We met up at Sampford Peverell for the 8am depart. The weather forecast was not dissimilar to that we faced 3 years ago; dry, followed by light rain, followed by heavy rain! Fortunately rain did not appear until we made it to the top of the Porlock, so a dry 36 miles wasn't bad.
Many years ago I drove the Porlock road and found the descent too much for my brakes, so the thought of cycling up it filled me with some dread. Unbeknown to me, however, there is a much gentler Toll Road. I say gentler with the caveat that everything is relative! This Toll Road is a 4 mile Alpine styled climb and a joy to any hill climber!
Our lunch stop at a cafe in Lynmouth was an absolute blessing after a very windy ride from Pollock to County Gate. Once refuelled we climbed again up the Watersmeet road and across the very exposed moor to Simonsbath. With absolutely no shelter we were battered and soaked and the feeling of isolation was made complete when even the bank holiday weekend traffic petered out. It was pure relief to find shelter in a Dulverton cafe where we gravitated to the wood fire and fuelled up on hot coffee and cake.
Our final 15 miles back through Bampton and Plowman were pedalled with renewed vigour although back at the car, my legs were certainly feeling the 80 or so miles and the 8k feet of climb; I was glad not to be the one driving home!
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