Just Around The Corner — exploring the best of the South West by bike

Starting from Christchurch for the first stage, I crossed through Hurn Forest, Moors Valley Country Park, Martin Down Nature Reserve, Cranborne Chase AONB and finally through the western bit of North Wessex Downs AONB.



This was a mostly gravel route with some quiet country lanes and a couple of great… read more

This day involved riding past the impressive Avebury Stone Circle, crossing into Cotswolds and proceeding further south towards Bristol, of course, involving a swim in the River Avon.



I followed quiet country roads for the most part, with bits of sweet gravel in between.



10 points for spotting where I… read more

This was my favourite day! I rode across the Mendips, then across the Quantock Hills towards Exmoor.



It was a long day, with a lot of hike-a-bike too. What's more, not all of the bike-pushing was uphill, some of it, especially down off the Mendip Hills into Cheddar, which with my bike setup seemed pretty… read more

I rode across Exmoor and into the North Devon AONB on day four. I ditched the bike at Hartland and went for a walk to Hartland Point.



Oh, you better believe there was a sea swim involved (not near Hartland point, it was somewhere else)! 🤩



At the end of the day, I found a sweet campsite near Welcombe.

I think I had exaggerated the steepness of the hills in my head, because they were nowhere as bad as what I'd pictured, phew!



Bodmin AONB was incredible! It definitely involved questionable navigation choices and bike-pushing through bog. Yay me! 😬



I took a little trip into Bodmin town later and I was… read more

Finally, an easy day on bike! There were loads of quiet country roads mixed in with some sweet, sweet gravel here.



The road from St Ives to St Just along the coast is dreamy dreamy DREAMY! There's views for days 🤩

There are some seriously great swim spots near Mousehole and Penzance. Cornish towns are so beautiful: Penzance, Helston, Falmouth, St Austell from this day.



I have ridden through these towns before, but this time, I got so much more time and space to enjoy them! Many cafe stops, multiple swims, and a chill pace.

A very familiar bit of this route and, oh my goodness, the hills (in a very good way)!



This is a less than adventurous route across Dartmoor, which I don't regret, because any route across Dartmoor was going to be equally beautiful.



I went on a bit of an autopilot mode for most of the ride. As the day… read more

Crossing the rest of Dartmoor, through Exeter, across Blackdown Hills and into Dorset AONB.



This turned out to be a very hot day, and beautiful views on the penultimate day of this ride!

Back home, the long way around! I enjoyed some great bits of Purbeck countryside, and I couldn't have been happier knowing that maybe I hadn't had all the adventures that I'd have liked to have along the way, but certainly did pick and choose my adventures and thoroughly enjoy myself!



Of course, the ride… read more