So in a few weeks time I’m staying for a week between Woolacombe and Ilfracombe in Devon, and was wondering if there’s any good trails that I could ride to. Looking at a map Six Acres Wood south of Lee looks like a good option, but there’s also the paths around the coast. Any tips?

I rode from Ilf to Wool along the coast path and then up the hill and back to Ilf along the cycleway.

That was nice.

check strava

Lee woods has some built dh/enduro trails in. There are some fun bridleway loops which are more xc heading over to braunton and back from woolacombe

Bring climbing legs

Have a go at Challacombe hill from Woolacombe, (on road).

On the Puttsborough to woolacombe track.

Devon C2C runs from Ilfracoombe, through Woolacombe and onto Barnstaple so there are some routes to ride but not much in the way of technical off road trails.

You need to head East towards Lynton, Porlock and Minehead for that.

Me on the beach at Woolacombe during our Coast-2-Coast ride in 2011…

Errr, no! You just need to know where to look!

Anyway, this is a fun mellow scene route

https://www.strava.com/activities/943255002

Awesome. I don’t suppose you can share the GPX. Is there a reason you didn’t ride up by South Hole farm (east of Croyde) to the crest and then east past the masts? From an OS map that looks like a good way to avoid a road.

You should be able to use this

http://strava-tools.raceshape.com/vpu/

Or create a route from my track in strava then export it yourself, that should work without being a pro user. Failing that I’ll email it to you.

You can ride up the route you mentioned but it’s very steep and you’d end up pushing a lot of it. The bridleway opposite that one that descends down towards Saunton (hannaburrow lane) is a good descent. You can head on the bridleway through Braunton burrows from there to get back to Braunton

Thanks 🙂

So we’re going tomorrow and it looks like we’re not taking the bikes after all. However, any tips for good cafes/restaurants/pubs/etc for lunches/dinner?

Ilfracombes a bit of a dump but has some nice coastal features, The Hele bay hotel & the cove is worth the mile or so walk (you could go via Hillsborough hill & cliff walk if feeling energetic!)
Woolacombe – I’d avoid the ‘look at me I’ve got a surf board’ Redbarn pub & try Capt Jacks its a tacky pirate themed pub but the food is good & the beergarden is nice, The Jubilee inn used to be nice but not been in for about 18 months.
We often get the bus to Ilfracombe & walk the coast path to Croyde (about 14 miles) stopping at the Grampus inn in Lee bay & either the Ship aground or Chichester in Morthoe – good day out with stunning views towards Wales.

We’ve got primary-school kids so a pirate themed pub sounds exactly what we’re after. 🙂

Not tacky if the kids enjoy it then

Hunters inn.
Nice walk to the sea. Peacocks and ticks.
http://www.thehuntersinnexmoor.co.uk