Bike Route: Lyme Regis to Exeter along Coast 42mi 3200ft of climb
Accommodation: Studio flat (Airbnb); host Melanie. One-room studio in Georgian house; full kitchen; breakfast fixings provided (bread, eggs, milk). Basement apartment.
Dinner: Gnocchi with sauce and mixed vegetables, cooked in our apartment kitchen.
Dorset is hilly! And the hills are steep. We are either going to get strong, or rent a car.
We started out in sunshine after a breakfast of granola, yogurt, fruit, and coffee. By late morning, we were starving. We found a little cafe serving a full English breakfast, and took advantage of a spot on the patio where we could keep an eye on the bikes.
My navigation device (Wahoo) has not been working properly, but Ken's is good, and we are both able to use the Ride With GPS apps on our phones as backup. Every once in a while, we take a wrong turn, and immediately hear the loud DING from our phones, alerting us to the error. We are traveling mainly on national cycle routes, and there is also good signage on the roads for those. Much of the riding is on country roads through hamlets, villages, and farms. Much of it is also up and down steep hills. We are walking our bikes much more than we would like, and that is slowing us down and tiring us out, so we don't have a lot of energy to sightsee when we get to our destination. We are enjoying the days, but beginning to wish we had planned shorter routes and more time for relaxing and exploring.
By the time we got to Exeter, it was pouring rain and chilly. We were happy to unload the bikes, hike to the grocery store, take warm showers, cook an easy dinner, and wrap up in blankets in bed. |
| Steep hills,... |
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| ...and old farms with medieval roots. |
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| Pushing loaded bikes up 20-percent-plus hills is hard work. |
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| We couldn't pass up a full English breakfast at this little cafe. |
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| The last 10 miles or so into Exeter we were on the Exe Estuary trail, which is off the road along the estuary. |
