In praise of cyclists who live in South Devon

[rogerzilla]

I lived in Plymouth for a couple of years. It's a bit of a slog up onto Dartmoor but, once you're up, it's more rolling than hilly on the main routes. The city itself generally slopes toward the sea and you get to know the easier ways from A to B quite quickly for when you're tired. Forder Valley is not one of them.

 

[Tom B]

A friend of mine lives and cycles around the Vale if York. He came over to see me in the northwest and one side of my commute has more climbing than his weekly riding. He commented between gasps "is anywhere flat around here!" And stopped taking the mick out of my average pace on Strava.

Last summer he went to stay in NE Cornwall, the hills nearly killed him!

I have to agree I think the nature of the Devon and Cornwall terrain makes it feel harder I think the winds across the 'peninsula' don't help and it usually feels like a 360° headwind. I swear I've been on downhill sections that have felt harder than some flat or uphills in D&C.

 

[Ajax Bay]

nationwide not just Devon

Yes Matt, standard OS 1:50,000 legend. Roads less than 4m wide mapped as narrow yellow. Bitd (before you graduated to maps) the One Inch maps had the threshold at 14 feet but then they went all metric (1:63360 to 1:50,000) along with the legend and the currency.

 

[ColinJ]

You must have cycled some narrow lanes round pendle colin?

Yes, I was thinking about some of them recently...

Plenty of gravel, plenty of leaf mulch, water, general muck. Some of them are very narrow too, but generally there are places where you can get off the road if you have to, and can see a bit more of what is coming up. I wouldn't race down something like this, but it is the kind of road that I like.

I also seem to remember a muck spreader on one of our rides.

Ha ha - yes, that was a bit unexpected! (A muck spreader in an adjacent field was spraying the foul stuff high up into the air in a big arc to cover a large area. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing some of it back over the fence/hedge towards us, and some of it was hitting trees and bouncing off them in all directions.)

 

[Blue Hills]

I have to say that I found the drivers last week to be, without exception, patient and polite regarding me cycling. Maybe it's because drivers have to be very patient in any case as overtaking and even passing is tricky

This is my experience on narrow lanes. Usually. They tend to round corners carefully, not necessarily because they are expecting a cyclist but another lump of moving metal which might be going faster than it should. So I think as a cyclist I benefit from their fear of a serious smash or at least their fear of losing their no claims.
In case of the odd bad driver tempted to push me in a hedge, I approach any oncoming cars in the middle of the narrow road - polite, unspoken, negotiation on passing done as we get closer. I want somewhere left to move aside to if I have to.
Nothing will keep me off lanes - I like them.
Vital to make sure your brake blocks are in good nick before setting off of course.

 

[nickyboy]

This is my experience on narrow lanes. Usually. They tend to round corners carefully, not necessarily because they are expecting a cyclist but another lump of moving metal which might be going faster than it should. So I think as a cyclist I benefit from their fear of a serious smash or at least their fear of losing their no claims.
In case of the odd bad driver tempted to push me in a hedge, I approach any oncoming cars in the middle of the narrow road - polite, unspoken, negotiation on passing done as we get closer. I want somewhere left to move aside to if I have to.
Nothing will keep me off lanes - I like them.
Vital to make sure your brake blocks are in good nick before setting off of course.

Brake blocks were in good shape prior to last week. Now somewhat less so following a bunch of steep downhill grinding paste sessions

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Cotswold hills have another tactic to ensure you scrub all speed off before an uphill. A lot of the roads have sharp 90 degree turns over a bridge at the bottom. So you may get a fast descent, but it does nothing to help you get up the other side.

The Chiltern hills have skog and some poor surfaces and blind bends in the narrow lanes to stop you going so fast. High banks and trees rather than hedges. With plenty of grades around 15% and some over 20%.

 

[Ajax Bay]

a bridge at the bottom

The most unforgiving of pinch points on a narrow road is often the narrow bridge with low parapets and a poor sight line, either just after a bend or because of its 'hump'. A Devon Bank normally has a hedge as the first point of contact. The side of a bridge has fresh air on the way to the stream below.
Caveat appropinquator.

 

[matticus]

Caveat appropinquator.

That isn't in the legend on my maps.

 

[Ian H]

...A Devon Bank normally has a hedge as the first point of contact...

Whereas Cornish banks, though they may look superficially similar, are very much less forgiving. The greenery is little more than a mossy covering for the rock beneath.

 

[Ajax Bay]

That isn't in the legend on my maps.

Do keep up, Matt. The Lingen 'Alps' beckon (this time last year, anyway).

 

[Tom B]

....The Chiltern hills have skog ................

Whatty? Google suggests its a Sweedish word for a waterfall or a skateboarding technique.

Whereas Cornish banks, though they may look superficially similar, are very much less forgiving. The greenery is little more than a mossy covering for the rock beneath.

I found out about the Cornish banks the hard way.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Whatty? Google suggests its a Sweedish word for a waterfall or a skateboarding technique.

Skog is a mix of mud, rotting leaves, flints, small stones, and sometimes hedge cuttings. Appears around October and stays till around April. Often to be found in banked lanes.

It‘s the perfect substance for making it fun on the bikes this time of year.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Skog is a mix of mud, rotting leaves, flints, [etc]

When I see "skog" I think 'Norwegian forest(ed terrain)'.
Have you invented this definition, @YB?

 

[Chap sur le velo]

Wow thanks for the heads up.

In a normal time, New Year would be visiting friends who live down one of those quiet lanes between Totnes and Dartmouth. This would have been my first visit avec velo.

Thought this thread would have discussed the climb up from Dartmouth or from Slapton Sands. Even in the car they seem brutal. Yet another thing postponed till "next" year.