DEVON'S COAST TO COAST

It is now nearly 3 weeks since I came home from the North Sea Cycle Route and today I went out for one of my favourite rides. I started from home at Ivybridge , cycled over Dartmoor to Okehampton, through mid Devon to Bideford, along the Taw/Torridge estuary to Barnstaple. It is 75 miles. I came home on the train in the same day. It is a long day.

This is a view of Dartmoor, typical where I cycle.

There are many hazzards like this ford, fun with a mountain bike

Dartmoor has many stone crosses erected by monks who used them as direction signs in the Middle Ages.

Devon is notorious for its hills. Cyclists doing the End to Ender reckon Devon is the hardest on the whole journey for hills.

Okehampton Railway Station was closed many years ago but has been restored and reopened. Old trains use it. There is a nearby railway yard full of old railway carriages waiting for something to happen. If you would like to buy an old railway carriage, it would worth checking this out.

I cycle alongside the River Torridge. This was home to Tarka the Otter and where Henry Williamson used to live. If you have read the book, you will recognise this stretch of river.

Barnstaple Station has hourly trains to Exeter and has itself just been restored to the old Southern Railway colours. It is a nice touch. It is right beside the cycle route and the station building has a cafe and cycle hire shop as well as the ticket office.

Sustrans has signposted this route (NCR 27) and it is one of two 100 mile routes in Devon. This one is a mixture of challenging and easy, a bit like the North Sea Cycle Route in miniature. The other is NCR 2 from Plymouth to Lyme Regis and beyond. I cycled from Weymouth to home last year and this route is definately a challenge.