Along the Camel Trail to Padstow

18km cycle ride with Lynsey & Isabel

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Lynsey was keen to visit Padstow whilst we were down in Cornwall so she could have some food from Rick Stein's fish & chip shop, so we decided to have a day out by bike on the Camel Trail. After driving to Wadebridge, we hired two bikes plus a trailer for Isabel, which Lynsey kindly volunteered for me to tow!

We set off cycling shortly after 11am under mainly overcast, but dry skies. The level nature of the disused railway line made for relatively easy progress and I found I had no trouble keeping up with Lynsey even though I was towing Isabel in her trailer. There were good views out over the River Camel and plenty of blackberries in the hedgerows alongside sections of the trail.

Bridge over Little Petherick Creek

We reached Padstow at around 12:15 and, after finding somewhere close to the harbour to park our bikes, we headed for the fish & chip shop. Padstow was a lot busier than I was expecting for a mid-week October day and there was a 45 minute wait to get a table in the fish & chip shop; given Isabel was unlikely to last that long we opted for a takeaway.

Padstow

After lunch we took a quick walk around the harbour before returning to our bikes.  The cloud was now starting to break up, with the sun starting to come out, and there were good views across the River Camel to Rock from the start of the trail back to Wadebridge.

View across the Camel to Rock

River Camel

Soon we reached the bridge over Little Petherick Creek, which despite being on a cycle path had a weight limit of 3 tonnes; that's a lot of cyclists on the bridge at the same time!  And the council had also felt it necessary to exempt fire engines from the weight limit despite the fact that we weren't actually on a road!

Presumably this bridge gets mysteriously stronger when a fire engine is approaching?

We soon reached the half-way point back to Wadebridge, where an enterprising person had set up a drinks and snacks stand on the back of a trike!  With Isabel asleep in her trailer, we stopped for some cake and a cold drink.  After our break we continued cycling, returning to Wadebridge at 3pm.

Over half-way back