PART TWO
The second part of our south-western Big Ride takes us along the pirate and Jurassic coasts to finish in Dorset
FOR THE UMPTEENTH time today, I settle back and accept that there are times when you need to just go with the flow. Sometimes, the conditions make any sense of urgency pointless, so you may as well just chill out and enjoy the surroundings rather than chasing the adrenaline.
However, I also know that, at any moment, these conditions will change; the road will open out or we’ll turn off and find ourselves on yet another stunning strip of tarmac that goads us into a flurry of excitement and enjoyment that make this second part of the SW660 just as enjoyable as the first – but for different reasons.
We start by rolling out of Falmouth and are faced with a choice; the SW660 website suggests skirting Falmouth and turning right towards the ferry at Trelissick Gardens and then across country to Mevagissey. However, closer inspection reveals many of these roads are little more than farm tracks hidden behind tall hedges. It doesn’t feel like the kind of riding we’re looking for, so we continue up the A390 past Truro and St Austell before turning off on to the B3269 just before Lostwithiel.
Immediately, the boredom of the tedious main-road section vanishes – this is much more like it. The road rises and falls between waist-high hedges so you can often see the road stretching ahead for several bends, allowing you to get into a rhythm. About halfway down to Fowey, we round a bend and the Cornish coastline is laid out in front of us like a tourism flyer. We have no traffic ahead or behind. This is what it’s all about.
We descend into Fowey and on to the Bodinnick ferry for the short crossing over the river. The cruise ship, The World, is moored slightly downstream, a strange juxtaposition against the myriad pleasure craft we pass. In Bodinnick, we plug Looe into the satnav
