Cheddar Gorge & Devon: Bike Trip
Introduction
Zac planned a 450 mile route using Calimoto and, upon showing it to me, proposed we ride the whole thing in one day. After persuading him to buy some cheap and light camping gear, we booked a night at a campsite for £16! This meant we could really soak up the scenery in Devon and not be so against the clock.
It was mid June, and we had just had about 4 days of 28-32 degree weather. Pollen count was incredibly high, even people who don't usually get hay fever were experiencing it. I have never had it so bad - I was taking about 4 one-a-day antihistamines a day leading up to the trip, which isn't advised.. but it did work... 👀
The weather looked rather dodgy in North Devon for our trip. However, the cooler temperatures and patches of rain were welcomed after such a hot week.
Day 1 - Saturday
9AM: Start
After vigorously coating my nostrils with vaseline to help reduce my hay fever, I rendevouzed with Zac and his dad, Andy, at the usual BP petrol station. It was pretty warm; about 23 degrees, so all vents were open on our jackets and trousers. Andy was going to be leading us out to Ludgershall Castle and Caen Hill Locks before returning home.
My meal deal of choice was a mixed bean wrap, prawn cocktail walkers crisps & a summer fruits Oasis.
Ludgershall Castle & Cross
Ludgershall Castle dates all the way back to the 11th century. We sat down and enjoyed our meal deals whilst a group of menacing clouds lurked in the distance..
Caen Hill Locks
After another 45 minutes on the road, we came across Caen Hill Locks; 29 locks on a long sloping hill with a nice little tea room near the top. It's a lovely place to take a break, stretch the legs, and have a coffee. After a short walk, we sat down outside the tea room under cover. Zac ordered a sweet potato curry soup and a flat white. I had flapjack and flat white. As it began to drizzle, we checked the weather forecast to see what was in store; it was time to get the waterproofs out!
2PM: Cheddar Gorge
There was barely any rain after the initial dash of it. When we arrived at Cheddar Gorge, we rode through it top to bottom and then parked opposite "Holly House Tea Rooms". We each bought a cheese and onion cornish pasty + another flat white. (It had been about 1.5 hours since we last ate.. "we're on holiday", "we're growing boys", "i ran yesterday", "riding is quite tiring" etc etc..) The tea room also sold a wide array of ice cream flavours, we contemplated over what concoction to get - "Cheddar Cheese" being the main contender - but by the time the pasty took effect we didn't even want anything!
The Original Cheddar Cheese Co. shop was just next door. I bought a bottle of Cheddar Scrumpy Cider (to enjoy that evening) and a Cheddar Ales Potholer which I would return home with (to give to my dad for Father's day).
With my new beer powered jetpack, we went back up the Gorge once again but stopped for photos. Much to Zacs amusement, I slipped on a wet grass bank and fell cleanly flat on my back to an audience of passing traffic, keen hikers and ever agile goats... The beer on my back broke the fall and I laid there hearing nothing but breathless laughter from Zac.
Heading back down the Gorge once again, I followed Zac whilst filming on my phone. It was awesome. I would love to wild camp at the top of Cheddar Gorge one day.
Hills and Happiness
The "63 miles of hills and happiness" is a coastal route Zac found online, it spans from Bridgwater to Woolacombe.
We followed this route for.. well, miles.. it was very pleasant! Although, it had suddenly become extremely dark and grey, it felt as if the sun was to set in 15 minutes. Zac had a tinted visor fitted to his helmet so visibility was comically poor. It began to rain, albeit quite lazily, so we stopped and put our waterproofs on again. At around the half-way point, we arrived at Porlock.
5PM: Porlock Toll Road
Dating back to the 1840s, there is an alternative scenic 'mountain' road that twists, turns, and overlooks the Bristol channel. It costed £1.50 each for us to use it - it was incredible and worth all 150 pennies!
There's a number of really tight hairpin turns making it a fantastic course for the rally races that occur there each year. With the rain we were experiencing by then, it felt like we were on a rally of our own. The roads were very quiet due to the rain, although we did see another group of adventure bikes, equally in full waterproofs - saluting eachother as we crossed paths - and a couple of trail runners, but other than that it was like it was only open for us!
We rode down Countisbury Hill as the rain worsened - it was great fun.
Valley of The Rocks
Randomly, I had seen this place in a YouTube video once but didn't look any further into its whereabouts. We turned a corner and all of a sudden it was right in front of us. What the hell!
We parked our bikes on the grass and clambered up to the top of one of the mini rock peaks. There were goats on the trail, sheltering from the remaining efforts of the rain. It was also blowing an absolute gale in some parts of the valley. At the top, I got wobbly knees and vertigo looking over the edge; it was a hell of a drop..
7PM. Ifracombe, Woolacombe.
The rain wasn't easing off much, but it was due to later in the evening. We passed the camp site at Watermouth and headed into Woolacombe - looking for a place to get dry and have some well earned dinner! It was slippery and mossy on the less travelled "roads". I remember us coming down this steep slope, engine braking in 1st gear and yet still speeding up!
We ended up at "The Jube" in Woolacombe; a warm restaurant / bar. Zac and I, dripping wet in our bike gear, looked rather out of place amongst the first dates and 'out out' evening dinners. We each had a pint of Tribute. I went for a hunters chicken + bacon burger with chips. For Zac, a Veggie burger with chips. To finish, we each had sticky toffee pudding!!!
Rather over-encumbered, we headed to the campsite at about 8:30PM.
Watermouth Valley Campsite
When we entered the camp site, there was no one at reception. Opposite reception, there was a man who I could barely hear through my ear plugs - he was telling me there was no one at reception. He explained that there had been a heavy storm that afternoon (no way?) and we were brave coming by motorbikes. We were more stupid than brave, although to our credit we had already paid online for unallocated pitches! He pointed up the top of a hill and advised we head towards the far end to shelter from the wind (at least I think that's what he said). Zac told me afterwards the man was consealing a joint from me behind his back, either he thought I was a saint that would be mortified if I found out OR he thought I would ask him for some of it. Anyway..
On our way through and up the campsite, the tents in the more expensive allocated pitches were buffetting like mad in the wind. Although it was on a bit of a slope, we actually seemed better off in the unallocated free-for-all area. I umm-ed and ahh-ed about my tent angle and location for ages, like I always do.
Once pitched, we enjoyed one of our beers from Cheddar Gorge and experienced an amazing sunset. The campsite toilet blocks felt like a total luxury in contrast to the wild camping trip in the Lake District. Hot shower? A sink? A toilet? I felt like royalty!
The wind and rain had long passed - we both had a pretty good nights sleep. I was awoken by a funny sounding animal at about 5:30AM, and was so excited about camping I couldn't go back to sleep.
Day 2: Sunday
I opened my tent door to see our bikes still there. Relief. The sun was up with a pale blue sky and seagulls squarking / laughing / barking / yelling / screaming at eachother or at me.
Right! Time for another shower! I had paid for it, after all.. On the way to the toilet block there were bunnies everywhere.. they were very social bunnies, largely unphased by campers. They were just chilling out in a section of the camp site lol.
McDonalds
We packed up our camp and were on the road by 8AM, the reception still empty.. Anywho, we needed fuel and could do with a coffee. At a nearby petrol station we stopped, re-filled and noticed the golden arches - that was that.
I had a sausage and egg mcmuffin, hashbrown, cappuccino & orange juice.
Zac had an egg and cheese mcmuffin, hashbrown with an extra hashbrown and a cappuccino. Then he ordered another egg and cheese mcmuffin, hashbrown and cappuccino. And then pancakes with syrup.. He used the card "I'm a growing boy". I had finished my coffee so it was time for me to visit the toilets. Humming away, happy as can be with not a care in the world I sat on the loo and did my thing. There's no toilet roll :D I thought about getting up and waddling to a different cubicle but instead I whatsapp Zac and explain the situation. I had a mix of E and 3G deep in the back of the McDonalds wilderness so it took a while for help to arrive.
The roads home
The ride home after McDonalds seems to blend into one big haze of incredible roads. It felt like we rode for about 4 hours in biking heaven.. To name a few: A399, B3227, B3081.
Crescent Yamaha, Verwood
The World Superbike Champion, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, was at Crescent Yamaha in Verwood for a meet and greet that day which was too rare of an opportunity to pass on.
As we turned off the A31, into the New Forest, we saw two horses galloping along the tree line, adjacent to the road, they suddenly veered in direction towards the road and belted across in front of us, albeit about 100m ahead, they looked incredible.
After another hour or so, I felt really dehydrated and needed a break; nothing a budget red bull & 2L bottle of water can't fix.
It was another long day; 8AM - 5PM, I didn't even wash my bike when I got home.
My dad was supposed to join us on the trip but he caught a nasty cold the day before we were supposed to leave. He was worse when I returned. I gave him the beer I brought back from Cheddar.