Remote Mountain Biking in Exmoor

Had been to Exmoor earlier this year. There is a lovely secluded camp site between tourist hotspots Porlock and Lynmouth called Cloud Farm Camping. Surrounded by hills and spread along one side of a stream it can't get much more beautiful.
When my boyfriend and me had come here once before and back then had decided to come back with our mountain bikes and some more convenient camping gear.
Last weekend we did as promised. Arrived Friday night and the drive in was much easier in a car than on a bike, haha. Narrow, steep, dirty country lanes are not motorbike territory.

Pitched the huge 3p tent just before dark, set up the BBQ and started our work on some 1 litre bottle of scrumpy we had picked up at a petrol station on the way. Aaaaah. Niiice.

Saturday promised to be a fantastic summer day in Exmoor according to the weather forecast and indeed it just got better and better. Started off with some clouds and sunny intervals changing into a clear blue sky by mid afternoon.
After a long and exhausting week we had a bit of a lie in followed by some BBQ (!!!) breakfast with venison sausages and streaky bacon as well as cheesy eggs I prepared on my little camping stove. Heavenly!!! Bacon from the BBQ is simply the best way to do bacon. Really!

Picked a nice 15mi route from the map and set off on our bikes just before noon. After a short bit on a narrow country lane we turned South onto a bridleway. At least it said on the map and a sign. In reality it was a grassy field with a vague idea of where the bridleway was supposed to be.
After a short but steep ascent we cycled over a series of fields with more or less of a visible path, using the GPS to guide us to the next gate. Views were wide and bleak but beautiful and we enjoyed it a great deal: The weather, the workout and being alone with each other.

Eventually we reached a proper bridleway with some gravel and had a short stop at the ruins of Larkbarrow where some sheep were very interested in the bikes we had left when exploring the site. As if by coincidence they started surrounding them, lazily grazing close by while we were watching amused.

Last bit of the very scenic route was on quiet B roads with a nice race down a 12% descent before the final stretch back to the camp site.

Awesome round, not too long, not too short, still enjoyed a shower and chilled a bit in the sun (I actually had a nap, ahhhh, good times), pint at the pub where a guy from the kitchen obviously remembered us (we didn't remember him at all), asking if I passed my full bike test yet. What the.... ?!?!? Had a bit of a chat, finishing the last bit of our pints a bit in a hurry to get away from some annoying wasps.

More BBQ with lovely steaks and burgers for dinner followed and while we worked on a 2.2l canister of Devon scrumpy, we played some cards. Rich taught me "Shithead" and I taught him "Mau Mau" which I learned is pretty much the same as "Sevens".

Packed next day after some more fried brekkie from my stove this time and drove to Lynmouth for a valley walk. With the nice weather we weren't the only ones and couldn't find a place to park the car at all. So instead we drove to Porlock, walked down to Porlock Weir for a coffee and back up again. All in 2 hours time.

Really enjoyed this short trip and we were incredibly lucky with the weather! Exmoor makes for great easy mountain biking with an extensive network of bridleways. Will certainly come back for some more!