After a really wet, muddy ride with the Bikellas on Tuesday, it was nice to get out on Star Girl in the sunshine today. As it was such a lovely day, my husband and I decided to take a short trip down the M5 to the Quantock Hills, to play on our mountain bikes for a few hours.

We had a really brilliant time, following a route that I found on t’internet, here. The route provided a good mix of technical riding, combined with some more open cross-country where it was possible to really make the most of the views. The Quantocks are not an area of outstanding natural beauty for nothing!

My favourite part of the route was the descent down Hodders Combe, where we had to make a few stream crossings. It felt like a proper adventure, and the the dappled light coming through the trees made it really magical.

After the descent came the pub – The Plough at Holford – which had a nice little garden but did unimpressive sandwiches. Next time we’ll stop at the Combe House Hotel – we cycled past it just after having lunch and it promised cream teas, with bikers welcome! Wish we’d known about that sooner!!

The final climb was pretty tricky and I had to push over some horrid roots, but then it was an easy whizz back to the van, where high fives and big grins were the order of the day.

All in all, this was a lovely, sometimes testing, ride that has left me feeling very satisfied indeed.

Here are some pics from the route: