Cycling near St Ives (Cornwall) - leisure

[The doomed]

Other half and i are down in St Ives (Cornwall) for a week in June and thinking of taking our bikes. And good traffic free roiutres in the area? Ideally leaving from St Ives, up to 30 miles or thereabouts.

 

[ufkacbln]

Which one?

 

[The doomed]

Ah, Cornwall!

 

[briantrumpet]

You'll not really go wrong with any roads round there, as long as you don't mind lumpy hills, and avoid doing too much of the A30 north east of St Ives. The coast road is spectacular, and won't be that busy in June. Sorry I haven't got any specific routes, but a map, a bike, and lungs, legs and heart will give you a good day out, whatever direction you head in, more or less.

 

[ColinJ]

I really enjoyed a loop I did from Penzance round through St Ives (Obviously, you would start at St Ives):

Penzance, Newlyn, Mousehole, Raginnis, Bossava, onto B3315 at Merry Maidens, Treen, Trethewey, join the A30 at Sennen (it wasn't too busy when I was there), (worth dropping down to the lovely beach at Sennen Cove for an ice cream and a paddle, but it is a steep climb back up!), B3306 through St Just and follow all the way to St Ives (the area round Zennor is particularly lovely), B3311 to Penzance. There are lots of variations - just check the OS map. Stay off the A-roads marked in green!

 

[alans]

If possible go to the map shop in Truro

http://www.touchtruro.com/business/list/bid/1729973

& ask for a copy of The Cyclist's Map of Cornwall.

I kid you not.It's excellent.I bought one in 2009 & it's now dog-eared but I wouldn't go to Cornwall without it

hth

 

[The doomed]

Thank you!

Quite fancy the cycle to Penzance you mention Colin.

Will try and call shop and see if they will post me a map!

 

[ColinJ]

Thank you!

Quite fancy the cycle to Penzance you mention Colin.

Will try and call shop and see if they will post me a map!

I was caught out a bit by a few steep climbs e.g. the one out of Mousehole, and the one from Sennen Cove (that one is optional, but it seemed a shame not to go down to the beach), but at least they are not that long. The main loop I described is about 56 km (35 miles). There are a few possible shortcuts, and plenty of ways to make it longer without going on busy roads.

 

[The doomed]

How quiet are the road you say are not busy? Might be busier than my other half is used to in rural east scotland

 

[ColinJ]

How quiet are the road you say are not busy? Might be busier than my other half is used to in rural east scotland

Obviously it depends on the time of year, and the time of the day but when I rode the loop about 4 years ago I don't remember being worried by the traffic and I don't like busy roads. The previous time I went on holiday there, I started to ride down one of the really busy A-roads and got off it as soon as I could because it was no fun at all!

I do imagine that the roads are busier than rural east Scotland though!

I find that Street view is often good for checking how busy roads are. For example, here is the B-road through Zennor - LINK. That's what most of the loop was like, though Penzance and St Ives were obviously busier. Mousehole is a tiny village but it seems to get quite a lot of tourists because it is so quaint. It only takes a couple of minutes to get through it though if you are not stopping there.

 

[chrtho]

You can't really do much better than the north and south coast roads west of St Ives/Penzance. There are a few detours off the south coast road worth doing to Lamorna (cafe), Penberth and Porthgwarra (ice cream). At Porthgwarra you can cycle along the access road to the coastguard station above the cliffs at Gwennap Head which gives you an idea of what Land's End must have been like before it was trashed. Butcher in St Just does a good pasty.

Penberth

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

I was in St Ives last week, took the folding bike, and did this:

http://cycle.travel/map/journey/7600

From Portreath to Devoran is the "Cornish Coast to Coast" - the shortest waymarked coast-to-coast ride you can do, just 11 miles and mostly off-road. Lots of fun. Then the train back from Perranwell to St Ives.

But as others have said you can't really go wrong with any of the lanes round there. Just check the contours!