Weekender: The Dartmoor Devil
Route name: The Dartmoor Devil 100km.
Start/Finish: The Dolphin Hotel, Bovey Tracey.
Maps: OS Explorer OL28 Dartmoor, although event entrants receive a GPX file.
Distance: 105km (66 miles).
Climbing: Lots! Around 2,300m (7,700ft) with some 20% and 25% gradients • Bike type: audax bike, tourer, gravel bike, hybrid, even a hardtail MTB. Fairly sturdy tyres are recommended as punctures are common.
Ride level: Regular. A good challenge if you’re used to 60-mile hilly rides.
GPX file: the file here is for the route below, which is for DIYers riding at other times. Event entrants will be sent the latest GPX.
This is the 31st year of the Dartmoor Devil, an audax ride that criss-crosses the hilly moorland it takes its name from. Although ‘only’ 100km, it’s a challenging ride due to the steep climbs en route and the fact that it takes place on the weekend closest to Halloween, when weather conditions can be grim.
However, the date also offers the opportunity to indulge in a bit of fancy dress, which ranges from bicycles decked with festive lights, broomsticks, dangling bats and spiders through to riders dressed as witches and ghosts.
On a couple of years the weather has been so bad that the bulk of riders have abandoned before reaching the high moor, unable to keep their bikes upright in the strong winds. During the event’s history, the weather has varied from almost spring like to wintry snow showers.
As conditions can change quickly on Dartmoor, it’s vital to carry waterproofs and spares and to be self-sufficient. Mobile phones don’t work everywhere on the moor. The main control halfway around the ride always provides riders with hot soup and rolls, and there are other checkpoints along the way.
The Dartmoor Devil is a ride that many return to, with special awards available to those who complete six, 12 or 18 events. Entry to the Dartmoor Devil, which for 2024 is on 27 October, is £11. The website also has more details and photo galleries of previous events.
1. Bovey Tracey
The start and finish is at Bovey Tracey, a small town on the edge of Dartmoor. The ride sets out in two groups an hour apart, heading straight up Hind Street Hill, a 20% climb. Riders sometimes miss a gear shift or unclip a cleat here, causing minor mayhem in the first few yards.
2. Buckfast
The route passes through Buckfast, with a glimpse of its beautiful abbey, home to Benedictine monks. Among other activities, they brew the infamous Buckfast Tonic Wine, which has varying interesting web reviews. It’s a long haul from Buckfast up onto the south of the moor.
3. Chagford
There are three variations of the Dartmoor Devil route. This year’s visits a favourite village – Chagford – for a cup of steaming hot soup at the Globe Inn. The town lies nestled between clumps of Dartmoor hills, with steep climbs up onto the high moor.
4. Princetown
Dartmoor’s high town, home of the granite Dartmoor Prison and a whisky distillery, is always on the route. The Foxtor Café provides warmth and respite before the final slog back to Bovey Tracey. Riders sometimes arrive here quite late, having battled headwinds on the moor, but then manage to scoot back to the finish in good time.
5. Two Bridges
You often pass through here twice: on the way out to Princetown and back. It’s a landscape of small woodlands, barren heathland and jagged tors. There’s a fair bit of wildlife in this fine scenery, including some rugged Highland cattle.
6. Widecombe
This is the village celebrated in the folk song Widecombe Fair, which features Uncle Tom Cobley and all his friends. The climb out of Widecombe is a long drag but it’s the last big one of the ride.
On tired legs, you’ll be going considerably slower than Chris Boardman, who shot up the climb in a mere 4m 10s on the National Hill Climb in 1990. You’re rewarded by stunning views over the moors and down to the village and church.
