Xaporho wrote: ↑9 May 2023, 1:21pm
Is there any possiblity to rent a gravel bike, if I am heading down to Penzance?
Welcome to the forum. I have merged your post with the main existing thread on the West Kernow Way.
Cycling UK's own guidance on the WKW includes this advice on bike hire:
There is a wealth of options to hire a bike in and around Penzance, as well as other towns in west Cornwall. Several provide e-bikes, and some offer to deliver to your accommodation.
See ‘Which kind of bike is best?’ for advice on the best type of bike to hire for the West Kernow Way.
I'm on my way back on the train after spending 3 days on the WKW. I'm glad I turned up with a hardtail and not a gravel bike what with the muddiness of some of the trails after a wet summer.
It was demanding, as much due to the navigation as the riding, although the riding is in places more technical than the Ridgeway and The South Downs Way and not to be sniffed at. This was the first time I had ever mounted a phone to a bike and I soon found out that the OS app with GPX,.although a pleasure to follow, destroys the battery, so for much of it I was stopping and starting to navigate, including compass use on the moors. I know there are cycle computers out there but I'm still not fully at ease being taken round by technology.
By the third day at Redruth it became clear that I wasn't going to complete the lot so I turned round on the miners trails and rode pretty direct for Marazion.
I had a bivvy bag/tarp and stove for a bit of breakfast no more (plenty of.pub/cafe stops) and wildcamped each night and there were some stunning dawns and dusks, including this morning at Boat Cove looking out to St Michaels Mount. I found that the Coast Path and the National Trust land gives ample opportunities.
The comments on this thread really make sense to me now I've tried riding it. On balance I am thankful to Cycling UK for putting it together, but must admit the figure of 8 isn't to my taste as I love the idea of a 'way' not a loop and generally do bikes on the train/plane/boat wherever I start/finish (loved the Helford ferry crossing).
A too blasé attitude in preparing for the trip meant I didn't heed the warning about the barbed wire and high gate at Kennack Sands! Dispirited and unsure that there wouldn't be more of the same further up the cliff, I went right back and round on the road.
Doing this in high season was not a critical factor - for miles and miles on the inland off road segments I didn't see a soul.
