Beyond Bissoe, Cornwall

DISTANCE 47km (29.2 miles) CLIMBING 1,200m (3,937ft) TIME 3hrs to 5hrs

Start/ inish Bike Chain Bissoe cycle hire centre (grid ref SW 770/415, postcode TR4 8QZ) Route summary A complex ride with constant twists and turns, along quiet Cornish backroads, byways and tracks

1

Head out the back of the car park, following the NCN 3 cycle path. Keep ahead to a road and turn right on it. Go left at the houses, up a gravel track (Mineral Tramway signs). Continue over a road, then turn right at a byway T-junction, before taking another right at a crossroads. Shortly after, go sharp left on a ‘hidden’ track before the recycling centre.

2

Turn right on the road and then right on a bridleway. Go over the B3298 and a minor road, then left on Pennance Road. Turn right at the crossroads on Sunrise Hill. Go left down a bridleway, to the road. Turn right on the tarmac, then left by the ‘Give Way’ sign. Turn left on the main road in Lanner, then right, up Tresaven Hill and around the old mine workings.

3

Go left on the road, right on a bridleway to Trethellan Water and then right on the road over the reservoir. Turn right (not signed) on a track, uphill, past a farm. Bear right, then left, then left again by the farmhouses. Continue to the B3297 and go right on it for 1km. Turn left just past the farmhouse and keep ahead to Treskillard, forking left by the barns.

4

Turn right on the road, then go right, by a house on the left. Keep left through the old mine workings, past a car park. Go over a minor road, on a cycle path. Descend the zig-zags on the left, by the ruins, down to the road at Carnkie. Go right, then left and immediately left again, o -road, up and round the hillside (or take the optional climb up Carn Brea).

5

Go right, into Carn Brea village. Turn right and right again, towards the church. Past the church, bear left on a bridleway and keep left around the quarry. Go ahead on Copper Lane and over another crossroads. After 0.7km, take a sharp right, before bearing left by the farm.

6

Turn left on the road and left again. Rejoin the bridleway from earlier and follow it back to the A393 in Lanner. Go right, past the tra c-slowing measures, then left, o -road. Turn right to climb the hill, past the open-air theatre. Go right on a bridleway, keeping ahead until a small lane (by a gate with ‘Trelowen’ sign). Turn left, then right on a small trail. Fork right. 7

Climb through St Day, go right on Barrack’s Lane and drop back into the Poldice Valley. The finish is to the right, along the cycle path, but there are various trails to play around on in this valley.