We're in Torquay this weekend at the Fabulous In Laws. As they were walking today, we decided to cycle & dug out an MBR route from North Bovey - only 18km and "medium". It took us all day! Our route was closer to 22km due to navigational confusion - too many bridleways and although ascent was meant to be 720m, I haven't downloaded the "real" data yet & suspect that our diversion added metres to that too.What made it so long was a slow section at the start - very technical steep uphills and boulder ridden singletrack downhills that were certainly beyond our ability in places. My bike started to feel more like a fashion accessory than a mode of transport! "Flowing" is not an appropriate adjective for the singletrack. Second half was easier technically (mostly) but some killer climbs. Even here, we'd be going through shoulder high bracken & getting thrown around by invisible random rocks. My legs and arms have been shredded by brambles and Husband is sporting a few more serious scratches.
What made the ride worth doing was the scenery. My favourite kind of woodland (twisty stumpy oaks dripping with lichen on a mossy bouldery thin soil). Open moorland with bright yellow gorse and purple heather. Dartmoor ponies, buzzards and an adder. And towards the end I finally remembered that granite isn't slippery when wet & my riding attained a marginally less rubbish skill level!
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