Whilst out one evening in Devon, I was walking along the Jurassic coastline when the light made me stop in my tracks. Using a Lee Filter Big Stopper, I softened the rolling waves into silky smooth wisps, lapping against the groyne.
As the light changed, the waves became ever more energetic. Soon, the pinky orange hues gave way to the grey blues post sunset, making the whole scene feel palpably colder.
Sometimes, squaring off against the elements for the shot can be worth the wait.
I sat on Exmouth beach as a storm front rolled in over the English Channel. The orange afternoon hues were soon extinguished by the choking, omnipresent clouds. Day was transformed to night as the wind suddenly picked up. Moments later, the heavens opened and I realised how exposed I was, sat alone on the stretch of sand.
A perfect afternoon as I recall.
Still getting used to mixing light levels between graduate ND filters and a Big Stopper. This was a 2 minute exposure on the Devonshire coastline, as the afterglow of the sunset dwindled just long enough to be captured on film. To the naked eye, the scene was almost devoid of colour, verging on the black and white.
Another early rise shot on Dawlish Warren. The clouds had meant the sunrise was not as spectacular as I had hoped, so I tried my Lee Big Stopper. This created the pleasant softening of the clouds and water. It also added a blue cast to the image, which I chose to preserve.
Second trip to the quayside in Lyme Regis in Dorset earlier this year to catch the morning light, which, as can be seen above, did not appear. It was, however, windswept, cold and rained, so a thoroughly rewarding experience nonetheless…
A shot from earlier this year on a very cold Easter morning, it was taken on the southern Devon coastline, close to Exmouth.
Total mileage: 62
Terrain: Hills – very challenging
We got back onto the canal in the morning to ride northwards. Unfortunately, the pathway was not asphalt and with our steel bikes loaded down with all our gear, we soon had enough of bumping over the uneven ground.
We crossed under the M5 and over towards Glastonbury. From our uncomfortable lunch spot on the recently harvested hillside, we could see the tower in Glastonbury and the looming Mendips in the distance.
We stopped for some sugary energy just shy of an enormous hill, which turned out to be a good thing as the ride up was intense. It took well over 30 minutes of hard climbing to get over the hill. On the other side, we managed to get lost, always a pain when you are tired.
Mary had called ahead and organised for us to stay with Andrew, a family friend based in Yatton. Andrew was a true gent and looked after us well. I am pretty sure we stank when we rolled up as he mentioned that we should launder our cycle gear almost instantly.
This has to be one of the biggest hassles about cycling and camping. Although we wanted to wild camp, you really need a shower at the end of the day, especially if the weather is as warm as it was. You also have to wash your clothes to avoid crutch rot. So, the luxury of being able to both wash and dry our clothes was a real bonus. Otherwise, we were constantly cycling with all our wet clothes tied to the bike bags, looking like a mobile Chinese laundry.
Total mileage: 59
Terrain: Hills – some tough hills
We were waylaid in the morning in the local cycle shop as the guys bought some gloves to help with the handlebar sores. The ride out of Launceston was a long, continual climb that certainly had us all in a sweat.
From here we passed into Devon and Dartmoor. Although we got slightly lost and ended up on an A road for a while, the day was most pleasant, albeit fairly hard cycling. The hills of Dartmoor were something I had worried about prior to the trip. As it turned out, they were indeed formidable but the views were stunning.
Lunch was in Crediton, after the most severe hill. I think we were all knackered. From here, we took the main road north towards Tiverton. Unfortunately, this is a road of virtually continuous climbing. When we made it to the crest of the hill, Pete and I cracked our bikes into top gear and cycled like made buggers. I managed to hit 37mph and Pete almost made 40mph.
From there on in to Tiverton, we all lost our mojo a little. After finding some supplies for the evening, we were directed along the Great Western Canal. This had been specifically updated to allow cyclists and pedestrians along it. It was stunning, with the setting sun to our left and the canal to our immediate right.
At the end of the track, some 8 miles from Tiverton, was Sanford Peverall camping ground, an extremely pleasant campsite, certainly better than the dodgy room in Launceston.
Total mileage: 57
Terrain: Hills – challenging
Another fantastic day of sunshine for us, which considering the crappy weather we had had the previous week, was a blessing. We made our way from Perran Porth, up and out of the coastal town and along the north coastline.
We stopped for lunch at Padstow, a really pretty seaside port, festooned with about a zillion holidaying tourists. We were warned in the fish and chip shop where we purchased our food to watch out for the seagulls, which tended to dive bomb people’s lunches, aiming to grab some tasty swag. As it turned out, this was handy advice as we saw other folk being hassled by the crafty birds.
After lunch, we wheeled our bikes down to the beach, via a series of step stairs. Unfortunately, this reset Mary’s bike computer to zero and did some damage to Pete’s as well. From the beach, we waiting patiently in line for the ferry to collect us and take us to the other side of the channel, to a small enclave called Rock.
The ride from the coast to Bodmin Moor was unremarkable. However, Bodmin Moor itself was incredible; definitely one of the highlights of the trip. There, we started a long decline that saw us almost all the way to the outskirts of Launceston. We bumped into a local cyclist who kindly escorted us to the town centre and helped us find digs for the night.
Launceston itself is not so bad but the hostel we stayed in was pretty rough, especially after the two lovely campsites we had stayed at the previous nights. That said, we had an enormous supper and the guys began their campaign to try and get me drunk each night.
All Terrain Photography 