Brenhden's TET

[Brenhden]

By 16:00 I was on Dartmoor and it was lush.

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All day I’d been enclosed but now there was a view. Dartmoor doesn’t have trails and I was pleased to potter between waterfalls and Bridges amongst the sheep and horses.

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Dartmoor was long and lush and by 18:00 I was at Tavistock and deadbeat, I set course for home and picked up some Rattler cider on the way. Once back at camp I had a well deserved shower and caught up with the nice people on camp before putting my chair in the porch of my new tent having a drink and relaxing.

Today's Distance 374km

Today's TET 173km

Total TET 1130km

[Brenhden]

26/06/19

Up at 05:45 after a much better nights sleep. Wash and porridge and pack lunch made I set off at 07:30 with a drum and bass soundtrack. I flew round the local lanes and at 08:15 was back on the TET near Tavistock.

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The first trails were super loose like someone had spread topsoil over them. I slid around cursing my K60s into a wet forest past Liskeard and I had no control. I stopped for fuel and lost my safety specs and next was a deadly downhill into a valley, it was more of those slippery rocks from yesterday and really steep. I lost it and skidded over and down coating myself in mud and getting trapped under the bike. Five mins of swearing and the bike and I were back in action. I got to the bottom and the route went straight back up the other side and looked even worse but there was a forestry trail that looked lovely so I took it after (finally) letting some air out of my tyres.

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It wound up but was a dead end. I worked back but that was a dead end too. I spotted an untouched trail that went straight up but that ended in thick brush which I walked but that was no good either.

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I rode around a bit and passed the same lady jogger twice who gave me a look like she knew I was going to murder her. This little trap was so pretty and I saw a red deer. Finally I took the trail and made it out by giving it a lot of power.

[Brenhden]

The next road section was most welcome. As was the fresh hot Pasty that followed. There was a short trail covered in roots and my new deflated tyres were way better.

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Around 14:00 I was at Thomas’s Plantation which has a steep muddy concrete path with a lot of walkers unaware of how hard I was finding it not to fall off on them and after that I was in Hobbit country.

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[Brenhden]

Next was mount Wellington which I went the wrong way and had to negotiate an insane slag cliff like trail that would have been flipping hard work in hiking boots…

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The way I should have gone

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The way I went.

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It’s a miracle I didn’t wreck the bike on this. After Truro the whole countryside and air seemed to change, a bit like when you are in France and get to the Med. Suddenly it was hot there were palm trees and it was flat.

[Brenhden]

The trails were dry and easy and all was well, I stopped at Praa sands for a quick swim and the ‘pleasure’ of paying £4:40 for 275ml of alcohol free lager!

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And carried on to Mont St Michael:

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An then Penzance Tesco for fuel and supplies. I called it a day and turned back for camp, about 90 minutes away. During the ride home I remembered the sandwiches I’d made and not eaten. I got back to base at 19:00 and had fresh pasta and made a sauce before bed to the sounds of the crazy lady on camp having a massive argument with some hikers…

Day total 328km

TET today 284km

TET total 1415km

Money spent £44

[Brenhden]

27/06/19 Was a rest day so I hiked along the South West coastal path for 10k and had bad fish and chips.

28/06/19

Up at 05:45 with granola bars for breakfast, tea, laundry and bike repairs. Whilst dressing I found a tick on my ankle and I made a little tick remover from a loyalty card and used it to totally fail to sort the tick out. I set off around 07:00 with its head still stuck in me. At 0830 I pulled up at Tesco again and had a quick sandwich before getting back on the TET.

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The first trail out of town started easy but was soon really rocky, also the bushes overhanging the trail had thick branches in that nearly had me off the bike as I brushed past and put a hole in my jacket. After that it was road to Lands End which my be the windiest place I’ve ever been on a Motorbike.

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Lots more fun roads later and I rode past a tin mine and rode up to it to get a photo, it was a right faff getting in the right place!

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[Brenhden]

Next I entered Levand Mines which was lush and perfect for photos.

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From there it was more road and high winds and I stopped in St Ives for a cuppa and to be shot blasted by the sand from the beach!

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11:00 I rode out of town and next was St Day where I stopped for packed lunch and found some wild strawberries.

[Brenhden]

I rode out of town and next was St Day where I stopped for packed lunch and found some wild strawberries. The trails were great here especially Unity Wood. I negotiated a fallen tree and hopped over another.

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Fallen tree
I ended up at the coast in Porthtowan as it winds out of town the trail becomes really hard and ends with a big sharp step which was not easy. The terrain near Healy’s cider farm is a bit like Salisbury and was great and after that was Polly Joke where the trails and Sandy and pretty and were my favourite of the trip.

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The Saints Way near Withiel was cool and the middle of the trail was poached by horses and was bumpy but not rutted. The Camel trail into Bodmin was fun and pretty.

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Out the other side was firstly awesome fun, then terribly rutted, before finally becoming OK.
After that lot I called it a day, got more supplies and got back to camp around 18:00. As it was Friday evening the camp has gone from empty to packed and my picnic table made me extremely popular, I spent the evening chatting to fellow campers while their kids ran free. Late night and much wine.

Day total 334km
Day TET 201km
TET total 1616km

[Brenhden]

29/06/19
Lovely lazy morning packing up and heading off. Donated my picnic table to the people next door, much to the disappointment of everyone else. Weighed the bike down with all my kit and zoomed off home. And cleaned and repaired my bike.

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New kit reviewed on camp:
Gloves - £80 My Knox summer gloves have the Boa clasp system which looks like a bit of a gimmick but is actually really nice to use. They fit me just right and let the air circulate brilliantly.

Knee guards - £30 bought on a whim from Fowlers, these don’t offer as much protection as I would like so I’ve added a separate knee pad to my dirt trousers (I know you aren’t meant to). They do however fit great and are comfortable.

Tent – £95 Coleman Kentmere. What a joy this tent is. It’s 5Kg so way heavier than my others but for a basecamp it is perfect. My chair fits in the large porch and the blackout means I get a lot more sleep.

Sleeping bag - £35 OEX Roam 400 Sleeping Bag. Big and quite heavy but undeniably my warmest bag. The zip doesn’t go all the way down which is a pity as I like to open the bottom few inches but it’s very comfortable and fits well.

Tool bags – £28 for the pair, Viper Stuffa Pouch. These aren’t tough cordura like my old ones but are big enough to fit my tyre levers in. They took a right thrashing this trip, on branches and rocks but still look like new, fit on the front sides well and actually protected the bike from the big drops.

Boot - £120, RST Adventure II waterproof. Handled the bike crushing me no problem, are genuinely waterproof and are quite a lot lighter than I’m used to. I’m usually a size 44, needed a 46 on these.

K60 tyres - £110 the pair. These were pretty sh!t until I let the air down to 18PSI. Then they were pretty good.

What I learned:

This bit of the TET is empty, I followed the same tyre track for the first two days but after that it seemed like very few people had ridden these trails. I never saw another rider.

Again riding without luggage is a joy, using a base camp and riding round it is something I will continue to do.

Let some air out of your tyres.

[simonw]

<snip> I found a tick on my ankle and I made a little tick remover from a loyalty card and used to totally fail to sort the tick out. I set off around 07:00 with its head still stuck in me. <snip>

You need to get that sorted asap - like, very urgently!!!!!!