Day four: Crediton to Taunton

The first rule of cycle touring is that everything takes longer than you think. We’ve arranged to meet some people in Tiverton who will ride with us for the rest of the day, and to see some of Mark’s friends, as he lives just outside Tiverton. We’ve said midday, because that is absolutely enough time to ride 16 flat miles. We leave camp at 9am. The place we’re heading for stops serving breakfast at 11.30, and starts serving lunch at 12, so it’s a toss-up as to whether we will be stopping for breakfast or lunch. 

I pop into the Spar in Crediton to pick up some flapjacks and apples for the road, and we notice there’s a bakery around the corner. It’s fabulous! Everything is homemade and looks delicious, and is extremely cheap (we have a conversation with the sales person about how they should at least double their prices). There’s even a selection of vegan treats, so I buy one (apple turnover) to eat now, and one (extremely large jam donut) to add to my bag for later. It’s 10am by the time we finally leave Crediton, which is still definitely enough time to catch the breakfast service in Tiverton. 

The route meanders from the Yeo river valley to the Exe river valley, so it’s largely flat, but with a few ups and downs. We pass a lot of very interesting buildings, all of which need photographing, plenty of blackberries, all of which need eating, and a couple of fun road signs (“light vehicles only” requires a “that counts us out then!” caption). It’s a lovely morning and a lovely ride: nice and slow and easy, with no sign of the weather from the past couple of days. Just gentle sun and a gentle tailwind. 

We’re still about five miles shy of Taunton when Mark mentions that he’d told his friends we’d be there at 11.15. Quarter past 11! He’s revised this twice, and the updated time is now 11.45. Even then, we’d need to cycle the rest of the way at 80mph in order to make it. There was no way we thought, when we left our campsite that morning, that it would take a full three hours to ride 16 miles. But it has. We roll into Tiverton at 12 on the dot. That’s when we agree we’re not going to set times for the rest of the ride. Cycle touring always takes longer than you think.

After lunch we follow the NCN route 3 along with our new riders for the afternoon: Ashley and Neil. The route twists and turns through the villages, crossing into Somerset somewhere along the way – the roads are too minor to announce the new county, but suddenly the signposts are labelled Somerset. Out of nowhere comes Nynehead Hollow – we turn a corner, and suddenly we’re in a deep gorge, carved straight out of the rock, huge walls rising either side with ferns and trees everywhere. It feels a bit like Cheddar Gorge, but it’s only a short climb then it’s over. Mini Cheddar! There’s a Tim joke.

Ashley and Neil peel off just before Taunton, and we’d already waved goodbye to Mark who fancied a night in his own bed, so he’ll catch up with us tomorrow. Lorenzo and I continue into Taunton, finding the riverside path next to the River Tone, then the start of the Bridgwater and Taunton canal, and follow it to our campsite. Tonight’s camp is on a cider farm, which feels very apt for Somerset, and in the pub later we raise a glass of Thatchers to Tim. When in Rome and all that.

Stats for the day: 78km riding, 567m climbing

Accommodation: Tanpits cider farm. Delightful pitch in amongst the apple orchard, with resident peacocks, which thankfully didn’t keep us up in the night.