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with you"... (Suzuki DR350 of mine)
© Lou Reed
for something, other than 8 hours of hard labour, and I've tried
to pick sunny days in June and early July, before the school
hols, to do a bit of exploration of Devon lanes on my rather
excellent DR350, (Ed: how is it that everyone appears to want
`a rather excellent DR350? Anyone know the answer?)
geared for road, metalled or otherwise and range and comfort
to bring a 150+ mile day into range. Back in mid June, during
our `false summer' based on a lovely forecast, I planned a day
down to the Salcombe area to give me the opportunity to ride
new lanes and explore the South Hams, an area of
outstanding natural beauty and one of the loveliest areas of
the country. Thankfully even as an AONB, there are hundreds
of lanes to ride and I'd like think that public access to lanes is
balanced between all interested parties looking to get off the
beaten track, unlike the pathetically narrow minded bigots of
some national parks we could mention.... The work that Chris
Cole does behind the scenes with the Devon Countryside
Access Forum (which I recently joined) and other groups such
as the P3 Parish Paths Partnership, helps to build these bridges
and help `decriminalise' the image that some others have of
motorcyclists using unmetalled roads.
I digress. Now the idea was to get down there as swiftly as
possible whilst also making the journey as pleasant as possible
and so to me the A379 seemed like the best option as it hugs
the coast, providing views and a few lanes within a mile or so
to keep me interested. So bike fuelled, a bit of water strapped
on the back to keep me hydrated, as little gear as I could get
away with, knowing that I'd warm up significantly over the
course of the morning and at 8ish, into the early morning
balmy early summer high pressure I set off down the M5 (Ed:
Now I know one of the reasons for the DR350, 6 gears and
70mph)
ducked under the fag end of the M5 and with the Exeter canal
on my left I bypassed Exminster and turned left off the A379
down past medieval Powderham Castle right down to the edge
of the Exe with only the railway separating me from the Exe
estuary, sparkling in the morning sun. Starcross, a bit of a
pinch point in the road which backs up horribly in the summer,