Another Moor, another Marin

[hawkhill97]

After doing a big Dartmoor ride on my 2000 Marin Mount Vision a short while ago, I thought I'd finish my week off with a trip to Exmoor.

Exmoor is one of my favourite places to ride. The hills are much larger and longer than most in the South West, and there are plenty of descents that go on for over a kilometre... with climbs to match!

I thought about taking the trusty Mount Vision, but while it would have been spot on 90% of the time, there are a good few options for steeper, more technical descents on Exmoor compared to Dartmoor, and it would have been a case of getting down these in one piece on the Mt Vision, rather than smashing them in any sort of style.

So I opted to take my 2010 Marin Attack Trail instead. This would have been marketed as a "freeride" bike back in the day, with 150mm travel front and rear. It's no cross country bike, but it climbs extremely well (actually better than the Mt Vision on super technical short sharp climbs), and with sensible tyres on isn't too much of a pig to pedal around on longer days out. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder here, but I think it looks ace too!



I set off from Webbers Post and headed off West, warming up the legs nicely with a traverse along the North slope of Dunkery Beacon (the highest point on Exmoor, and I think second highest in the South of England).



You can sort of see in the photo above how the track just drops away out of view - the tracks on this ride were much steeper, faster, narrower and rougher than those on my Dartmoor ride.

One of the things I love about natural descents is there's no guarantee that they're going to be "fair" - there could be surprises around a blind corner, or sudden unpredictable ruts, roots and boulders in inconvenient places. The Attack Trail inspires massive confidence in a way the Mount Vision never will, and I absolutely flew down this one. The sheer speed on descents like this is a pretty big rush, and the bike is incredibly flattering, making you feel like you're smashing it (even if in reality it's doing a lot of the work for you).

At the end of the descent, I flew around this right hander god knows how fast, and didn't have time to scrub anywhere near as much speed as I'd have liked before the surprise stream crossing, which earned me a pretty thorough soaking!

 

[hawkhill97]

The climb back up was pretty brutal. The Attack Trail is a pretty tenacious climber, and will get up pretty much anything if you point it uphill and pedal hard, but you do notice the extra heft on long and steep drags. The Quad Link 2 suspension platform is generally excellent for seated pedalling over rough terrain, making line choice a bit less critical and placing more emphasis on sheer power through the pedals.



From the top, I had a chance to recover with some nice easy track and bridleway miles along the top of the moor.



However, it wasn't too long until things started to look a little more interesting, with the second big descent of the day drawing ever closer.

 

[hawkhill97]

You can't really see from this photo, but just beyond the foreground, the trail steepened significantly! I actually got off and walked this bit first, to check it would be safe to commit to riding, and to check a couple of line choices. Although fairly short, it was quite an involved section, with one steep roll in that had to be approached on a specific line, and a couple of sharp turns on a very narrow trail at the bottom of steep pitches.



I'd definitely have chickened out and walked had I been riding the Mount Vision, but if you're going to pedal a bike like the Attack Trail up the hills, you're damn well going to ride down them! So I took a deep breath and rolled towards what looked a lot like a cliff edge... despite eyeing up the run-in to the steep roll, I missed the line I was aiming for, and had to huck off of a slightly sketchy drop instead, then came in too hot into one of the sharp turns and consequently had much less momentum than I wanted to hold the high line through a rock garden, which necessitated another graceless huck off of a small drop. Despite the fact that I managed to ride it a bit like a sack of potatoes, the Attack Trail took it all in its stride - even got a round of applause from a group of walkers at the bottom

From here the trail flattened out into a lovely gentle descent following the river valley. This was proper perfect natural singletrack, just enough gradient to keep up some speed, with nice flowy undulating terrain. It was a beautiful spot, lots of guelder rose out in flower, willow warblers singing away, the stream babbling in the background - being in places like this is just good for the soul.



The valley became progressively more wooded, with the trail flowing along for what felt like forever. I'd not ridden this section before, but it was a real gem.

 

[hawkhill97]

From the valley bottom, I set off towards Hawkcombe Head, one of the classic Exmoor singletrack descents down toward Porlock. This required a short road link, but even the roads in this bit of Exmoor are gorgeous, and I was still buzzing with a big grin all over my face.



I went back off road at Robbers Bridge, pictured here:



The route went a little awry after this, with a trick-to-follow bridleway that turned into a bit of a slog, followed by a somewhat underwhelming set of forest tracks through some plantation woodland. I was in a bit of a huff after having to cart the hefty Attack Trail over a couple of fences to get un-lost, so didn't get any photos of this bit!

 

[hawkhill97]

Eventually I made it to the top of Hawkcombe Head. This descent seems to pop up on a fair few forums as being one of the better on Exmoor, and while it's not one of my personal favourites, it's always very enjoyable. The top section is the best, with the odd steeper rocky bit to keep you on your toes. From there the trail descends into the woods and becomes wider and even faster. There are numerous stream crossings that you can hit at a fair old lick, and I was soaked by the time I got to the bottom!



The wooded sections are similar to some of the valleys on the Quantock Hills - sessile oak with lots of lovely ferns and mosses.

 

[hawkhill97]

I had been planning to loop right back up to Dunkery Beacon, and ride the bridleway that heads East from the top - this is probably my favourite natural descent in Somerset - but my legs were getting pretty tired!

So I ended up taking the roads back from Porlock to Webbers Post, and settling down for a well earned cuppa instead.



On checking Strava, I'd managed 28 miles and 3,800ft climbing, so probably a good job I didn't end up trying to push for that last loop!

 

[hawkhill97]

So, comparing & contrasting the two rides, I'd have to say the Exmoor ride was the more scenic of the two, and had the better singletrack set-pieces.... although there's still something about the North Dartmoor landscape that I find extremely compelling, and it has a greater feeling of remoteness and wildness compared to Exmoor.

Exmoor is probably the more challenging from a fitness point of view. While part of this may have been the heavier bike, I always seem to come away knackered after a day on Exmoor no matter what I'm riding, and I did end up walking more of the climbs on this one.

Would I ride the Attack Trail on the Dartmoor loop? Not a chance - it would deaden the tracks to the point you may as well be bombing down a tarmacked road, and while it's just as capable a climber, it just doesn't have that same zingy feel to it.

How about the Mount Vision on the Exmoor trail? Absolutely - I'd have taken a lot of the descents significantly more slowly (especially those I didn't already know), and would have 100% walked what turned out to be the best bit of technical descending on the ride, but for all that I think it would be just as enjoyable on either bike.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Another awesome ride, report and pictures. I look forward to the next ride report

 

[hawkhill97]

Cheers! Might have to wait until I get a bit more time off, most of my regular riding isn't particularly inspiring.

I'm planning on riding "the gap" in the Brecons later this year, will stick that up on here when I do.

 

[Lostcause]

Some fantastic photos, looks like you picked the right bike. Its great having options, horses for courses sort of thing. Doesn't help when trying to thin the heard though lol
I really must visit the area, its a place ive never ridden but you've made me want to