Around Cornwall on CB125F Day 3 – Kingsbridge Estuary

As planned – breakfast at 8:00 and start at 9:00 into another wonderful day riding my CB125F. This time, discovering beauty of Kingsbridge area, including Salcombe, Start Point, Hope Cove and Kingsbridge itself.

For this day I planned my route kind of counter clock wise. It was to have a better views and the sun not directly into my eyes at any time. My first point of interest was Hope Cove. To get there, in the most interesting way, I have marked my route to include Devon Holiday Cottage, Fika Coffee House and Outer Hope Car park. It is marked on my map.

Hope Cove

Riding went through mainly single track roads. Some going through the woods, some in the open and some between hedges around 2m high. Most of those lovely winding roads meander across the landscape and take you up or down the hills. They are narrow with many sharp and blind bends. On occasions you may feel like riding within some kind of labyrinth. This is because of those tall hedges covering all the views. Only sparse, small openings for access, allow you to see the surrounding fields.

A Hope Cove – small beach in-between interesting rocky shore formation, which seems to be very popular by families. I’m not a big fun of spending time on the beach but it was a place to visit.

Salcombe

The next point of call was Salcombe and I went via Malborough.

I have used route markers on Google maps to ride on the most scenic of the roads, rather then following the only option Google has, that is the ‘fastest one’. One of those is a Creek Car park, which gave me opportunity to go kind of around the town. All my other routes were planned with the use of route markers, pit stops, places to visit, to stay or to eat.

In Salcombe I actually stopped to get some water from a Co-Op. Then, I have noticed an ice cream shop “Salcombe Diary Ice Cream” across the road. It was my first, supper delicious treat on my trip. This ice cream was fresh and properly made from a local cream. The scoops were generous and at the very good price, including coffee it was £5.60. If you happen to be there, it is the place to spoil your self 🙂

Kingsbridge

The next place on my route was Kingsbridge. I went around Salcombe and again via Malborough to the Kingsbridge over A381. Later on, I realised that I should have taken a tiny road via Ilton and then the one to the East of Woolston, crossing Blanksmill and Collapit Creaks. I would be lot nicer choice for a bike ride and something for you to consider.

After arrival to Kingsbridge I had a bit of walk and tasty lunch in the Creek End Restaurant. To be honest I planned for an ice cream stop there. You will notice the same name of the shop as in Salcombe. There it is a mobile one, but is serving the same delicious ice cream though.

The Start Point

The last place to visit that day was the Start Point Lighthouse, the place must to visit. As you can see, it is a bit counter-clockwise 🙂

As you can see on the map, it is not a direct and straight road but believe me, it is an extremely enjoyable to ride. The road ends somewhere around half a mile before the lighthouse, where is a rather big car park to leave your bike. It is surprisingly chargeable for any vehicle.

There is a nice walk to the lighthouse and back. Pity though because it was closed on that day. At the car there was a lovely woman selling coffee from her mobile coffee shop. It was the smallest I have ever seen.

Looking over the Freshwater Bay you can see almost in the middle of the picture a Torcross beach. Also, just before the end of the visible land on the right, there is an entrance to the river Dart. It will be roughly 8.5 mile in across.

On the Way Back

Short, but with great views ride along winding roads ends on the long run, parallel to the Torcross beach. What was also noticeable so far is that for the most of the time I was riding on empty roads.

This made me feel like being completely alone in a very remote location. I’m guessing it was down to the current situation. Normally, during summer months those places are packed up with holiday makers and traffic on some roads can be solid. But still, the busiest place with a lot of visitors I have been to today was Salcombe.

If you read my Day 2, I mentioned a The Tower Inn pub. It was now Tuesday and the pub was open and I went there to enjoy fantastic seabass and local beer. Great top-up for an already supper day.

My Day 4 is the first day where I actually began riding around Cornwall. Oh, before I forget, here is my today’s route.