Paington, Devon

dogboy73

I'm heading down to Paignton, Devon with faimly soon. Was hoping to find some local(ish) rides so I can sneak off for a days riding Anything good within sensible driving distance from Paignton that anyone knows of? Cheers.

camerauk

loads of riding up on Dartmoor

also Haldon is ok for a few hours round the trails

when are you here? as we go out most Sundays on Dartmoor you could tag along with us ride at a steady pace cover anything from 12 miles to 28 miles nice and relaxed riding

Andy

dogboy73

Cheers, camerauk. I was thinking of Dartmoor. Went down there with a couple of mates about 8 years ago now. We followed a route we got from a copy of MBR. Hard to follow & we got lost on the moors. But some of the riding there was unreal. One section took us downhill over a natural rock garden that went on for ages before opening up into fast gently sweeping downhill trakcs through forest. Some of the most memorable riding I've ever done.

Anyway, are there any waymarked trail centres down that way? I sometimes like just following the arrows for ease I'm down next week so might take you up on that offer of a meet up. Only trouble is I'm with the family so it might be hard to get away at a specific time depending on what we are doing. I'll see how it goes.

camerauk

there is Haldon Forest which has sign posted trails nice riding very easy but nice and flowing good for a few hours riding also has nice walks and a cafe could keep the family occupied while you ride
have a look here
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-6T7BHT

some of the dartmoor routes are hard to follow
if you have a gps unit I have a few rides that I can let you have

dogboy73

I've got no GPS but I sometimes use Cycle Meter on my wife's iphone to help me find my way around. Useful for places like Dartmoor ......... as long as I can get a signal that is :?

Slack

There is the classic route which leaves Plymouth, taking the Plym Valley Cylce path to Burrator reservoir, from their you can take the disused railway to Princetown. Return via the bridleway passing South Hessary Tor, Nuns Cross Farm and Erme mines. About 50% offroad and 3 1/2 hours long.

There aren't any specific marked riding routes on the moor - very much a case of taking a map and exploring. Be aware that alot of the bridleways marked on the map are across open moorland and aften impassable on two wheels.

As well as Haldon, Woodbury common near Exeter is ok'ish. Depending on what you class as 'sensible' driving distance, the Quantock hills in Somerset are an hour away, for some really nice riding.

dogboy73

Cheers for the replies. Dartmoor sounds like my best bet ........ if I can find a good route not to far away from Paignton. I really need to get one of those GPS devices for this kind of trip. BTW are there resources online for routes people have saved or is it just word of mouth to get GPS routes?

camerauk

If you want to let me know how far and how hard a route you want I will send you a few PDF's of maps if I have them
PM me your email address

Andy

dogboy73

camerauk wrote:

If you want to let me know how far and how hard a route you want I will send you a few PDF's of maps if I have them
PM me your email address

Andy

Cheers. That would be great. A red/black/hard grade route is the stuff I like to go for if I'm travelling for it - flat as a pancake round here so I have to make the most of the hills Distance is less important. If it's a small loop I can just go round severla times. 20 miles would be a good loop size though I'll PM my email.

hoochylala

camerauk If you wouldn't mind sharing the PDFs with me too I would be very happy and grateful. The in-laws live in Paignton and im always looking for some riding in the close vacinity when im down there.

Drop me a PM and ill give you my email if you decide its OK

camerauk

hoochylala wrote:

camerauk If you wouldn't mind sharing the PDFs with me too I would be very happy and grateful. The in-laws live in Paignton and im always looking for some riding in the close vacinity when im down there.

Drop me a PM and ill give you my email if you decide its OK

Not a problem