A30

Specific board for this popular undertaking.
Tiggertoo
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Re: A30

Post by Tiggertoo »

Some background to my questions about an alternative route:

I rode the first day of the Peak Tours 10 day route three years ago before having to abandon the tour to return home for a family emergency,

After a full day of travelling by car, plane and train I found the nearly 7,000 feet of climbing to be some challenge coming from a land where the highest point within a hundred miles is a highway flyover and I wanted to see if this time I could reduce the climbing a bit.

I agree the ferries are a nice way to cross a river but these rivers cut a deep gorge into the towering cliffs on both side which would be best served with a funicular to get back up top.
rareposter
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Re: A30

Post by rareposter »

Tiggertoo wrote: 14 Aug 2022, 9:03pm
MrsHJ wrote: 14 Aug 2022, 6:50pm Would not recommend cycling on the A38, there have been cyclist deaths- it’s a dual carriage way that’s treated as a motorway from Saltash and not good for cyclists before that. I am not so good on the Cornish section but spend a lot of time on the A38 in Devon.

Presumably you have a particular reason to head for Plymouth as it isn’t on most LEJOG routes?
Very good question and one I have asked the organizers of the tour (Peak Tours) without a good answer. So I am trying to find a better way to get there (Future Inn, Plymouth) than the route they are posting.
I suspect, like most organised tours, they're limited by logistics of where to stay and Plymouth offers the easiest option of booking up potentially 25 hotel rooms.

I'd also be willing to bet that Peak Tours will be very unhappy about the idea of one of their punters choosing their own route; it runs all sorts of safeguarding and insurance risks if anything were to happen to a rider who is nominally under their care and responsibility. Plus it'd be a pain if one of them had to miss the evening meal to take the van out and look for you... ;-)
Tiggertoo
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Re: A30

Post by Tiggertoo »

I'd also be willing to bet that Peak Tours will be very unhappy about the idea of one of their punters choosing their own route; it runs all sorts of safeguarding and insurance risks if anything were to happen to a rider who is nominally under their care and responsibility. Plus it'd be a pain if one of them had to miss the evening meal to take the van out and look for you..
Maybe, but I could just claim I got lost. :roll:
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Mick F
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Re: A30

Post by Mick F »

Maps.
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Mick F. Cornwall
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Mick F
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Re: A30

Post by Mick F »

PS.

Another idea is to follow the A390 from Dobwalls to Callington through Liskeard.
Then down the A388 to Saltash to cross over the suspension bridge and into St Budeaux and to the city.
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Mick F. Cornwall
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MrsHJ
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Re: A30

Post by MrsHJ »

Just realised where future inns is- all the way out by the hospital so you aren’t even vaguely near the city centre but in a load busy roads/ industrial area- it’s not terrible and I’m sure there are cycle lanes but it is a zero for charm. Not impressive really. When I cycled that section as part of a relay JOGLE we did Tiverton, Okehampton and Launceston. All much nicer places to get in and out of.

Makes getting the ferry less appealing as you want to be further north.
Tiggertoo
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Re: A30

Post by Tiggertoo »

ken66 wrote: 15 Aug 2022, 11:14am FWIW (not a lot I hear some say) I rode the Peak Tours 14 day LEJOG route in May. I thought the routes chosen were superb & the overall organisation excellent. I have no vested interest!
I am beginning to agree that taking 14 days to ride the length of the country and have time to take in the sights having been away from Britain for a while is perhaps a better alternative than ten days.
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Mick F
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Re: A30

Post by Mick F »

Yep.
Keep north.

Follow the general corridor of the A39, then A395 to Egloskerry and Launceston, then Old A30 to Okehampton, then out to Crediton and Rob's Passage to Tiverton, then up the A38 (all the major traffic is on the M5) to Bridgwater etc etc etc etc.

Chapter One

From LE follow the A30 to Penzance.
You can either go through the town centre or follow the bypass round to the north of the town. Either way, you end up on a roundabout on the A30 and follow this to another big roundabout where you can bear left for Hayle.
Go through the centre of Hayle and come out at another A30 roundabout. Take the second exit signposted Connor Downs. This is the Old A30 and you’ll be getting on and off that until you reach Okehampton.
Go over the Downs, and keep going and through Camborne town centre and into Redruth town centre following the old roads and the route of the Old A30. After Redruth, head for Scorrier and Blackwater again on the Old A30.
At the other end of Blackwater, you come to a roundabout at Three Burrows. Get on the A30. It’s single carriageway mainly and ok to cycle on. In the future, they are going to dual this stretch and I’m going to have to sort out a better cycling route!
You could turn off at Three Burrows onto the A3075 towards Newquay, but I think that’s taking you out of your way. Some folk have gone that way, then worked their way east back along the A392 through Quintrell Downs to pick up my described route.
Follow the A30 to Zelah - turn off the main road and go through the village Old A30 - and out again for a short time back on the A30 turning off left through St Newlyn East.
Cross the A3058 at Gummow’s Shop and cross the A392 at White Cross and go through St Columb Major. At the other end, pop out onto the A39 and head north and this will take you to Wadebridge. You can go down through the town, or stay up on the main road, but either way you will end up north of the town on the A39 heading for Camelford.
A few miles north of Camelford, turn east onto the A395 at Davidstow. Follow this through Hallworthy and over Wilsey Down and find a left turn onto minor roads to go through Tresmeer and Egloskerry. This road will take you to St Stephens just north of Launceston.
As you come out by the church, turn right onto the A388 (staggered junction) then immediately left and drop down into Newport at a mini roundabout opposite a Spar shop. Turn left up the hill a short way, then right. (east)
This road will take you to the north of Launceston on a fairly level road (Launceston town is high up on a hill with a Norman castle to your right). Pop out at a T junction and go right, following this to pop out onto the Old A30 by Launceston rugby ground and turn left.
Cross Polson Bridge over the border into Devon, and keep going.
Go through Lifton Down, Lifton, Tinhay, Portgate, Lewdown, Combebow, past Bridestowe, and climb up to nearly 1,000ft at Sourton where you turn left onto the A386 at a T junction.
Go under the A30 dual carriageway and follow the road past the services and Little Chef etc. Do not go onto the A30 despite the signpost for Okehampton.
Follow the A386 for less than a mile and see a small crossroads. Turn right signposted Meldon. This little road goes down hill and bends to the left and becomes an almost disused part of the Old A30, pop out onto the Old A30 proper, bearing left, and head into Okehampton town.
You are now about 100miles from LE and where most folk stop for their first night.

Chapter Two.

Pass through Okehampton town centre through the main junction and up the hill to a left turn at some traffic lights. Go down to a small roundabout and take the second exit up hill. This is the B3215 Appledore Hill.
Keep going, and it the road becomes the A3072 through Bow village and you come out at Copplestone onto the A377 to Crediton and go straight into the town.
At the far end of the town centre, you turn left onto the A3072 again, and this is where some folk go wrong.
If you stay on the A3072, it takes you to Bickleigh to join the A396 for Tiverton, but it’s a hilly road over the Cadbury Hills but there’s an easier route. This is nicknamed “Rob’s Passage” after a chap from Plymouth called Rob described it to me.
As you leave Crediton on the A3072, the road drops down round a long right-hander and passes over a little bridge and between two cottages. Turn right at these cottages, then a short while later, right again and head through Thorverton village. Various little lanes will get you there, all pretty much of a muchness.
Other side of Thorverton you cross the river and turn left at a big pub onto the A396 for Bickleigh. Cross the river over the narrow bridge and carry on to Tiverton.

Bear right at a roundabout under a footbridge still on the A396, and right at the next one onto a minor road past Blundell’s School (posh private skool) and go through Harberton and Sampford Peverell to the A361 dual carriageway. You cross this road over a flyover and sort of cloverleaf and wind back on yourself.
The road is fast and busy, but wide, and before you get off the slipway, you can ride along a layby, and by the time you get to the end of it, you reach a busy roundabout. Total distance on the dual carriageway A361 is only half a mile.
Head straight across the roundabout. It’s a bit fast, but it’s fine if you get a move on. If you have difficulty, get off and cross the road on foot. It’s the M5 Junction 27, so can be a bit hectic.
Straight on is what you want, and it’s the A38. Not too busy because the big traffic is on the M5. Head north for Wellington and turn off through the town centre as it’s the easiest route.
Other end of the town, join the A38 again and head for Taunton. There’s a few different routes you could take through the middle of Taunton, but personally I just follow the signposts for A38 Bridgwater and Bristol.
Continue on the A38 north for Bridgwater and you come out at a crossroads by Morrisons. Turn right at the traffic lights and head north. From Bridgwater, it is 15miles of completely flat road!
Mick F. Cornwall
Tiggertoo
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Re: A30

Post by Tiggertoo »

It is interesting that the Peak Tours 14 day route skips Plymouth and goes from LA to Fowey, to Mortonhampstead, to Street then onto Monmouth.
ken66
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Re: A30

Post by ken66 »

Tiggertoo wrote:It is interesting that the Peak Tours 14 day route skips Plymouth and goes from LA to Fowey, to Mortonhampstead, to Street then onto Monmouth.
Actual route around PlymouthImage
rareposter
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Re: A30

Post by rareposter »

Tiggertoo wrote: 16 Aug 2022, 3:49pm It is interesting that the Peak Tours 14 day route skips Plymouth and goes from LA to Fowey, to Mortonhampstead, to Street then onto Monmouth.
It'll be overnight stay logistics then for sure.
10 days - that'll be the nearest convenient town / city to accommodate the riders plus support staff at the "correct" daily distance from LE.
14 days - since the days are shorter in terms of mileage, you'll be stopping some way short of Plymouth on Day 1 and some way past it on Day 2 so no need to go through it.
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Mick F
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Re: A30

Post by Mick F »

ken66 wrote: 16 Aug 2022, 3:59pm
Tiggertoo wrote:It is interesting that the Peak Tours 14 day route skips Plymouth and goes from LA to Fowey, to Mortonhampstead, to Street then onto Monmouth.
Actual route around PlymouthImage
Easier and quicker to aim for the Torpoint Ferry, and still follow the city part of that route.

Getting to Cremyll is ok, but a bit "out of the way" and further ............. plus the small ferry boat isn't so easy to get on and off with a bike AND you have to pay to cross the water! :D
Mick F. Cornwall
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