Saint Ives to Perranporth: another coastal ride

April 16, 2014

567 metres (1860 feet) up, steepest grade 17%

WEATHER: SUNNY, HEADWINDS, HIGH 15C

Saint Ives is on the South West Coast Path, and this morning there were three walkers in the dining room for breakfast. One man was walking the whole 630 miles from Minehead to Dorset in 45 days. He had booked 45 B&Bs along the way and had arranged for his luggage to be driven between them each day. He told us that the total uphill gradient on the route was equivalent to climbing Everest twice. We could believe it.

We said goodbye to Charlotte and Gavin and took off first steeply downhill, then climbing up the main road out of Saint Ives. About five kilometres from the guest house we branched off left onto a small lane which took us most of the rest of the way to Hayle. We rejoined the busy main road just before Hayle, curved under the elevated railway twice and then crossed a small bridge to a flat(!) road between a park and a canal. After a few more turns through back streets we merged with the B-road heading north toward Perranporth. This began with a long steady climb until we reached the height of land with its sea views. The grade was quite rideable and we only had to push the bikes once in the morning before lunch.

Looking back toward the harbour area as we cycled uphill out of St. Ives

We soon came to the Hell's Mouth viewpoint high on a cliff above the sea. The South West Coast Path goes right by here, and we could see hikers with their poles striding in both directions. We parked the bikes and walked to the edge to look down at the waves far below. From Hell's Mouth it wasn't far along the B-road until a nice downhill run to our lunch stop at Portreath, a small surfing beach resort with a few houses, a marina and hotel.

The sea below the lookout at Hell's Mouth - a long way straight down

Looking south along the rugged coast in the direction of Hayle and St. Ives

Hikers on the South West Coast Path seem impressed with vertical nature of their surroundings

There was also the Atlantic cafe, with its blackboard menu, serving sandwiches and coffee. Today they advertised crab salad made with freshly caught crab. Eva couldn't resist, especially since it came with housemade lemon mayonnaise and a whole grain baguette. Delicious! Al's Moroccan chicken wrap was good too.

A delicious crab salad on the waterfront in Portreath

After lunch we had to push the bikes quite often up long steep hills. The strong headwind didn't help matters. On a very steep hill just outside of Perranporth, we passed a young man pushing his unloaded mountain bike. He said he was on his way to work, but the grade was too steep for him to ride. That made us feel better.

We arrived at Trevian Lodge in Perranporth at about 2:30. Nick and Jenni are tastefully renovating this old mine captain's house. Our room had a sea view, and our private bathroom just down the hall was large, bright and luxurious. Perranporth is a well-known surfing town featuring a beautiful 5 km long sandy beach. The town centre was a short walk downhill from our B&B and didn't take long to explore. We had an early dinner at a mediocre Italian restaurant, and then walked to the beach, almost covered by the high tide, to watch the surf kayakers ride into shore. They looked chilly even in their wet suits. The wind was still blowing hard, and we were cool dressed up in jackets and long pants.

When we first got to Perranporth the beach area looked like this

When we walked back down to the beach area after dinner, we found that the tide had come in quite a long way

Today's ride: 44 km (27 miles)
Total: 238 km (148 miles)

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