A Trip to Barnecutt's Bakery - 27th Feb 2010
Meeting Fred at JD's and Noel at Saltash services the 3 of us set off to have lunch at Barnecutt's Bakery in Bodmin...the long way round. A 4mile tarmac stretch saw us slithering along 201-624 until Fred got stuck and then both Neil and I had to stop behind him. We all managed to get going again and regrouped at the top to successfully slither along 625 and head off to 663.
Neil getting smacked in the chin by a bramble
Fred
At the gate on this lane we came across a farmer and his tractor with sheep onthe back. He kindly moved back into a gateway and allowed us to pass. This also led to us finding the gate at the farm being open so we didn't have to stop. This didn't make up for the fact that today's ride was a lesson in gate opening and closing..we must have gone through about 20 gates! 667 was despatched and my satnav decided to take us the long way round to 694 where I overshot the lane as my Garmin doesn't recognise the road the lane starts on! An about turn and a wet ascent of 694 and 693 before turning about and re-riding 693 and ascending the slippery 692. Now it was on to Liskeard Canal. I've never known this lane to be dry and today was no exception...695 was deep but it washed the mud from our boots allowing us to fill up with fuel, at the filling station nearby, without dripping mud everywhere. Another tarmac bit and 709 was defeated easily before threading our way through the village to completely miss the start of 705. Never mind, looping aroundf the bottom we adscended this track and then rode 706 before doing a return journey on 'Mystery Ford 9' (Devon TRF Forum) or 707 as it's known to us. Another 4 mile tarmac stretch saw us descend 701 and ascend 700. 700 has had some hedgecutting done and the tractor has made a right old mess of the lane. These two lanes are best ridden from the 'North' but 700 has two fields which can have lambs in them so care is needed here please. looping around we then took a recognised shortcut to get into St Neots where I completely forgot to ride 702...Duh! A run up 703, completely ignoring it's dreaded twin (704), and on to descend 200-008 after passing, very slowly, two horse/rider combinations walking up the tarmac hill. We passed them as I thought they may be going to descend 008 where we wouldn't be able to pass them. All was well and with a friendly wave we managed to descend 008 without hindrance. They're logging in the woods so after passing the, rather superbly, parked logging trailer - smack in the middle of the track where it was wide enough to park to one side - we ascended 009 and slithered in to a lamb/sheep strewn field where we averaged 4mph so as to not cause them to panic. There were several sheep/lambs all the way through the tweo following fields and due care was taken that none of them were spooked. It was quite a relief to get back onto tarmac! A quick chat and it was decided that a couple more lanes should be taken in and then lunch at Barnecutts. That's making my mouth water whilst writing this! 019 was followed by the exceptionally wet 018 and then, to my surprise, 017's normal 'lake' had been drained and ot was just a normal ford! Lunch....I'm sorry to keep on about this but Barnecutt's Cheese & Onion Pasty is the best pasty I've ever had. I was tempted to go back in for another. £2.50 for a superb pasty and a great Eccles Cake for 'after'. Good value for exceptionally good food. We, Neil, Fred and I, decided that had it been raining too hard to have been for a ride we would have come in the car just for the food!
It's only a shame that this isn't 'Smello-Vision'! I'm dribbling on my keyboard now!
Lunch over (Boo) we set off for a very slippery ride along 024 before a 4 mile tarmac section to get to the great river crossing on 025. No pictures but see 'The Milestone Ride, 31st Jan '09 - lane 12, once again starring Fred! 026 was followed by a 6mile tarmac bit to the highest point of the day. the 1.5mile long 016 allows views across Cornwall. You can see the North and South coast from the vantage point 658 feet above sea level - the sea's never level, it's always tossing about when I get near it!
OK so you can't see it in the picture but the sea (English Channel) is visible from here.
and that's the view to the North where the Bristol Channel is - Honest!
The two hills in the back ground are Rough Tor and Brown Willy the two highest points in Cornwall. 13.6miles NEN from here!
801 has the most gates per foot than any other lane...5 by the time we'd passed by! The next plan was dashed due to the tide. The ford at Lerryn was impassable as we couldn't even see the tops of the stepping stones. None of us was brave/stupid enough to try it so a quick volte-face and we rode around and ascended 004 before heading off to pass through 002, 201-719 and 200-001 (I hope you, gentle reader, are following the map number changes?) where we met an old lady out walking her puppy. The Collie pup took a long hard look at me as we were approaching and although I stopped, pup decided to run half way up the hedgerow and have a good bark. We stopped and killed the engines next to the lady as she was retrieving her pup and learnt all about how much the puppy was eating her out of house and home. Meanwhile the pup was giving me the 'I don't trust you' stare accompanied by the 'start that engine and I'm going to bark again' look! We managed to break away and luckily the next gate was open so we could make a bit of ground up so the pup wouldn't be bothered again. 201-678 was followd by 677 and the very wet (exceptionally wet actually) 676, where a few months ago Rainmonkey tried to wrench his thumb off his right hand! We all survived but Neil got splashed (not really the right expression - see the bit in On Any Sunday at the end when Steve McQueen got drenched at the ford by Mert and Malc) by Fred and looked a bit 'second-hand'! Still, you've got to laugh and no real harm was done except perhaps to Neil's washing machine when he got home! 673 (no gates left on this lane now) was followed by 675 where the option of stopping for a cuppa (Tea, for those that haven't heard the expression) was offered but declined by Fred and Neil so onwards and wetwards (Hey, I've made a word up!) to ride 653, 651 and the fabulous ascent of 649. This lane is just getting better and better - from a technical skill needed point of view. Nearing home we took in the tarmac'd 648 before riding gingerly along 646 and 643. The reason for the extra care was that a couple of weeks ago a horse bolted and unseated the rider when two bikes went past. One rider stopped momentarily but not for long enough to make sure the rider was OK. This is the type of behaviour that the TVTR and the TRF abhor. We follow the Code of Conduct laid out by the TRF and if anything we are even more considerate than the Code asks for. If anyone knows who it was that rode this lane too fast and didn't care about the horse/rider then please ring Liskeard Police Station and let them know. Rant over! 645 led to the last lane of the day 658. I have to admit that I managed to stratle a badger near this lane but all was well and only a little extra mud on my clothes.
A great run around East Cornwall with a fabulous lunch and good friends. Arriving home at 16.48 I managed to get all the panels off the bike and get it jet washed before it got dark. A truly great day! Thank you.
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