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I may get the chance to ride for 2-3 hours in Dartmoor this coming weekend, I quite like the look of the following route but the GPX file does not look very accurate on the map overlay. Has anyone else got a more accurate GPX file for it (or any other suggestions for a good route)?
http://www.mbr.co.uk/routes/western-england/dartmoor/dartmoor-devon-killer-loop-256732
that route is fine.
I’d be impressed if you can do it in 2-3 hrs though.
I’d be impressed if you can do it in 2-3 hrs though.
Shhh! He doesn't know about "Dartmoor Kilometres" yet, let him find out the hard way.
@jam bo makes a good point. I hadn't read that bit. You'll not do that ride in 3 hours unless you're really motoring. Cut off the warren house bit.
Tell you what - I'll show you round if it's on Sunday.
That route is a minimum of 4 hours in the summer, probably closer to 5 in current conditions.
Much of it used to be more rideable than it now is thanks to several years of zero maintenance by DNP and a reduction in bike and horse traffic, particularly around Lustleigh and the Cleave.
The route up past Pecks Farm is always wet and depending on how many cows in the field a bit of a mess. The descent down the other side is all rideable but has a couple of drops.
You'll spend longer than you think in the woods, and it's a decent pull up to Water / Manaton and you lose it all in 5 minutes. This is the most dangerous bit of the ride IMHO... it looks deceptively easy but is equally easy to cock up.
The next hour is dull. The route from Jays Grave to Hameldown is a bog fest in the summer. Hate to think what it's like now. Navigation on top of Hameldown can be tricky if foggy, even with a GPS. The descent is slippery when wet.
Not much to say about the other side. You're only 5 minutes from the Warren House Inn and this is the best point to abandon the ride and return to North Bovey by road if you've overcooked it, as you're not missing much on the return except more mud and punctures from the Hawthorn past Easdon.
Don't ride through Grimspound
PS That was originally a "killer" route in MBR if that helps your timing assessment...
Thanks for all of the comments, change of plan now and I am not longer going this weekend. I'll try to get down there over the summer when things have hopefully dried out!