Heading up down to Bideford in a couple of weeks and thought I might take a bike with me. Know the area well from a surfing/fishing perspective but zero idea about riding so is it work taking a bike? Staying pretty much on the path between Bideford and Instow so can easily strike inland or around the coast and out toward Saunton etc.
You've got the right idea there already, but got gravel rather then MTB unless you want to drive to a spot. The tarka trial / NCN 27 trail is a good place to start. You can make nice loops our of it with decent cafe's along the way. Go round the estuary to Saunton and back, or inland to take in some of the moors...
komoot.com should have a few routes.
Cheers Neil. Might see if theres room in the van for it then - get away from the family for a few hours 🙂
The SO's mum lives just outside Barnstaple, so go down fairly regularly with a road bike, i would argue no point with an MTB unless you can get alot of time. You have the tarka trail which is a reasonable pootle alongside the river and can go inland towards torrington or follow the coast to braunton. You have american drive which is gravel to saunton, or you could aim for crow point and follow the beach to Saunton. I would say there isn't a huge amount of pure gravel but if you don't mind lanes there is stuff. certainly enough to just get out for an hour or two.
thread piggyback sorry
is Dartmoor best with an MTB or gravel?, on the whole
The SO's mum lives just outside Barnstaple, so go down fairly regularly with a road bike, i would argue no point with an MTB unless you can get alot of time. You have the tarka trail which is a reasonable pootle alongside the river and can go inland towards torrington or follow the coast to braunton. You have american drive which is gravel to saunton, or you could aim for crow point and follow the beach to Saunton. I would say there isn't a huge amount of pure gravel but if you don't mind lanes there is stuff. certainly enough to just get out for an hour or two.
Cheers - know about the area between Saunton/Braunton/Croyde pretty well so could have a nice pedal out there for a little loop, a coffee at the beach and back again.
Riding on Dartmoor is amazing on both mountain bikes and gravel. It depends where you want to ride. There are some really good routes on Komoot, but expect the off road to be a bit technical in places. I love it but for some they expect nothing but fast off road paths.
DM me if you want any routes sharing.
thanks, I'll have a look on Komoot - my sisters moving to near Okehampton
I lived in Fremington for years and there are a couple of nice trails, but probably more MTB than Gravel.
If you get yourself to Lovacott & head west, there’s an Unsuitable For Motor Vehicles lane on your left. This brings you out in a small hamlet to the west of Alverdiscott.
turn immediately off to the left, not quite back on yourself. This leads you onto a lane that takes you down through Bulworthy Forrest Lodges. You can link back to the Tarka trail at Fremington at the start or Instow at the end.