So the plan for the Coronation weekend was a three day bike adventure hitting the TET (Trans-European Trail) route from our doorstep heading East up towards Salisbury Plain then continuing counterclockwise and looping back past Bath and Bristol then finally home. Two nights camping and approx 120-150miles per say. How did it go ....... it didn't, cos of the crappy weather!!! awful Sat when we were due to depart, decent Sunday but awful again B/hol Monday. We're certainly not fair weather bikers but when it comes to camping after a hard day in the saddle, chatting and chilling with a few beers by the tents would be a good end to a good days riding, but putting a tent up in the rain and being confined to it would not!!! So, we postponed that plan and instead decided to take the big bikes for a spin today anyways. The crew consisted of the original 5 who were doing the three day Adventure (me, Russell Bentley Damian Steer Ricky Heard and Nick Kelland ) and we were also joined by Bob Wilkinson and Simon Suss
We met at Wrangerton at 8am for an early departure (much to Si's detest - he's more of a late starter preferring a lay in) We zipped up the A38 and peeled off towards Newton Abbot to pick up the TET trail in Teignmouth. Looking across the river teign was a beautiful view with the early morning sun glistening off the water. From there our route took us up the west side of the river Exe towards Exeter then back down the east side of the river towards Topsham. Theres a great little track that takes you down along the waters edge but I was leading at this point and missed it due to following my GPS which was an older version of the route that didn't have this included, but high tide was only 1.5hrs before we'd got there so unlikely we'd have been able to ride it anyway.
Continuing on towards Newton Poppleford, Sidmouth then the steep and rocky descent into Vickerage near Branscombe.
By this point we'd hit Elevens's and some of the group were getting a bit hangry (naming no names Nick Kelland) so we stopped at the Tesco in Seaton for a quick snack (and a bit of bike chat and clutch adjustment for Bob).
Continuing east towards Lyme Regis we found the most horsey village ever, Compyne, having to stop four times on the road for horses - mum, dad and daughter, a pair of girls and two large groups! However, it was worth it for the lane at Bulmoor. A technical lane in either direction (we rode down it, south to north) with large loose rocks, a ford crossing and a very uneven surface with deep gulleys and ruts and one large downed tree to negotiate. Still we all made it safely.
On to Uplyme where there was a large coronation gathering on the village field then past some absolutely stunning houses in the outskirts of the village #cribbs ( https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/dt7/rhode-lane.html )
Onwards to Monkton Wylde Cross where we left the southern part of the TET route and hopped onto the northern part (after Russ came to fetch me (leading) and Ricky as I was following the TET on my GPS and not Russ's planned route which was on my phone mapping GPS. It was a nice road, worth riding, what can i say)
Onwards to Hawkechurch and a great lane at Furzhill Farm before stopping at Chard for a very late lunch - petrol station sarnie amd snacks (oh, and an ice cream for Nick, of course!)
Leaving Chard we were now heading west and hit a nice lane in Hook then in a lane at Membury Bob and Si saw a young Stag deer running in the field alongside the lane and then the deer decided to try and jump the hedge infront of them only to appear to get slightly stuck as he wasn't quite big enough to scale the hedge. Shame. We're sure he was fine and no deer were harmed in recounting this story.
Another great lane at Yarty Ho before hitting Honiton.
Slightly south west of Honiton there a corker of a lane just past Pin Hill Farm that takes you up through Core Copse - a wide and fast loose gravel track that saw me and Si fish-tailing the T7's all the way up on the power, whoooo. Awesome. Immediately after that was a great decent through the woods taking us towards Tipton St John and the infamous Dumpy bag lane although this wasn't on our route the adjoining lane (192-110) is a challenge of skill and balance ridden north to south negotiating the large rocks and tree roots. There's a fantastic Grand designs type house that's been built at the top of the lane since I was last there, veeeeery nice indeed. A good pair of lanes descend into Tipton St John then another few good lanes at Venn Ottery.
192-105 at Great Halls saw Nick drop his bike in a shallow stream with large smooth boulders - like footballs they were ..... honestly! He wasn't the only one during the day to have and off but the only one I've mentioned as it was the only one I witnessed. At this point we'd hit 140 miles in the day and tiredness was setting in and mistakes were being made. There was a long way left on the planned route but we all decided to call it a day and head for home before potentially more offs and broken bikes ..... or broken people!
A nice, refreshing blast on the A30 and A38 home - via Ivybridge jetwash for me seeing as we're in a hosepipe ban! (I wouldn't have been able to sleep putting the bike away in the garage as dirty as it was ........ which is also why I spent a further 1.5hrs cleaning it to perfection when I eventually got home
An absolutely cracking day, 192 miles door to door for me, which more than made up for our cancelled plan.
