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Ah excellent timing. I was going to post and ask for some routes around this area!
I'm staying near Ashburton (on the Denbury side of the A38 if you follow me) in a couple of weeks. Bringing the bike and riding Haldon on the way down, and I'll slip out for a few rides during the week as well. I'm planning to ride Lustleigh, and I have the routes from the Good MTB Guide, but can anyone point me towards anything worth riding in the Denbury/Ashburton area. I'm thinking of the odd hours escape from the family.
(I used to live in various places in S Devon - Haytor, Liverton, nr Denbury, Highweek - but left in 93 just before I bought my MTB. I know my way around the area when driving or walking, but obviously don't know where the locals ride, so any pointers would be great!)
That looks ace lads! Dead jealous.
idle john, post up here when you're down/just before and i'll hook you up with a route or a guide.
@trailmonkey, Junki, Carlphilips & Jambo - i'd love to get together and pool resources to make some new loops around this area, [as it is easy to ride out to for me and easy to return home to buckfastleigh via Hembury woods!] just looked at the OS and didn't realise how big Ausewell wood was, i'm intrigued!
Not free for riding this weekend, but most weeks i'm trying to put tuesday and wednesday nights aside. my email to arrange things is floydjt@hotmail.com
the pic below is a teaser of the the Dr B single track. TM I can not believe you guys haven'tridden this before. Peel right of the Dr B bridleway at approx 704713, there are a few path splits where you can go wrong, but when you know it it is faaaast.
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forgot to say for orientation purposes in that photo I am looking north towards the dart valley and Dr B from a field on the two moors way footpath from Holne to Newbridge
@julioflo. thanks for that. does your trail start as doubletrack by any chance ? i think i've seen the start of that.
TM - nope. I think from the main road you can get onto it on double track.
The way we ride it is to come down Dr B, then you come round the last long bend of the bridleway, the bridleway gets a little steeper then on the RHS you can pull of, almost doubling back on yourself. There is a clear track/route that would be at about 90°, but the one you want is almost doubling back on yourself and it leads down to and through the 'quarry' area where people sometimes camp...
i'll show you when / if we meet up. drop me a line
that would be great, i'll be in touch.
Haven't read the whole thread, just the OP but nice pics yunki and tm. Looked like a thoroughly miserable day 🙂
it was tough but someone had to do it.
Thanks very much, trailmonkey.
I'm travelling down on the 16th, will be staying until Sat 23rd. I'll post closer to the date.
OT Is the Union in Denbury any good for food these days?
yes, good food, good beer.
was planning on going for an explore in the dart valley on saturday AM if anyone is about.
Never mind Plymouth to Exeter, Plymouth to Taunton is the route for real men, Dartmoor, Exmoor and the Quantocks 😉
We're using road bikes, right? Having a cup of tea and some cake in Exeter then riding back?
😈
i will treat that with the contempt it deserves.
in fact i've given it more than it deserves by answering it.
I was near Bovey yesterday.
Had a drive up onto the moor to have a look round. I think i might take my bike with me when i'm down again next month.Looks like fun.
Be great if someone could point me in the right direction of some good stuff/guide me?
This looks good. Is anyone around between the 17th of july and the 7th of august that could show me around?
to singlespeedstu and sambob
no problem. just post on here closer to the time and we'll sort it out
Cheers.
Cheers, will do.
sambob i think im free then (will check though)
jambo I'm not free on saturday im tiling my bathroom floor 🙁
We'll be free most days in that period, on holiday in Salcombe so need to get out to some decent riding at some point.
I'm pretty free in the first week of August and a bewildering variety of random other days.. if I can help in any way I will.. 🙂
It should be the first week of August i'll be down on the tuesday or wednesday.
Nice one stu. Do you think i could try one of your many fatbikes if we meet up?
I might have trouble getting the fatbike in the car along with all my work stuff.
You're more than welcome to have a go if you're in the west mids at any time though.
I can imagine that could be an issue. To be honest i only ever pass through when going to the west country, but i might make an effort to get down to the FoD at some point this summer.
Tidy day fellahs!
where did you start from?
Im in exeter, and have wondered more than once if "a dartmoor ride" is do-able from home.
i too would be interested in a tagalong ride, but am away till the back end of july touring, so wont want to even look at a bike till mid august i imagine. (that or be monsterously fit)
sambob.
You're from the Peak kind of area aren't you? ( I think we may have met on a peaks pootle)
If you are next time i'm up that way i'll bring it with me.
Yep, in Whaley Bridge. About 10 mins ride from the meeting point of that pootle.
@olly, i started the ride in denbury and yunki started in liverton, with a meeting point at bovey.
no reason why not to start from exeter.
yeah, if you did it right you could get in a quick 500m of climbing before you get anywhere near the moor. 8) 😯
i think you'd have to go via morton' to avoid that sort of leg work.
OLLY, im in Exeter and also thinking of trying to fix up dartmoor ride without car if your interested? Also thinking of getting a bivvy/ride in at some point later in the year wife/kids/work permitting!
trailmonkey - Member
@olly, i started the ride in denbury and yunki started in liverton, with a meeting point at bovey.
Weird. I used to live near Denbury (in 88, at a place called Kellinch Farm - they'd rent out their holiday cottages to students during the winter) and a year or two later actually in Liverton.
After I moved back to Wales I bought my first MTB and joined a club. One of the guys who rode for the club had dated the daughter of the landlord of the Union in Denbury when they were in uni in another part of the country, iirc. A small world.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to a week's holiday in Devon. I'll be able to do the boring father bit ('Look kids, this is where I used to live. Look kids, this is where we used to drink too much beer. Look kids, this is where we.....ad infinitum) And an added bonus is that I'm bringing a bike!!
From memory, I'd think that riding from Bovey up onto the moors is pretty straightforward, if steep, but finding decent ridable stuff is more difficult?
easy once you know where to look 😉
yes it can be tricky, especially with the bracken covering the trails. we're finding new stuff all the time.
I've just come back from a quick 90 minute whizz along the Bovey Valley and noticed a tractor determinedly clearing a lot of the bracken from below Yarner carpark..
tractor tyres affecting anything of ours do you think ?
i'll give it a - 😯 - just in case.
Went for an explore with sharki this morning round bench tor. The switchbacks down to the river is a cracking run. Anyone tried the track alongside the river out to newbridge, we rode half a mile or so but didn't have time to go further.
holy thread resurrection!!
did anyone ever get any of this lot sorted..?
any new trails done?
I've a few days off this coming weekend and monday/tuesday too 🙂 so if anyone fancies exploring anywhere then bell me.
Blast from the past indeed.
I'm finding it tricky to get enough time to meet up with any of you lot at weekends (Part time MA study), but am giving myself Thursday nights as guaranteed regular riding slot. So if anyone wants to show me (and a few mateys) around either some Lustleigh Gnartech or the Dart valley stuff from Bench Tor on Thursday Evenings i'd be very grateful and would show you the Dr.Blackalls Drive single track that you probably all know anyway...