Post C2C Plymouth-Exeter route?

[LeBrignall]

Can anyone who knows this area please offer some route advice?

We plan to leave Herts next week and drive to Exeter, dump the car, and train to Barnstable and then cycle the C2C path to Plymouth staying in Okehampton half way down.

We then have to get back to Exeter. We could go back up the trail and take a right running across Dartmoor.

Or there appears to be Route 2 to Bovey Tracey and we could go on to Newton Abbot - and on to Exeter either north or round the coast. Happy to stay another night.

We are happy to do 50 miles a day or so on touring bikes with some luggage - is that helps. Enjoy hills and views. happy to train a bit....

Any advice from those who know the area would be great

many thanks

[Morzedec]

Hello, it depends, perhaps, on just how many hills an views you want! Option 1 would be back up the trail to Yelverton, then TR to Princeton, and onwards across Dartmoor, Moretonhampstead, then the B3212 back to Exeter. The first part of the ride, as far as Moretonhampstead, might be quite fun, but after that - the B road can be a problem if there is a lot of traffic. Option 2 - back up the trail to Okehampton, then take the 'old' A30 all the way to Exeter. Generally less strenuous than Dartmoor (but definitely not flat!) and perhaps more traffic free. I would avoid South Devon at all costs - lumpy, bumpy and too much traffic for me.

Hope this helps. Happy days, happy cycling.

[LeBrignall]

thanks for that. The obvious route is your option 1 across Dartmoor - but keen to avoid a busy narrow road.

The route from Plymouth to Newton Abbot does look brutally hilly - is the climbing cyclist rewarded with quiet roads and good views or is just hard work?

Is the route from Newton Abbott to Exeter via Dawlish up the estuary pretty or just dreary?
thanks again

[Morzedec]

Plymouth to Newton Abbott uses a lot of the old A38 - narrow, lumpy, and often full of traffic avoiding the jams on the dual carriageway. From NA onwards, and especially in the tourist season, it will be wall-to- wall traffic until you get past Dawlish, following which there is a riverside cycle path into the centre of Exeter. Not for me.

If it were me, I would use the route across Dartmoor - the scenery is spectacular, and although there will be tourist cars about not too many of them. Yes, from Moretonhampstead onwards it is twisty and a bit lumpy, but if you wait until after the rush hour and before the tourist's are on the road - say between 9 and 11 - have a dash at it, it's only 13 miles.

The Okehampton 'old A30 route' is usually fairly quiet, there are more places for refreshments and to stay than there are on Dartmoor, and you can usually bowl along on what is still a good surface in most places.

Try France next time - you can camp for free in our garden! Happy Days!

[rjb]

i would stick to the southern edge of Dartmoor, so out of Plymouth to Plympton then Sparkwell, Yondertown (my stomping ground as a youth) then cornwood, ivybridge, bittaford, ugborough, totnes, newton Abbot, then pick up the coast route around to exeter. I wouldnt call this hilly, undulating is a better description with quiet lanes, good views, and pretty villages.

[Morzedec]

RJB - I don't want to contradict your ideas, but have you ever ridden the route that you suggest? Anywhere around Dartington, Totnes, and Newton Abbot just heaves with traffic these days - and the road across from the A38 to Dartington is narrow, twisty, lumpy, and there is nowhere for a cyclist to go if two vehicles meet.
As an experiment I rode back that way about two weeks ago, and wish that I had not - never, ever, again!

Oh well, each to his own. Happy Days!

[Thehairs1970]

I think I’d do the back to Yelverton, TR route but when you get to Moretonhampstead, head to Tedbun St Mary instead. Then Whitestone, Nadderwater and into Exeter. It is hilly but not as rolling as the Newton Abbot route which I find very mentally tiring. Use cycle travel and drop an extra waypoint on Tedburn and you should be able to see the route I mean.

[LeBrignall]

Thanks for the tips - we'll do as you suggest - the trans Dartmoor tour it is

[Morzedec]

Happy Days!

[sjs]

I cycled the dual carriageway from Plymouth to Exeter once, having been delayed by a mechanical en route from Looe to Tiverton. But I would not recommend it.

[Stradageek]

Hello, it depends, perhaps, on just how many hills an views you want! Option 1 would be back up the trail to Yelverton, then TR to Princeton, and onwards across Dartmoor, Moretonhampstead, then the B3212 back to Exeter. The first part of the ride, as far as Moretonhampstead, might be quite fun, but after that - the B road can be a problem if there is a lot of traffic.

I'm actually a fan of the B3212, especially the descent through the woods after the climb out of Mortonhampstead. I usually divert to Ide just before Exeter (avoiding a nasty and busy lump) then take the spaghetti footbridge to cross the A30. A quick nip through the Matford estate and you're on the river path.