Braunton 150 – self supported MTB route

Pulling together a self supported MTB route around N Devon and Exmoor.
Group start planned for the 25th of March.

More details here

http://www.braunton150.org

A nice event for those new to self supported riding and great prep for longer events.

Cheers

Isnt a lot of the coastal section footpath?

Bit lumpy for me but good luck to anyone who is up for it….

Jam bo – yes the SW coast path is footpath, but my guess is that route largely avoids it.

Yes the route avoids footpaths.

That route looks great. I think that’s a long weekend in the spring sorted…

That looks decent

just interested. been looking at routes recently on that coast and I can’t see unless you are doing a lot on road how you are doing it.

There is a lot of bridleway and permitted byways. You just need to know where to look. Been riding here years. It is tricky as the landscape is so parceled up compared to somwhere like Scotland, but you can link stuff together. Of course there is some road, but even some of that is stunning. The good thing about Exmoor is hardly anyone rides there, so often you get the trails to yourself.
The gpx file will be on the website to download so you can use that when its up.

thanks, don’t happen to know a good linking route between exmoor and dartmoor?

Looks a good route, and pretty damn lumpy!

Look fun – suspect I might be trying to do it in a day in the summer.

If you do it in a day let me know as that would be rapid. The group start is at midday so it forces people to go through the night, or bivvy up.

The west country way links the two. I have a GPX if you need it.

Cheers

Sister in Law is in Chievenor, so this could be a goer on a family weekend.. though I do like to spend my time down there on a board…

In a day? Ouch. Even if it’s on a cross bike that’s a A LOT of climbing.

How far does Minehead look, for easy access to accomodation? Although a Tripster / wild camp variant is quite appealing, making it 3 days perhaps..

Good work!

looks really good , nice work

nice work, i like that. something for when it’s warmer with some mates! 56 hours looks a bit rushed though…

150 miles in 56 hours;

10 hours for sleep

6 hours for meals

so just 40 hours for 150 miles. That’s still less than 4 miles per hour.

I’ve never done a self-supported two day ride but really fancy it. I’m going to petition ‘the management’ later – wish me luck! 😯 8)

Bookmarked!

Thanks 🙂

I’ve ridden some of the BWs to the eastern end of the route and there’s a serious number of steep hills in there (and this is from someone who isn’t bothered about climbing). There’s also quite a few gates which eat in to your average speed as does navigation. Riding in the Dales or Scotland isn’t too bad in this respect as you get long sections where there isn’t really any alternative to the track you are on. There’s a lot of hedges and walls in Devon/Somerset and we found you need to be constantly checking where you are in case you missed a turning.

It’s pretty common to only average 6 miles an hour on exmoor if you don’t know the route already. There’s some big hills here and I can imagine that will count a lot as thof mileage racks up.

You’ll be treated to some great riding and awesome views though!

I want a route that appeals to a lot of people. Some might use it as prep for longer rides, some might use it as a intro to self supporting and others might just want to blat round as fast as they can.

It is hilly. Exmoor can be technical, cold, wet and windy. But it can also be stunningly beautiful and not many ride there. The coastal sections especially are top banana.

Ps the route does look mint mate!

Can you post again when route available to load. Just in case I miss it!!

Looks awesome, some of my favourite bits of Exmoor.

I’ll just be back from 8 days riding in Brittany on the 25th March, so… it’s a maybe….

Any chance of the gpx please?

Check the website. GPX available end of January. It will be on the website available to download.

If you complete it unsupported in the timeframe then make sure to email me so I can get your name down on the list of completions.

Cheers

Definitely up for this. Just about to move to exmoor so this would be ideal. I already know a lot of the eastern route and it’s very hilly and pretty rocky in places.

Get yourself down for the group start. 🙂

I’m really tempted. Still think I will suffer/fail 56 hours. Only rode 1000 miles last year and only done about 50 so far in 2016 in total!

I tempted by this, might get my wife to come along as well.

Site looks brilliant by the way. Well done.

Trying to rustle up some buddies as this looks like great fun!

I want it to be open to everyone to try. Its not about posting the fastest time (though some will be going for it). It is more about getting out into lovely places on your bike, testing yourself and your kit.

ITT for me on Sunday unless a miracle – Saturday off- happens. Never ridden there and route looks promising. See how far I can push on ss.

out of interest, how easy is it to find places to bivvy on this route? is much of it across farm land etc?

The eastern end has plenty of places to bivy. That’s what I intend to do anyway. If the weather’s bad then there’s plenty of b&bs in the Minehead and Porlock area.

There is some general advice as regards bivvying on the website. There is plenty of common land on Exmoor – while bivvying is not encouraged as on Dartmoor, I think as long as you are respectfu and leave the spot as you found it then it should be fine. Private land is another matter. PLenty of B&Bs, hostels and bunkhouses as well round the route.

@biggaygibbon, emailed you over the weekend re group start. My bivvy in would just be sleeping out in bivvy bag. No use of any cooking equipment. As I say , I know the lay of the land on exmoor and know of a few quiet spots near the route.

Cheers for the thoughts, enjoy!

Now all social media’d.

Tweets by Braunton150

https://www.facebook.com/braunton150

20 peeps on the group start list now. Creeping up.

Been riding the route and it has held upm pretty well. A few sections completely mashed by horses but it should bed in a bit in the next few weeks.

Cheers

route is now on the website

cheers