Sidmouth

Thanks to my sister-in-law's loaning me her bike I decided to check out Sidmouth, it being the nearest seaside and for some reason that was reason enough...

39.5 miles, 1007m height gain

Given that I was no more than 5 minutes or so stationary in Sidmouth, I regret I cannot recommend the place. It seemed to me that it was a typical, rather tired looking British seaside resort. And resort equals tourists and tourists are anathema to me. What I strongly wanted to do was to cast aside the bike (but what would I say if it had been pinched?) and explore those red cliff-tops. My map confirms there is a coastal foot-path up there somewhere.  Or, had it been warmer, to plunge into the sea at some suitably distanced spot.

Looking East

Looking West from the promenade East end

The river Sid (what a name!)

The weir was in a park, complete with bike-way, that followed the river for several miles. When I stopped to take my photo a passer-by informed me that I had "just missed the otters". Had I been a few minutes earlier...?  Clearly my 5 minutes at the sea front was excessive. It seemed a strange way to great a total stranger, and reminded me of the time, long ago, when my daughter announced that she had almost seen a fox. 

Summit near Hembury on the way back