West Country Way 1997

The Idea

This bicycling lark all started here

Sheila owned the 'Pink Peril', a much too heavy ladies hybrid bicycle, that she had not cycled much further than the outskirts of Lymington. John owned a trek mountain bike, from the days before front suspension was invented, that he cycled to and from work across the New Forest once in a while on a fine day.

At work John had a colleague, Keith, whom he regarded as a "serious" cyclist. Keith used to commute to work in London by bicycle, had cycled the London to Brighton charity ride, and went on short cycle tours in France organised by his "very serious" cycling friend, Bob, who cycled up mountains and followed le Tour de France.

From where the idea first came is lost to memory, but it was mooted that Bob and wife, Pat + Keith and wife, Su + John and Sheila might take off for a short bicycle tour in England.

The Plan

Like all the best plans this idea was developed in the pub (The Gun at Keyhaven), where John and Sheila were introduced to Bob and Pat. Bob was re-assured that the clapped out old ladies bike that john had ridden down the Ancient Highway to the pub was not the bicycle he intended to take on tour. And a few beers later the whole project started to seem to be a realistic runner. The Plan was settled on a four day tour with us cycling part of the way along Sustrans route 3 -
'The West Country Way', starting from Padstow. Bob advised on practical daily distances, which should take us 168 miles to Taunton. The logistics of trains and cars to get us to the start and from the finish were worked out. Now all we needed to do was a bit of cycling to get fit.
Four of us would be on solo bikes and Bob and Pat would be riding their tandem. Unfortunately Sheila was struck down with a serious bout of Lyme disease before we were due to start. She was not fit to cycle but had recovered enough to come along and provide vehicle support, including refreshments en route, for the rest of us.

The West Country Way

Team line up at Padstow - Keith, Bob, Pat, Su, John

The WCW runs from Padstow to Bristol or Bath (via Saltford), covering 250 miles altogether. Our tour would take us part way to Taunton and we (John and Sheila) planned to stay on for a couple of days more and see how much further we might get in another one and a half days of cycling.

The route goes from Cornwall to the River Avon at Bristol or Bath and takes you through the varied landscapes of the West Country.

It starts with the tranquillity of Padstow harbour and a gentle cycle along the Camel Trail beside the estuary of the River Camel. An easy start at least. From there the hills begin to take you onto the atmospheric Bodmin Moor. On our first day this settled us in nicely on the first stretch to Wadebridge. And just to make sure we did not run out of fuel Bob brought along a large supply of bananas and reminded us to keep drinking.

From there it is hilly (and steep) Devon lanes to come out on the coast at Dizzard point with a few ridiculously steep hills on the way to Bude.
We tackled the climbs with gusto, but on most climbs it was not so much, 'Who would be first to the top?' as, ' Who would be last to start walking?' At the coast Bob and Pat wisely decided not to launch their tandem on an unstopable drop down a 25% hill and we resorted to walking down as well as up. Sheila struggled in first gear to bring the car and doughnuts to meet us. The views (and the doughnuts) were good!

Around Holsworthy and the route into Devon's slightly more rolling countryside is along the Tarka Trail. This 35 mile long traffic-free path is on a former railway line. The gradient was, nonetheless, quite a steady climb and the soft surface made it particularly hard work for the heavier tandem, causing Bob to lose enthusiasm for Sustrans and wonder about finding some proper roads. But once over the top it was a rewarding downhill all the way to Barnstable, through tunnels and over viaducts with spectacular views of the coast and the valley of the River Torridge. We organised ourselves into a line and sped along. Sheila had hired a bicycle in Barnstable and was cycling out towards us, so we all arrived together beside the River Taw and into Barnstable.

The next challenge was Exmoor. More climbing and a broken chain on the tandem, which was efficiently repaired. It was sunny weather so there was time to sprawl on the moor and relax as well as turning bicycle cranks. We headed off the moor towards Dulverton, taking to a short section of off-road track to reach our B&B for that night.

A short stretch beside the former Grand Western Canal, then Somerset lanes skirting Wellington to reach Taunton. As its name suggests, the towpath of the Bridgwater and Taunton canal took the route on to reach Bridgwater.

Having said goodbye to the rest of the group, it was a solo ride for John cycling on towards Wells, where we had booked our B&B for the night.
Bridgwater to Wells was easy cycling across the Somerset levels around Glastonbury. Arriving early in Wells we decided to press on with John cycling and then Sheila retrieving him from wherever he stopped to bring him back by car to Wells. End of easy cycling. From Wells the route climbs through Priddy to reach the top of the Mendip hills, but with a few days West Country Way cycling in the legs the pace was kept up.

Next day's final stage started with dropping off the Mendips, around Chew Valley Lake, then on to reach the River Avon at Saltford. Sheila was waiting with the car in the Saltford railway station car park. She had Su's bike, which we had borrowed and were then taking back to Lymington. The two of us cycled together from Saltford to Bristol along the Bristol and Bath Railway Path, which was the first traffic-free Sustrans path to be built. Thus completing the 250 miles of the West Country Way. We returned to Saltford by train.