Nigel and Mercedes organised the August ride where 10 tandems and 2 solos met at Barnstaple railway station.
Some members of the Tandem Club might be familiar with the Tarka Trail in North Devon where much of the route is on old disused railway lines. It is flat, with a good surface and is popular with cyclists and walkers. The problem is that it usually follows deep wooded valleys and consequently it's difficult to do a 'round trip ride' that avoids tandem 'unfriendly' hills. The August ride for the Taunton Group tried to achieve this.
The Old Bideford Road was the route out of town which led us via unclassified roads over the hill with a couple of long steady climbs and back down to sea level at Bideford. The sky was blue and it was perfect cycling weather. We then had to climb again out of Bideford with another steady hill to Gammaton Cross. If there was any muttering of discontent about the hills, I didn't hear it and I didn't quite think it was necessary to hide in the bushes whenever the group stopped. We joined the Tarka Trail at Weare Giffard in the Torridge Valley and this was a very steep descent. Lunch at The Cyder Presse at Wear Giffard and then it was the Tarka Trail all the way back to Barnstaple but stopping for tea and cakes at the Fremington Quay cafe. En route there are a few gates etc which require a little more care to negotiate than on a solo bike but the tandems can be wheeled and no heavy lifting is required . So in total it was 29 miles and 1130 ft of climbing which was all in the first half of the ride.
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