[Closed] North Devon

grew up in ilfracombe, what sort of rides you into?

Very jealous. I'd love to live round that way. Isn't Exemoor basically on your doorstep. There's bound to be loads. Quantocks are a reasonable drive away as well. Plenty of riding... surfing, walking and practically anything else you care to do outdoorsy round there!

Hmmm what's Tavistock like?

Hmmm what's Tavistock like?

For DH there is Gawton very nearby & for XC Dartmoor is also close by.

Tavistock is moor in the west than the north

and a fair way from the better bits of Dartmoor

Do your self a favour and don't move to ilfracombe, i also grew up there and left as soon as i could, it's a nice place to visit and has got a lot of good riding on the doorstep but it's got more smackheads and deadbeats than any where else on the north devon coast!

It's a hole

I live in Barnstaple. There are a few good local loops around, but not a great deal of tech stuff nearby. I'm happy to ride locally during the week but try to get out to Exmoor, Quantocks, Dartmoor as often as I can at weekends - so pretty spoilt for daytrips!

There are lots of nice places [i]near[/i] to Ilfracombe, and some okay parts of the town... North Devon is a great place to live if you can stomach the non-dual carriageway link road to the rest of civilisation! There is an ace bikeshop in Braunton, and some okay ones in Barnstaple.

I love North Devon.

Stayed in the most incredible holiday flat in Ilfracombe once, it was beautiful. But, the town itself is pretty depressing .

Obviously, Croyde is super expensive, but have you considered Braunton instead? Just down the road with lots of facilities for a large village/small town. You'll never go short of surf shops either!

I resided in Chivenor for a few years. The winters are a little bleak (driving rain and much greyness IIRC). Used to ride to croyde on in the summer though. Happy days.
Braunton is a nice little place and the aggy is a pretty good pub!

I was born in Braunton (53 years ago) my parents still live there.
My Aunty and Uncle ran the Aggi for thirty years (they've been retired for quite a few years now though).

I also resided in Chivenor for a few years and did a lot of riding around Braunton/ilfracombe/Woolacombe/Coombe Martin. There is enough to keep you interested in the local area, I used to go to Exmoor every couple of weeks for some more challenging stuff. you can be in Simonsbath in about 40 mins, Minehead in an hour.

Chris and the lads at Southfork in Braunton quite often have a shop ride out, well worth a look - both the shop and the ride !!

so yes, you're a lucky b*****d - I live in flinkin' Essex now and it's poo. Enjoy.

I grew up in Combe Martin and went to school in Ilfracombe. There is a mountain bike group that rides from the pack o' cards (Combe Martin) at 6.30 every wednesday night (all welcome, no one gets dropped etc) and plenty of riders around. Southfork is also an ace bike shop and have club rides

As mentioned above, Ilfracombe is probably the worst town in North Devon. It is surrounded by lots of lovely places, and has its plus points, but I could not (at all!) recommend you move there!

As for Combe Martin, its only 10 minutes away but its a whole 'nother world. I can ride up onto exmoor from my doorstep, wheel the kayak 3 minutes to the beach and explore the coast, and its 30 minutes in either direction to Lynton or Croyde for surf no matter what the tides are doing.

North Devon is fantastic!!

Well we're only renting, so it's 6 months in ilfracombe, then maybe somewhere nearby after that.
I love the area, and would ideally be in woolacombe or Combe Martin, but need a minimum of 3-4 beds, and theyre thin on the ground. Being smack bang in the middle of the two can't be that bad, and if you've ever lived in Grimsby, you'd never complain about ilfracombe lol.
Moving from the lincs wolds, so used to plugging away for hours with little reward. A bit of elevation will be a pleasure. Bmx scene in the south west looks quite healthy too.

Bmx scene in the south west looks quite healthy too.

Construction of a new skatepark in Ilfracombe began this week. I live in Barnstaple and there's no chance I'd live in Ilfracombe. One of my riding mates lives there though and he loves it. I'd like to live in Braunton but it's bastard expensive.

There's a few of us trying to organise a regular evening ride time at the minute (probably gonna be Wednesdays). Give us a shout if you'd like to join us.

What's bringing you down this way?

It's an area I've always wanted to live in.
I work offshore so with my rotation I can pretty much live anywhere. Had some upheaval recently, and me and the missus just thought, why not, you only get one life eh?
And my scene has died, so if worst comes to the worst and I have to ride alone, I'd rather be there. I'm always trying to build the scene local, but got really hard recently.

And I'd love to join you, should be 6 weeks.