Exeter to Dousland (and back)
Riders = Ben, Andy & Marcus
Day 1
Distance – 35 miles
Elevation– 1,128 metres
Day 2
Distance– 50.3 miles
Elevation– 985 metres
Day One
Our first two day ride started early on Saturday morning heading off from Kings Cross to Paddington with what I have to say was a less than favorable forecast of lots of rain with thunder and lightning. We ended up missing our train from Paddington due to a very annoying conductor, and subsequently weren’t able to get to Exeter until 12:00.
We all thought we knew that this ride was going to be hilly but I don’t think any of us expected it to be quite as “mountainous”as it was! We climbed out of Exeter and we were quickly on to nice and quiet country roads, very unlike our rides in London. 2 km in and we had our first stop of the weekend as Ben got a puncture, despite his new puncture proof tires. It was a good test of changing a wheel at the road side though. We were quickly on the move again and the weather was just getting better and better with beautiful sunshine.
After a few valleys we started going down a slope which can only be described as incredibly steep to the extent that we nearly got off the bikes and walked. We all made it down in one piece, just, even if Andy did get a wet foot in the stream at the bottom. The problem was it just meant we had to go up the other side.
A few km later we hit a hill that was such a sharp gradient it made it nearly impossible to ride. We ended up doing a mixture of walking and cycling. The hill just seemed to go on forever. It was such a pleasure to get to the top. After a quick drink we headed on down to Moretonhampstead where we were able to stock up on fluids.
The cycle to the lunch break did not get much easier. We joked that the theme of the ride was “undulating”, but in reality it was insanely hilly! We finally made it to our lunch stop which was at the Warren Inn. We all needed our food. We had a quick nap under the sun which was amazing but didn’t help the motivation level.
The ride stayed hilly as we headed for Dousland, passing through Princetown. It was a lot of head down hard cycling but we knew the end was getting near. After the flattest part of the ride (if you could call it flat) we had an amazing downhill into Dousland which really helped to invigorate us all again.
We were welcomed into our place to stay for the night where we had a lovely evening eating curry and drinking but all wondering whether we would be ok to make it back to Exeter. It had taken us over 6 hours to do just over 35 miles and it was some of the toughest ridding we have done.
Day Two
It was not an early start but I think a lie in was needed. We started the day with a debate about the best plan of action. It had always been planned that day two was going to be a longer distance but less of a climb, the only problem was that we didn’t really know how much easier it would be.
Andy made the decision to call it quits and do the short cycle to Plymouth and get on the train from there. Ben and I thought we would just go for it! We had an amazing downhill ride to Tavistock which racked off a very quick 6 miles. We then headed out on some long hilly roads. The big difference on day 2 though was once you went up you could really enjoy the downhill.
We got to Lydford and then joined Bike Route 27 which was flat old railway line, where we were able to fly along on nice easy riding. This gave us a taste of what the ride will hopefully be like once we get across the channel in October.
We stopped at Waitrose for a quick bite to eat before heading back out on the road. It very much continued in a similar fashion as the morning with long winding roads, with big climbs but also really fun down hills.
As the ride neared completion, we hit a road called 5 mile hill. Luckily it didn’t quite end up quite as long as it sounds but still presented a challenge. From the top, we had a lovely long downhill back to Exeter; arriving back at the station where we were able to walk straight on to a train back to Paddington.
In total on day 2 we had completed 48 miles in just over 4 hours (plus 2 miles back in London home). It was such a difference from day 1 but I think we all felt a real sense of pride at completing this epic weekend of cycling.
Evaluation of Day 1
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