Dartmoor muni weekend 27th-28th May 2006

General
42

I’m sure there will be a few people riding 20" trials unis, so don’t worry. I’m going to plan some shorter routes for people who want them, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t do the longer rides if you want to - we won’t leave you behind, we’re not like that :slight_smile:

There’s a nice long fun descent down to a reservoir that everybody should be able to do together. There’s a possibility of some people being met at the bottom and minibussed past some of the more tiring uphill stuff. Anyway, you’ll be OK. I would recommend a helmet though - some of the rocks are quite spikey. Dartmoor granite is hard stuff.

Rob

43

Yea i have done quite a bit of walking on dartmoor, prob not as much as you cause you live right next to or in dartmoor. Where abouts do you live there, Princetown?

Mike

44

Hey all,

looks super-cool. Gonna be an interesting mix of people, from full on fast to normal speed people.

It being a bank holiday weekend, anyone who’s up for staying over on Sunday could ride on Monday before going home too, you’ll automatically have Monday off work.

Is there riding direct from the campsite, or will we need to drive out to the start?

What’s the OS map(s) the rides will be on?

I guess I’m going to be getting into training mode by then, so getting 4 days of riding in would be extra-fantastic.

Joe

45

swarbrim: yes, Princetown.

Joe: yes, campsite is right next to the start of the trails, so no driving needed unless we decide to go somewhere different (three or even four days of riding the trails from Princetown could get a bit samey). All of it will be on the 1:25,000 OS Dartmoor National Park “Leisure” map. I’ll mostly be using the trail from Princetown out past South Hessary Tor, Nun’s Cross and around Burrator Reservoir and Sheepstor, and the old railway line route towards King’s Tor and Dousland if you want to have a look beforehand. Nothing massively challenging technically (I can ride it!), but all good cross-country stuff with some pretty tiring climbs (and some fun downhill bits of course). As you and a couple of others feel like stretching it out (fine by me) I’ll have a look for some other stuff perhaps slightly further afield.

Rob

46

A quick camping update:

joemarshall Fr Sa Su
gkmac Sa
deadlydes Fr Sa Su (+1 person)
phil Fr Sa Su
Mikefule Fr Sa
paulroyle Fr Sa (+2 people)
rich Fr Sa
domesticated ape (not sure)
joemc Fr Sa Su
treepotato Fr Sa
swarbrim ?

So I’m upping my booking to 14 people for Fri and Sat nights, 5 for Sun

What were people thinking of doing for food in the evenings? There’s a possibility of eating in the pub, but it would need to be booked well in advance for that bank holiday weekend. If we get decent weather we can do a barbeque at my place. Otherwise just bring camp cooking kit and be self-sufficient. Oh, there’s a chippy as well. There’s a local shop that sells some food, a Co-op six miles away, and a big Tesco 10 miles (that will be open Sunday).

Rob

47

Rob, do you know where this is? Looks like a challenge :slight_smile:

48

I should be going almost certinally. Amanda is lending me her KH 24". Should be good i have never done ‘The MUni’ before.

Mike

49

Cool. While she’s feeling generous she can buy me a KH29 ;):stuck_out_tongue:
See you there.

50

Looks a bit like the stepping stones over the East Dart river at Laughter Hole.

51

Ooh, right near where we’re camping, well not many miles away anyway. That looks like a fine recipe for falling in, I’ve never seen a set of stepping stones on a muni ride without at least one person falling in!

Joe

52

Joe: Thinking about it, I’m not sure the Laughter Hole stepping stones are on a legally ridable path - so perhaps it’s somewhere else (or else the biker is - horror of horrors - riding illegally on a footpath ;))

I’m needing to plan at least one ride away from my normal Princetown routes if we’re going to stretch it to three or four days, so I’ll look into it. If we do go there I’ll be walking accross (big wuss and useless at hopping). Last time I went there the field next to the river was filled with some very aggressive looking cows with calfs…

Rob

53

Just incase you thought you’d finished organising things, my exam schedule has now been published and I think I can come to this one now. Camping Fri, sat and probably sun.

John

54

Perhaps he has the land owner’s permission, in which case it is not illegal at all.

It is not that cycling on a footpath (or driving on a bridlepath) is inherently illegal, if the path is across private land. It’s the other way round: there is a specific right of access on foot if there is a footpath; the land owner can’t stop you.

Otherwise everyone who drove up a farmer’s drive that was also a footpath would be breaking the law, farmers would have no visitors, and would become grumpy and bad tempered.

55

Yes Mike there is that possibility I suppose…
The craze round here at the moment is to keep bulls in the private fields that are crossed by footpaths or permitted paths - generously allow access but make sure it’s not a pleasant experience. :angry:
I didn’t used to be too worried by bulls (I think cows with calves are worse) until I got chased by one a couple of years ago - once is enough for me.

Rob

56

Just thought I should give you a quick update :slight_smile:

I’ve had one other victim… err, interested party… since the last post (Eddie Smart - not sure if he posts on here).

Route wise, I’ve got three nice loops of about 10-12 miles from Princetown, and I think I’ve found a loop starting a few miles down the road that will involve no less than five river crossings by stepping stones (by popular request). That last route is potentially pretty hard (it’s about 14 miles and very hilly, around the Dartmeet area) - I haven’t given it a full recce yet, but some bits of it are fast and easy so we could make up some time there. The main problem is that the river crossings are very weather-dependent - if it’s wet the week before it’ll be impossible to cross. Hopefully we’ll be able to do it, as it will be a nice change from the Princetown trails (good though they are).

Anybody who wants to do a shorter ride (i.e. not 10 miles plus) please let me know - if there are enough of you I’ll plan a couple of easy routes, otherwise I can probably make arrangements for some people to be met part-way round the long rides.

I think most of you are planning to camp - The campsite is behind the Plume of Feathers pub, which is in the centre of Princetown where the Tavistock road meets the Plymouth road. I have tried to reserve some camping space, but the new owners (boo) are being a bit vague about whether it’s possible to reserve space, so I’ll try to go down there a day or so in advance and bag the field. It may be an idea if you want to camp to give them a ring a couple of days beforehand (Plume of Feathers, 01822 890240) and make sure they know you’re coming (mention that you’re with me/unicyclist party and that I’ve booked space).

I suggest we meet up in the Plume of Feathers on Friday evening (if you’ll be there then) or about 9:30 Saturday morning in the campsite for the first ride.
Those of you who are coming earlier on Friday, if I’m around I’ll meet you and we’ll go for a ride, otherwise I’ll see you in the evening - hopefully I can get the day off work, but I’m not sure yet. If you need to get hold of me, I’m on 01822 855466 at work (normal office hours) or 01822 890635 at home (not too late please).

I think I’ve covered food before, but just to tidy things up:
For evenings/breakfast, food in the pub is very good, but not that cheap any more. There is a chippy in the village (not open late though) and a small shop. Bigger shops and takeaways are about 8 miles. Most of the rides round here are pretty remote, so you’ll need to carry any food and water you need (although if all goes well we’ll be back in Princetown for lunch).
If the weather is kind to us we’ll probably have a barbeque at my place on the Saturday evening.
There is no bank (well, there is but it’s only open for two hours a week) but there are cash machines in the pub and the post office.

Most of the trails are pretty rocky, and I would strongly recommend wearing at least a helmet. In fact, I think I should insist that any rider under 18 wears a helmet - anybody else is free to decide. It can also get quite bleak and exposed round here even at this time of year (although nothing quite as bad as Snowdon!), so please be prepared for any weather - it could be dry and hot or freezing, wet and windy.

I think that covers most of it - hopefully it’ll be a fun weekend. If there’s anything I’ve left out that you need to know please post here.

Rob

57

50/50 chance? Im going with shorts and t’shirt…

Mike

59

Sounds like you’ll probably be fine. With a largish group it’s unlikely we’ll be going at flat-out pace anyway. The rides I’ve got planned do hit roads in places, so there’s always the possibility of sending somebody in a car to pick you up if you do get completely knackered, but we’re out to have fun, not to drag anybody along faster than they’re comfortable riding. Might be worth practising on some rough rocky surfaces if you’ve got anything like that near you.

Rob

60

I might come, see how healthy i am after BUC :smiley: but devon is a bitch to get to from the northwest.

61

Indeed; the generally approved method is not dragging someone along but instead riding behind them shouting “Faster, faster!” :slight_smile:

Phil

62

Just double checked and I have some time definitely off work, so that’s a commitment.

Reading the details, factoring in my limited experience of riding on the moor, and my current poor state of training (not been on the MUni since before Christmas) I have this disturbing feeling I’m going to be “found out”!:o

Will there be herons and a suspension bridge? I’m good at those.