St Ives area cycling ideas please.

[Dave7]

I am going to Cornwall..........5 miles inland from St. Ives (a place called St Erth).
I have 2 bikes.....one road one hardtail Giant with (27.5" wheels).
I can only take one of them.
As I will be dragging (sorry ...I mean taking) my OH who doesn't really cycle.
My plans/wishes are to do some 10/30 milers.........so it doesnt infringe on the holiday. Not that I am frightened of the OH you understand

What I am asking for is some 'ride' ideas or suggestions so I can decide which bike is best suited. I will have a bike carrier so can travel to get to any good rides (not too far away of course).
At this moment I favour taking the hard tail as it will do both jobs but would appreciate some ideas/suggestions.
Thanks

 

[ufkacbln]

Wrong St Ives for me!

I did spend some time at Helston though and there is a lot of good cycling in Cornwall, with some good off road trails

The only problem is access, as it can be quite a trek to get to them, with little alternative than to drive



Cycle routes

Cycling in Cornwall

Cornish Cycle trails

 

[Levo-Lon]

Wrong St Ives for me too..but id go for more off road in Cornwall as the roads are narrow and can be full of mental on holiday types who think their still on the local to them A road...
there will be some lovely coastal routes for walking and cycling,just be wary of the Red socks..

 

[Dave7]

Wrong St Ives for me!

I seriously thought about the other St Ives but the beaches aren't quite so good and there is no home made ice cream there
But thanks for the suggestion.

 

[ColinJ]

I don't know about offroad round there but I took a road bike down there a couple of times and enjoyed the local roads.

I did a loop that was particularly good ... (I was based in Penzance but I have modified it to it to start and finish at St Erth.)

St Erth, SW on lane to Truthwall, NW to Crowlass, B3309 to B3311 then SW on that to Penzance. Get on the little coast road to 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 towards St Ives (the area round Zennor is particularly lovely). St Ives is optional - you could go St Ives, Lelant, St Erth OR turn right off the B3306 before St Ives onto the B3311 and follow that back towards Penzance, turn left at Nancledra and follow the lane SE to Crowlass, and return by the roads you came out on earlier - cross the A30, continue SE towards Gwallon, turn left just before the village and NE head back to St Erth.

Oh, it was longer than I remembered - that was about 47 miles! Well, you could just do the bit to Penzance and back, or in the other direction to Zennor and back.

There are lots of variations - just check the OS map. Stay off the very busy A-roads marked in green!

 

[marzjennings]

A ride out to Zennor and back could be nice. I haven't done that ride in 25 years, but I recall it being very pretty along the way. Plus, there's a nice pub to recharge once you get there.

 

[mooseracer]

Cornwall is very hilly, there are great rides to be had on a roadbike with stunning views, so that would be my preference.

 

[vickster]

There's a regular poster from cornwall @helston90

 

[Dave7]

I don't know about offroad round there but I took a road bike down there a couple of times and enjoyed the local roads.

I did a loop that was particularly good ... (I was based in Penzance but I have modified it to it to start and finish at St Erth.)

St Erth, SW on lane to Truthwall, NW to Crowlass, B3309 to B3311 then SW on that to Penzance. Get on the little coast road to 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 towards St Ives (the area round Zennor is particularly lovely). St Ives is optional - you could go St Ives, Lelant, St Erth OR turn right off the B3306 before St Ives onto the B3311 and follow that back towards Penzance, turn left at Nancledra and follow the lane SE to Crowlass, and return by the roads you came out on earlier - cross the A30, continue SE towards Gwallon, turn left just before the village and NE head back to St Erth.

Oh, it was longer than I remembered - that was about 47 miles! Well, you could just do the bit to Penzance and back, or in the other direction to Zennor and back.

There are lots of variations - just check the OS map. Stay off the very busy A-roads marked in green!

I could definitely handle that on on the road bike but the 27.5 is brand new to me so I won't know for a couple of months if I could do it on that.
Thanks a lot for the info which I will check out.

 

[ColinJ]

I could definitely handle that on on the road bike but the 27.5 is brand new to me so I won't know for a couple of months if I could do it on that.
Thanks a lot for the info which I will check out.

As mentioned above, there are a few short, sharp climbs on that route where the road dives down into a little cove, then climbs straight back up; that kind of thing. I enjoyed it though. The main (green on OS map) A roads looked horribly busy so I stayed off them, but the rest of the roads I cycled on during my holidays were very pleasant with some great coastal views, and some quaint towns and villages.

 

[surfdude]

as long as you stay off the main roads it all very lovely and the smaller roads are not that busy .as someone else said it is very hilly down . the good thing about Cornwall is its so narrow you can cycle pretty much anywhere and not get lost . for the off road stuff there is the Bissoe cycle path . not very exciting on the main path but there are lots of off shoots and tracks to cycle on . have fun

 

[helston90]

@Dave7 - got your PM, no problem at all
It's an easy and hard question- easy because the roads are beautiful, you can choose your route through the afore mentioned villages and ports and take in some lovely sights- from St Erth if I was allowed one ride it would be the coastal road from St Ives to Lands End, back to Penzance and then across to St Erth again. If I could sneak in two rides it would be down around the Lizard peninsula (Mullion, Lizard, Coverack, Helford etc.).
The hard part comes because I don't have a MTB- so don't know if our trails (?) are any good or even where they are (apart from the new one that's just opened at Lanhydrock, Bodmin.
So it's a vote for road- you won't regret it if you practice some hills.

 

[subaqua]

http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/environm...cle-routes-and-trails/the-engine-house-trail/

and lots more too