already been done. The final 30 miles were done in dire conditions, but thankfully the roads were somewhat flatter than they had been earlier.
Barnstaple from the Tow Bridge
Westward Ho! passed without much ado as it was still pouring down, whilstt Barnstaple impressed only by having some of the worst drivers of the whole trip, I’m sorry to say – I seemed to be getting constantly ignored / carved up and had to be on my guard the whole time. Not impressed.
The rain had stopped and just as my waterproofs were drying out, another heavy shower came along to leave me wet as I ended the day just outside Barnstaple. Tomorrow is a big big climbing day, with Countisbury, Porlock and many other big hills. I need an early night – I’ll try to post pictures with this blog but if the signal is weak I hope you’ll be prepared to wait until tomorrow!
Keep pedalling Bill, you are doing great! Liz
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