Lands End to Bristol in December - Advice for route.......

poloman

Being a soft city boy from Brizzle, I'm really really keen to spend a few days pedalling !

Planning to do the London Paris thingy next summer - the charity social one not the sportive one, so I thought i'd try this route as a practise try out, with a plan to maybe go all the LEJOG way in 2010.

I'm planning to cover it in 3/4 days - its 206 miles by A30 & A38 - and want to know the best route. I'm happy enough travelling along the A38 as its parallel to the M5 and that takes the trucks. The A30 bit is my concern ......

So, can you help with 1) Alternative route other than the large stretch of the A30 up to Exeter ? 2) Is an alternative more hilly ? 3) Should I be that worried about it and just use the A30 ?
Only planning to carry a light rucksack with spares and clothing change on my Specialized Tricross

toontra

Being as that's the route many Land's End - JoGroaters go, I suggest looking at the CTC LEJoG forum here - http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=22&sid=a6552aeed8d193503673d19093c37615

You will find hundreds of possible routes described in minute detail, especially the Cornwall/Devon stretch. Mick F is an especially helpful contributor and will happily answer any questions you have.

By the way, I used the A30 for the first 40 miles to Bodmin, then took the A38. I left at 5am on a Sunday and it was fine! At other times I believe it gets a bit hairy, but to be honest you get used to almost any riding conditions after a while.

The problem with the A30 alternatives is they can be devilishly hilly - Cornwall is notoriously hilly. Staying on the main roads will even out the contours and speed up your trip. It's a trade-off between speed/fewer hills and quieter roads/more hills.

ronstrutt

I agree that the A38 isn't too bad (especially on the leg south of East Brent) but I'd avoid the A30, not just because of the traffic but because it's not a particularly pleasant ride, though I did use a short length of it.

I did Bristol to LE as part of my second End to End. You can find an account of it (and detailed route instructions) at: http://www.ruralrides.net/rre2e3.html but broadly speaking (in the reverse of your direction) the route was:

A370 Bristol - WSM - East Brent
A38 to Taunton then
Brampton, South Molton, Torrington, Sheepwash, Holsworthy, Bridgerule, Week St Mary, Camelford, Blisland, Bodmin, St Columb Major, Newquay, Perranporth, St Agnes, Portreath, Hayle, St Ives, Zennor, St Just, Land's End

Not the shortest route, perhaps but very pleasant.

inkyfingers

I rode this in 2007 (well, we did Penzance to Bristol) and we followed the national cycle network (Cornish Way and then the West Country way). It is not the most direct route but the roads are very quiet and the scenery is great. It's about 320 miles.

mididoctors

the A30 sucks big time as does the 38

skirt the north edge of bodmin moor by the cycle network to Week st mary et all

then 2 choices holdsworthy>great torrington> barnstaple

or

Bradworthy > bideford>B3233 to barnstaple

the road to great torrington from Week st mary is a delicious platter of relentless 16% ramps designed to evade detection from map users and ensnare cycle tourists in a hell of broken rhythm cycling they will never wish to repeat..

if there is someone you don't like advise them to stop over in great torrington for the night and approach via the A388 and B3227 (or if they are going the other way leave great torrington that way)... the road ain't even picturesque

once at Barnstaple take the UC roads to goodleigh and brayford.... > climb up into exmoor watershed for the descent to simonsbatn... sling a right to Exford... bit lumpy along the B3223/4 you can stay on the 3224 and wibble your way to tauton and across the quantoks

or turn of after luckwell bridge and pop over Dunkery beacon>luccombe>dunster>watchet

watchet good B&Bs



from watchet or tauton its bridgewater for a visit to one of the UKs naffiest towns ever...

however they were the first town in england to ban slavery so we will let them off...

to bristol got to be chedder gorge... you made the effort might as well take in the sights

A39>B3141 to watchfield >B3139 to wedmore>B3151 chedder >chedder gorge climb on the B3135>B3371 yoxter>UC roads to West hartree>B3114 chew magna> follow your nose to Bristol

poloman

Thanks all for the advice and I'll look at the ruralridesnet site one of you listed.

I've especially enjoyed the humour of mididoctors account of Great Torrington : - For Info, the naffest town in Britain is actually Barnstaple - My father was born and raised there and I have many relatives that live there. I often have to visit and over my entire life the entry into the town makes my heart sink............. From being nicked for speeding along the N Devon Link road in 1991 - magistrate sees previous points on licence and enquires where i collected those - " M25 Sir" and his response " we call this road our M25 with the speed you all travel at !!!!! To a funeral of my grandfather and the Limo they provided was a London Taxi ! - Its just naff !

My inclination about the route leads me to think about avoiding N Devon with its constant gradients that last forever butI'll research it properly - Cheers to all contributors

ronstrutt

poloman wrote:

My inclination about the route leads me to think about avoiding N Devon with its constant gradients that last forever butI'll research it properly

North Devon needn't be too bad and, in any case, if you're thinking of doing the End to End you're not going to be able to miss hills entirely, so any practice has to be good!

Having said that, my memory tells me that South Molton to Torrington is a bit bumpy. West of Torrington I prefer to take the Tarka Trail through the Pencleave valley to Petrockstowe, then to Sheepwash and Black Torrington, before joining the A3072 into Holsworthy. A little bit lumpy but nothing worth worrying about. West of Holsworthy it's positively flat.

As far as the contest between Bridgwater and Barnstaple is concerned, as an impartial outsider who knows both, I'm sorry to have to say that Bridgwater definitely wins hands down. Barnstaple at least has one or two redeeming features, Bridgwater has none!

mididoctors2

poloman wrote:

Thanks all for the advice and I'll look at the ruralridesnet site one of you listed.

I've especially enjoyed the humour of mididoctors account of Great Torrington : - For Info, the naffest town in Britain is actually Barnstaple - My father was born and raised there and I have many relatives that live there. I often have to visit and over my entire life the entry into the town makes my heart sink............. From being nicked for speeding along the N Devon Link road in 1991 - magistrate sees previous points on licence and enquires where i collected those - " M25 Sir" and his response " we call this road our M25 with the speed you all travel at !!!!! To a funeral of my grandfather and the Limo they provided was a London Taxi ! - Its just naff !

My inclination about the route leads me to think about avoiding N Devon with its constant gradients that last forever butI'll research it properly - Cheers to all contributors

don't be scared of a few hills.. you got 4 days and 9am-3pm daylight cycling time... perhaps more

6 hours at 10-12mph=60miles per day.. totally in realms of 90% of the cycling population

the cycle route skirting north bodmin is not that hilly but satisfactorally challenging for the less experienced cyclist (IMO)

as for bridgenorth vs barnstaple

real conversation on entering bridgenorth

me:"any where open for a cup of tea?"

bridgenorthian: "this time of day, you'll be lucky

it was 4pm