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Post Info TOPIC: Crediton to Whiddon Down 16th November 2013


Clubman B

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Crediton to Whiddon Down 16th November 2013


The Three Amigos go wild(ish) in Devon

Alarm goes off at 7.30am and staggering out of bed and peeking out of the window confirmed twas a frosty morning. Long John time of year again! Layering up and a quick cuppa saw me out in garage with DR burbling away nicely as I frantically searched for my girly silk gloves to provide another layer of insulation. Failing miserably I set off from Cully through the back roads to Crediton. By the time I got to Tescos my hands were partly frost bitten and hoped to find a coffee machine in the garage, but no luck so had to fondle exhaust pipe (still legal in Devon) to heat them through. Soon after Paul (Tigerman) and Bouncing Bob arrived; Paul sporting his new to him DRZ400S and Bob on his trusty old TTR250. Having had a couple drop out, we were a compact outfit and having knocked around a few ideas we settled on heading across to Whiddon Down and back taking in a decent density of lanes in 4 or 5 hours barring any disasters.

The weather rapidly clouding over at least warmed things up a bit and we headed down to Venny Tedburn to blow the cobwebs out. We crossed a little ford in the first lane then rode down two dead end UCRs, the first easy the second a squidgy decent down to the valley floor and a small stream where the lane runs into a bridleway so necessitating a U turn to ride back up; Bob decided to sit that one out -sensible bloke! Weve had quite a bit of rain in the last two weeks and things are softening up nicely, the descent had a decent gradient in places with a bit of mud and rock here and there. Often in technical lanes you ride down thinking oo, Im glad Im not riding up this one but obviously in this case we were getting a good view of the impending terrain wed be returning on. Instead of checking lines and mentally mapping the ride back up - I was bricking it and trying to block out all thoughts of returning whence we came!

On reaching the bottom we both turned to each other and said may be we should have not come down! Still Ive not ridden it before and if Im going to complete my ambition of riding every lane in Devon, then youve got to man up! In my favour I was rocking new Army Special Trellesport/Mitass and Paul had a shagged out MT43, so that made me feel a bit more confident about my chances at least. Letting Paul go first did not bode well as his tyre groped for grip with the bike standing still, but slowly, inexorably he made progress and found a bit of momentum the bikers friend (at least on gnarly ascents). I set off with less hassle, the Army Specials (in my opinion a very good compromise of grip in mud and grip on rock) finding traction and the old air cooled 350 digging deep with its lower gearing and tractor like performance propelling my past Paul half way up as he provided extra leg power to keep heading up hill. Now Id like to say I was on the pegs, picking the best line, controlling grip with a deft use of throttle and clutch, but like I said, Id like to say that. The reality was a little more agricultural and desperate, but at least the random body movements warmed me up nicely. Still rather than a painful slog pushing bikes up through the gloop which Id anticipated, we actually both made it up without a great degree of fuss to return to Bob, passing the time of day with the local farmer.

We rode west to Tillerton to ride another nice little climb through mixed going up through a copse, with some nicely coloured beech trees providing a lovely autumn tint in the morning gloom. Riding down a short UCR in Tedburn St Mary we headed into the Teign Valley, itself a picture of autumn tints with Dartmoor now providing a very pleasant backdrop to the scenery. A decent BOAT brought us down to the bottom of the valley before crossed the river and rode up the other side before riding down the lovely Fingle Bridge BOAT through the woods with S bends and loose stone surface back down to the valley floor. This was pretty much the highlight of the morning, classic lane, great company and lovely views of the river, pack horse bridge and turning leaves.

Riding via pretty Drewsteignton, a classic Devon village dating back to the Doomsday book and a short BOAT which look innocuous, but deciding to up the degree of difficulty, Paul decided to change ruts and badgered on camera for me how very obliging! We pitched up at Whiddon Down services for a hot drink and sausage roll to look over the map and consider our options. After chatting to the Esso tanker driver about bikes, he owns an old DT125 MX with 175 head, a bit like mine, but at least his works! He lamented the lack of lanes down St Austell way, which does bring home the fact of how lucky we are in Devon with legal lanes available for us to ride and reinforces the need for us to be vigilant to ensure that remains the case for our descendants!

We decided to take in a couple of lanes by Sticklepath, again news ones for me (kerchinng!). Bob went squirrel hunting and being at the back Paul and myself got to the end of the lane before realising he had gone AWOL. After a couple of minutes debating riding back up the tricky lane and convincing ourselves we could hear his engine in the distance well you do dont you when you cant be arsed to track back up a snotty lane J,  Bob arrived breathing hard and looking a healthy pink colour having extricated himself from his bike unaided still its good exercise for a pensioner eh?    We rode on to South Tawton now with me being TEC, I sold it on the basis of making sure if Bob bailed, I could assist, but really was looking for a Youve Been Framed (YBF) moment on my camera stuck in my breast pocket running and dialled in for £250 (kerchingg!). Talking of YBFd I was looking forward to the show later in the day as my crash filmed at Wheeldon several years ago was finally going to be aired, so spectacular crashes in front of my camera are all welcomely received! The S Tawton lane meant negotiating a farm yard with a couple of notorious dogs, one being a Doberman (GULP!) attached by a piece of flimsy string just short enough to keep its gnashing teeth away from your leg provided you kept tight to one side.

Dropping into the Taw catchment we rode a couple of lanes beside the Yeo including crossing it at Coxmoor; plenty of water, but not too technical so very pleasant. A UCR in Bow saw us heading for home, a detour via a UCR in Knowle off the A377, finishing in Crediton at Treens for a look-see at the bikes on offer before kicking off for home. Thanks Paul, for a great day out!

The video can be found at:

http://youtu.be/aWSoywqQAbc

Happy laning!

Sean    PS - oh yeah my girly silk gloves I'd been looking for were in my waterproof trousers I'd been wearing all day - Doh!



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Sean Comber


Clubman B

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A good read, as always. The Wheeldon spill was spectacular, you managed to use the tyres as a ramp and left the track!!!!!

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Expert

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Nice write up Sean, shame about the badger on film!!wink I need a knobblie on the rear, thats my excuse anyway!biggrin

Looking forward to the next trip out...



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Powermonger!!

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Nice report Sean and enjoyed the video - recognised a lot of the lanes!

So, if Paul was blaming his lack of traction on his rear tyre. what was Bob running on the rear of the TTR? biggrinbiggrinbiggrin



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Expert

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Nice report and vid.
Will have to get on the next ride!!

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paul

 



Devon's Best

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Good report. Enjoyed reading that.

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Sportsman

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Enjoyed that report Sean...

spooky..we were told the story of the spectacular YBF'd moment by Andrew at Wheeldon this afternoon !!



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Expert

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Great write-up and nice vid too.



-- Edited by Wheely on Monday 18th of November 2013 08:17:13 PM

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Devon's Best

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Well done, great report.

 



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Clubman B

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Yes the Wheeldon vid was a while ago now, must have been 2008, and has been kicking around for ages before they decided t show it. It's great up there and I've got Wheeldon to thank for getting me back on a bike for the first time since my schoolboy scrambling days - where spookily I realised Andrew and I used to race together - although he always beat me - trouble was I treated scrambling the same as a day out greenlining - bimbling along enjoying myself, wondering why others are in such a hurry....  



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Sean Comber


Clubman B

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hi u all thanks again 2 paul & sean for a great day out ;enjoyed the report &vidio ;

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