Joe was annoyed when he arrived at
Newton Abbot station for the start of our 2005 junior tour. The
expensive Altura panniers he had ordered the week before had not arrived in
time for the tour, so he had been forced to use the cheap all-in-one
panniers that had caused him so many problems on last year's tour.
Oliver arrived just in time for the 0940 train which brought us swiftly to
Taunton, the start of our great weekend adventure.
Joe's bike needed a few
adjustments because he had left an important part of his hub at home, but
soon we were speeding around Morrisons buying lunch and supper. We had
plenty of time, so we left Taunton by the quickest route and detoured
throughquiet
country lanes to Bradford on Tone. Next stop was Halse, where Keir
took a look at the map and suggested an alternative route to the Quantocks
that avoided some nasty-looking double arrows. We continued
to Greenway and Bishops Lydeard, finally discovering a field near Terhill
that was suitable for lunch.
Keir's bike needed some adjustments next so that he could get all his
gears, and then Joe required further work to his rear hub. We
struggled up the long climb to Lydeard Hill, enjoying panoramic views across
the Somerset countryside. Now, however, began the real fun, with a
track of several miles that followed the top of the Quantock Hills. It
was bumpy and muddy in places, but generally it was fast and fun in the late
afternoon sun, wending its way through woodlands and moorland.
Everything was going to plan until we passed Crowcombe Park Gate. A
maze of tracks criss-crossed the moor at this point, but Michael felt sure he
knew the way without checking the map. Hinkley Point nuclear power
station looked magnificent on the distant coast, but it was almost directly
in front of us - this was the wrong track. To make matters worse, Keir carried on
down a hill and had to be brought back again - he didn't make THAT mistake
again! There was nothing for it but to retrace the route until we
found a link track that took us across to the Thornecombe Hill track that we
should have taken. There was a good deal of riding to do and the light
was fading fast, but we just made it down the final rough track to the lanes
near Quantock Hills youth hostel before darkness fell. Michael also
fell, but he blamed the rough track and the disappearing light!
Our dormitory was somewhat cramped, but the showers were excellent and we
were soon setting about preparing a well-earned supper. Keir impressed
everyone by making his own lemonade, from lemons and sugar he bought at
Taunton!
To conclude an excellent first day we settled down in the dormitory to
try Michael's new experiment: he had brought a full size laptop computer
with him complete with joysticks, and Gavin was carrying a set of speakers
with subwoofer! Miraculously it had all survived the rough tracks and
was working perfectly. We played a few multiplayer games and listened
to some music before settling into bed for a good night's sleep, soothed by
the sound of many sheep on the surrounding hills.
Saturday 26 March
Easter Tour Day 2 to
Exford YH (31 miles)
Weather: Sunny and warm
Saturday was a beautiful sunny
morning - far better than the forecast we had seen before we left. We
had time to take several photographs outside the hostel while Tao and Oliver
attempted to prevent Joe's rear hub from completely falling apart.
First
stop was the duckspond at East Quantoxhead. It looked at first as
though all the ducks had left, but then two came along to save the day and
generously ate some of the bread we threw at them. Joe's Weetabix, not
surprisingly, disintegrated long before the ducks reached it!
A short spin brought us quickly to the fishing village of Watchett, where
a town crier shouted his heart out on the street while we enjoyed drinks and
teacakes in the harbourside cafe. We were loathe to leave, but we had
a good distance to travel before sundown. It was just beyond
Blue Anchor Bay that we noticed Joe was pushing his bike. The hub had
finally given up, and Oliver's idea of checking out the nearby junk shop did
not produce any useful solutions. A quick telephone call identified a cycle shop not far
away in Minehead:
we arrived shortly after 12.30 and spent nearly an
hour replacing his wheel and buying a new saddle for Gavin (who was really
having a hard time with his original one!).
Now running an hour and a half behind schedule we called into the nearby Tesco
store to buy our lunch and supper and then set about the long climb of
North Hill. It was well into the afternoon before we met at the top ready for the
track descent to Selworthy. We had hoped to buy ice-creams there, but
the only cafe was full and we really didn't have time to wait around.
Another interesting series of tracks led us to Allerford where nobody
decided
to attempt the ford. Finally we could start the ascent of Exmoor, a
climb of around 434m. It was much later than we had intended, but
somehow we kept everyone moving and arrived just before 7pm as darkness was
falling. We were very glad to get in the hot showers and eat a good
meal after such a long day.
Exford
hostel has no tv room, and tonight BBC1 was showing the first episode of the
new series of Doctor Who at 7pm. Michael had a copy of the episode on
his laptop, and this was in fact the main reason for bringing it on the
tour. It was a bit of a squeeze for
everyone to see the screen in the cramped 4-bedded dormitory but somehow we
managed it and were all very impressed - definitely the highlight of the
evening.
Sunday 27 March
Easter Tour Day 3 to
Lynton YH
(25 miles)
Weather: Misty start, but
dry
We had a comfortable night at
Exford hostel, but Easter Day started dull and foggy. We made good
speed through Simonsbath, delayed only by Gavin and Keir insisting on
fitting their waterproof red and yellow pannier covers, then stopped at
Challacombe village store to buy lunch and refreshments. The
proprietor, amazingly, remembered the group from previous visits many years ago. A regular
and rather eccentric local arrived on his quad
just in time to see us buy the last of the home-made pasties from the oven,
but he didn't seem to mind too much and kept us entertained with his unusual conversation.
When we eventually
arrived at Blackmore Gate it wasn't half as bleak and god-forsaken as
Michael had been trying to make out - he insisted that it was much worse in
bad weather, but the group weren't really convinced. We took the
steep drop and climb through the village of Parracombe, then after
negotiating some tricky bends on the lane to
Hunters Inn we set off along
the coast path to Woody Bay. The magnificent coastal views were
slightly impaired by the lifting mist but it still made an excellent lunch
spot.
From the end of the path we took the long descent to Valley of the Rocks,
where we had time to do some climbing while Joe fixed his puncture. A
final stretch of coast path brought us quickly to the village of Lynton.
We just had to try the cliff railway to Lynmouth, and once we had finished
our shopping we headed for the youth hostel.
Finally we had a dormitory with plenty of space to lay out our panniers.
After showers and food we settled down to enjoy a music quiz, courtesy of
Michael's laptop, that was just as good as any we had run back at the
clubroom.
Monday 28 March
Easter Tour Day 1 to
Quantock Hills YH
(25 miles)
Weather: Dry and sunny
On our final morning of the tour
the promised rain had still not arrived. We proceeded at a good speed
back to Blackmore Gate (which still didn't look godforsaken), but a motorist
with car trouble was too much for Tao, Gavin and Oliver to ignore: they
helped with repairs while the rest of the group enjoyed drinks and teacakes
in the nearby cafe. The road to Barnstaple was fast and easy in the
morning sunshine, and we arrived at the station just in time to see the 1355
departing without us. Well, we hadn't really planned to catch it
anyway.
Pizza Hut provided us with a celebratory final meal of the tour
which hit the spot to perfection. We then set about preparing to
negotiate with the guard on the 15:57 train, who had to be convinced to take
all our 6 bikes and 2 bikes from other travellers on a service that is
supposed to be limited to two bikes! Fortunately he was a friendly
guard and happily let us pack our bikes into the train. We arrived
back at Newton Abbot just after 6pm with no complaints at all about the
weather on our 2005 Easter Tour.
The following notes were published during the weeks
preceding the tour.
Cycletouring is probably the ultimate
adventure for cyclists, taking them to new villages, new scenery, new cultures,
new tracks and new challenges. Taking part in a tour does require a little
preparation of course, but once you’ve experienced the freedom and fun of cycletouring you’ll very probably feel it was all well worth the effort.
Our first tour for
2005 will take us to one of the best cycling areas in the South West—the
Quantock Hills and Exmoor in Somerset, and the north Devon coast near Lynton.
It covers four days over the Easter bank holiday weekend, and will include
three overnights at different youth hostels in the area. You can find full
details of the tour in our printed brochure.
We’ve cycled to
this area many times before with the club, and it’s always been one of our most
popular tours. Virtually all the photographs on this page were taken on
previous South Dartmoor tours to the same area, so they will give you a good
idea of the scenery you’ll be exploring.
Itinerary (4 days cycling)
Date
Mileage
Description
Accommodation
Fri 25 Mar
18
On Good Friday you will take a train to Taunton station and
then cycle through quiet country lanes
to the Quantocks, a ridge of high
land with steep slopes of woods, fields and heaths. A long, steep climb
onto the ridge from the Spaxton area will be followed by an enjoyable
stretch of track and an exhilarating descent to the isolated, peaceful
hostel near Holford along the Bicknoller Post track. If you have any energy
left there may be a short hill walk after supper.
On Saturday you
will ride through the pretty villages of East Quantoxhead and Watchet, the
former famous for its duckspond and church, the latter for its fishing.
After Blue Anchor Bay and Dunster Castle comes the first major challenge of
the day in the form of the steep climb from Minehead onto Exmoor. A short
track then takes you into Selworthy, a picturesque village owned by the
National Trust. The final part of the day will take you through
steep‑sided, wooded valleys and an interesting ford into the heart of Exmoor
and the hostel at Exford. If you're fortunate you may see some red deer
grazing on the hills along the way.
The
third day will take you over the moor to Simonsbath and Blackmoor Gate, then
down through Parracombe to the Hunter's Inn. You will then ride the
spectacular section of coastal path which leads to Woody Bay and the Valley
of the Rocks. After an inspection of the unique railway between Lynton and
Lynmouth you will arrive at Lynton hostel - hopefully in time for supper!
The final day will
take you over the hills to Barnstaple station, where a train will return us
to Newton Abbot during the late afternoon.
Home
Estimated tour costs
We keep costs low by
staying at youth hostels and preparing our own meals in the self-catering
kitchens. You need to pay youth hostel and rail costs when you book the tour,
as beds and trains need to be reserved in advance, but you can delay paying your
spending and food money until the tour begins.
Cost component
Age 12-17
Adult (with YP railcard)
Rail costs, Newton Abbot to Taunton, Barnstaple to Newton
Abbot
15.45
19.80
3 Youth hostel bednights
22.90
33.00
Food (recommended minimum)
18.00
18.00
General spending (recommended minimum)
10.00
10.00
Total cost
66.35
80.80
Preparation
Your cycle needs certain features to cope with
the special demands of cycle touring. It needs to be sturdy enough to carry
heavy loads and cope with occasional rough roads or tracks; it needs to have low
gears (30" or lower) so that you can cycle up most of the hills even when the
bike is heavily loaded and you are exhausted; and it needs to be reliable, as
breakages are not always easy to fix when you're a long way from civilisation.
Specialist touring bikes offer the best
combination of features, but mountain bikes are more popular and can usually
meet most of the requirements with just a few modifications. You will certainly
need to fit a good quality pannier rack, and full-length mudguards are a
sensible idea if you don’t want to have to wash your clothes every night on wet
days. We also recommend changing the tyres for faster, road tyres: you will
spend most of the tour riding on roads, where chunky tyres make the riding hard
work.
If you’re planning to buy a new bike, start by
looking at the Trek 800 range which offers quick release wheels and four-point
rack fixing bolts for around £300, and have a chat with Michael to discuss your
ideas before you make the final decision. Whatever bike you decide to use, make
sure it is roadworthy and safe before the tour begins.
Panniers are really essential for a tour, so
you can carry all your luggage safely on the bike. A good pair of panniers will
have a total capacity of at least 40 litres in two separate, easy-to-remove bags
and will cost between £38 and £65 for the pair. Altura and Karrimor set high
standards for their products, but some other manufacturers offer similar
quality.
When choosing a pannier rack, try to get a
strong one that uses four-point fixing, as this will be more stable when loaded
with heavy panniers and will be less likely to break - expect to pay £20-£35 for
a good rack.
You are almost certain to get rain on at least
one day of the tour, so you will need good raingear that is completely
waterproof. The recommended kit here is a waterproof jacket made of proofed
nylon or one of the cheaper breathable fabrics, costing around £25-£80.
Three-layer GoreTex would be even better, but prices start at around £150 and so
would not be a sensible purchase if you are still growing. Over-trousers are
not really very useful in spring or summer - you'll be better off wearing shorts
in the rain than getting hot and uncomfortable in overtrousers.
The best footwear for the tour is probably a
good pair of trainers that you can use on or off the bike. Select other items
of clothing according to your personal tastes.
Cycle helmets are optional on the tour but we
strongly recommend that you wear one. Just remember that they are not designed
to protect you in a collision with a car, for example, so you still need to ride
carefully and safely at all times.
If you are not already a member of the CTC you
will need to join now, before you send in your booking form. CTC membership
costs just £18 per year for under 18s and includes free third party insurance
(in case you cause an accident while cycling) and free legal aid. You can join
online at www.ctc.org.uk or telephone 0870-8730061.
You must also be a member of the Youth Hostels
Association when the tour starts. Membership costs £7 per year and entitles you
to stay at the youth hostels that are part of the tour. Once again you can join
online at www.yha.org.uk, or telephone 01629-592600.
Lights are optional, but could be useful in
case we are forced to arrive late by unforeseen circumstances. Other items for
your packing list will be listed on your final information sheet just before the
tour begins.
How to book
Complete the online form below and we'll send you our detailed information
booklet and booking form, which includes parental consent. Just return the
application form to us as quickly as possible with your advance fees (train and
hostel charges) and you'll be included in the tour. But don't leave it too
long, as hostels often get fully booked well in advance.
South Dartmoor CTC 
