Cycling from coast to coast took me until lunchtime. Pedalling back was easily done by just after teatime. There are only a few areas where Britain can be crossed with such ease; but Cornwall is thinner than you think, especially if your route from north to south doesn't quite extend to the lower coast itself but to a handy estuary.
Cornish roads may be clogged but the cycle paths never suffer from tailbacks. The Camel Trail (named after the river, not the animal) has been drawing in the chain gangs to the old railway line running inland from Padstow. Further west, another defunct route has just received new life and funding: the Coast to Coast Mineral Tramway, running between Portreath and Devoran 14 miles away to the south-east. That's tram, incidentally, as in "small carriage for mining"; nothing to do with public transport.
While the Camel Trail slides alongside the river through trees, the Tramway is a tougher route over what used to be Cornwall's industrialised area. Today, then, cyclists and walkers puff for fun over land where yesterday's horses and trains hauled serious amounts of copper ore to the ports.
Cyclists may, of course, join the Tramway at any point. You can hire a mountain bike from Bissoe Tramways Cycle Hire, in Bissoe, slap bang on the southern stretch of the Tramway itself.
While the general direction of the route was already known, it wasn't until he started clearing the site of his cycle shop that proprietor Mike Harper discovered remains of the long defunct track. If a ghost train ever started haunting the old route, it would howl past, just inches away from the building where he now keeps his bikes.
"I guarantee you'll see parts of Cornwall you've never seen before," promised Mike as I swung into the saddle of the latest Dawes Saratoga, (equipped with suspension, much appreciated) and headed north-west towards Portreath. He was right. I was quickly on a track through gorse and, looming up on either side, the relics of mining operations. If not quite a ghost town, it is certainly a ghost industrial estate.
The streams are laced with brown sediment. The tops of the mine shafts are shielded with latticework cones, like the noses of minimalist rockets. I broke no land-speed records but the view over the handlebars changed continually, like different slides inserted into a projector.
For a short stretch, my route coincided with the longer-established Cornish Way, which at Twelveheads veers off to join another new track, entitled the Great Flat Lode.
Meanwhile, I followed the tasteful Tramway "waymarkers" made out of recycled chunks of granite. Resembling small menhirs, these are essential guides, since from time to time newly surfaced sections of Tramway grind to a halt and your wheels are humming along fiddly bits of a minor road instead.
The first few miles follow the track of what was known as the Redruth and Chasewater Railway, although it never quite reached Chacewater, which is anyway spelt with a "c". After swapping its original horses for steam locos, it became the first proper railway in Cornwall. It was created in 1826 by a mineowner who was fed up with paying the extortionate rates charged by the existing horse-drawn rail system, the Portreath Tramroad, which was owned by a rival mineowner. Both of the competing companies shifted ore from the centre of the Cornish peninsula - but one headed for the north coast, the other to the south.
After a detour up into Unity Woods to a towering mine chimney last used in 1921, my wheels bounced over from the end of the C&RR to pick up the competitors' route, the Portreath Tramroad. This section of the Coast to Coast continues in basically the same direction for seven miles until it hits Portreath. The long, straight track between fields leads to the coast with a triumphant arrival on the side of a hill, looking down in both senses at the road to the seaside town to the left. To the right lurks the germ warfare establishment of Nancekuke.
After my Dawes Saratoga and I had spent a leisurely lunch hour on the beach, I turned the handlebars to pedal back to Bissoe. (If you are starting from Portreath, pick up the first waymark by the Portreath Arms above the east side of the beach.) But even after returning to base at Bissoe I was not yet finished with the Coast to Coast.
The route continues a further three miles south to Restronguet Creek, a gentle ride for which bikes can also be taken out for an evening's hire. A tall ruin looms up; without the plaque, you would never guess it is "the modest remains" of an arsenic factory "famed for its high quality throughout Europe and beyond".
Then the wind blows sweetly over a series of reedy ponds; without the Environment Agency notice, you would never know that this is a "passive sewage farm".
Finally, I was gliding along a single-track road which leads to the estuary at the village of Devoran. This is typical south Cornwall scenery, with trees drooping down into the sheltered water. Yachts lay at anchor in the waterway and tiny dinghies pootled around in the ripples which, on a calm day, pass for waves. You wouldn't believe that this was once a major copper- exporting port.
Some cargoes were hauled by horses a little further up the creek to a point named, in a no-nonsense way, Point. But the steam locos hit the buffers just before that spot and so, indeed, do tired cyclists.
Way to go
Getting there: it is easiest to pick up the Coast to Coast route at Bissoe, Portreath or Devoran (close to Perranwell station). National rail enquiries 08457 484950.
Bike hire: expect to pay approximately £8 per adult, £5 per child. With advance notice, bikes can be delivered to locations in the area. Bissoe Tramways Cycle Hire, Old Conns Works, Bissoe, Truro TR4 8QZ (tel: 01872 870341). Bike Chain, 82 Mount Ambrose, Redruth (tel: 01209 215270) is 1 miles from the station (take a taxi or Truro bus) and less than a mile from the Coast to Coast Tramway route. Truro Cycles Hire, 110 Kenwyn Street, Truro (tel: 01872 271703).
Where to stay: on Cornish Way and five miles from Tramway: Donnington Guest House, 43 Treyew Road, Truro TR1 2BY (01872 222552), £20pp per night B&B, with easy parking and bike storage.
Where to eat: The Old Pandora Inn, Restronguet Creek (01326 372678) is beyond the lower end of the route; beware steep hills and A39. Named after the ship sent to capture the mutineers of the Bounty, it is known for its crab sandwiches.
For more information about Cornish cycle routes, call the Cornwall Highways Department, 01872 222000.
More cycling options
Anglo Dutch Sports
(020-8289 2808)
Offers leisurely cycling holidays in Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Denmark and Germany. A gentle six-day introductory tour of cycle-friendly Holland costs from £456pp including return ferry crossings, half-board accommodation, bicycle hire and luggage transport.
Belle France
(01797 223777)
A six-night tour along the quiet lanes of the Loire and the Cher from £524pp including return Hoverspeed crossings, bikes and half board.
Exodus Biking Adventures
(020-8673 0859)
For experienced cyclists seeking a challenge. A 19-day trip from Saigon to Hanoi costs from £1,495pp. An Atlas descent in Morocco costs from £620pp. Bikes can be hired.
Red Spokes Cycle Adventure Tours
(020-7502 7252)
Small group holidays to remote and spectacular parts of the world. A testing Peru trip costs from £800pp (flights from £500) while a less strenuous Irish tour of Donegal costs from £325pp (flights from £70). Bring your own bike.
Susi Madron's Cycling for Softies
(0161-248 8282)
The pioneer of unescorted trips in rural France. A seven-night "gentle tourer" trip to Provence costs from £826pp half board including bikes, equipment, maps and emergency back-up.
