Synopsis: Mum came too! Picnic lunch in the car at our start point not far from Hound Tor. Then Mum drove down to Bovey Tracey leaving Laura and I to make our way there on our bikes. Great ride!
I asked Laura what she would like to do on this, our last day together on these holidays, and she said she’d like to do a cycle ride. I mentioned that I’d put together a mountain bike ride on Dartmoor and suggested we try that. Laura thought that sounded really good.
There were two hurdles to us doing this ride: (1) Mum said last weekend that she didn’t drive on Dartmoor and (2) I’d lost a rubber foot from my bicycle carrier at Heathrow the previous weekend. The first of these issues I handled with just a little tact and diplomacy which managed to bring Mum around to thinking she could manage a short drive over Dartmoor. The second of these required Laura and I to do a little remedial work on my bicycle involving a couple of strips of rubber and some Duck tape.
Mum drove around to my house and we put the cycle carrier and bikes on the back of Mum’s car. We then drove off to Dartmoor. Once we’d arrived at our start point we unloaded the bikes from the car and then had a picnic lunch, after which Laura and I parted company with Mum, we to begin our cycle ride, Mum to drive down to Bovey Tracey which was where we’d meet later that day.
This bicycle ride is good in so far as it is, for the major part, a downhill ride, since we start high on Dartmoor and gradually descend till we reach Bovey Tracey. It also finishes with a relatively easy stretch along a disused railway line and through a recreational park.
There were however some difficult sections including one very steep descent that had to be walked and sections over granite boulders that once again were best walked. But there was a great deal of diversity on this cycle ride that made it very interesting, with everything from open moorland, tracks through woods, lanes, and the previously mentioned disused railway line and path through a park.
Clapper bridge over Becka Brook - Laura
Clapper bridge over Becka Brook - Laura
Here you see Laura crossing the clapper bridge across the Becka Brook. This is a lovely tranquil spot set amongst trees.
We arrived at the car park and there was Mum sat in the car waiting for us. Laura couldn’t resist a laugh when she took a closer look at me because I was quite mud splattered. Laura however wasn’t much better; we were both agreed that we’d be in need of showers later that evening.
We tasked Mum with the special duty of buying some cake for us to eat when we met up after our cycle ride. Mum sought out the local Tesco Express in Bovey Tracey and came up with the much needed sustenance. We tucked into a cake and a drink before setting off back to Exeter.
That evening, after a light cheese and crackers supper, David, Christine, Sarah and Louise popped up to visit us at Mum’s place. We looked at some old video clips that David had compiled for the birthdays of Rachel and Sarah.
Cycle Statistics:
Total Distance: 9.4 miles
Moving Time: 1hrs 45min
Stopped Time: 51min
Total Ascent: 255 metres
Maximum Elevation: 433 metres
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