Cycling The Camel Trail
Cycling the trails in Cornwall certainly beats doing my Step video in the small sitting room of my flat! I was hoping to get back into shape and in the process improve my air consumption for diving, so decided to try and do a bit more cycling.
Last year I took my mountain bike up to the Lake District a lot and had some really great rides, the countryside is so beautiful. As I don’t ‘do’ steep hills I often ended up doing a fair amount of walking as well, but this does mean I don’t ache the next day, as it seems to stretch all the muscles out.
This time I thought I’d take my bike and have a go at cycling some of the trails down in Cornwall especially as I been led to believe it was quite flat! I particularly wanted to do the Camel trail having heard it referred to so often in the past but had never even walked along it.
The Camel Trail is a disused and resurfaced railway line, which runs from Padstow to Poleys Bridge via Wadebridge and Bodmin. It follows the route of the river Camel and you can, cycle, ride horses or just walk along it. Although right in the middle of the trail Wadebridge was a convenient point at which to start and I decided I would spend the afternoon cycling to Bodmin and back.
The trail is flat all the way and meanders along side the river. There are numerous points at which you can stop and follow some of the walking paths that go off the main path. The is even a winery you can visit. On reaching Bodmin I then retraced my steps back to Wadebridge.
There are numerous places in Wadebridge from which you can hire bikes, helmets and even little trailers for pulling along toddlers who are too small to ride. Tandems seemed to be quite popular as well.
A few days later I went the opposite way, again starting in Wadebridge but this time going towards Padstow. The river gradually widens as it reaches the estuary where I could see many birds making their homes and a couple of herons sitting patiently watching the water.
Rock comes into view on the opposite shore and then you are in Padstow by the harbour. Here you can park your cycle in a secure parking shed for 50p for the day should you wish to go exploring Padstow.
I also tried the Pentewan Valley Trail near Mevagissey. A shorter version of the Camel Trail, traffic free and level. It’s not very long about three miles from end to end and goes past sluice ponds and through some attractive woodland and along the river.
Cycle hire is also available in Pentewan, which is an attractive seaside village. The trail starts right next to the hire shop.
All these trails were very flat and easy to ride so how much of a work out I really got was probably minimal especially as I kept stopping to take photos or look at things. However as exercise was only part of the reason for doing this I wasn’t that bothered. I think gentle toning would be the most you could gain from these unless you were doing fast timed rides.
Check out my photo and video album
The Camel Cycle Trail & Others!
