Why not combine your countryside accommodation with a week-long
electric bike cycling vacation in Devon? England’s southwest is well known for its scenic landscapes but, if strenuously steep climbs are keeping you off the saddle, you may find the solution in an e-bike. Not just for the novice or more senior cyclist, a power-assisted ‘pedelec’ (a pedal bike with a small motor) will get you moving on those hills and keep you on track if you start to tire on the way home. You’ll breeze through North Devon’s UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, taking in miles of dunes and rural roads, stopping only for scones heaped high with clotted cream, or to wash down a long day’s pedalling with a pint of local cider.
As well as your accommodation at the farm, your vacation includes the hire of an electric bike and all necessary safety equipment, a full orientation, rescue back up (should anything happen to put a spoke in the wheels) and, course, all your route notes and maps, carefully researched with plenty of local tips from your in-the-know hosts. Electric bike cycling vacations are available from April to mid-July and from September through to mid-October, outside the peak season when the country roads are busiest – so you can enjoy a quieter ride.
“[We loved] the beauty and peace of the environment, the meadow we looked out on, and the challenging cycling up and down steep Devon Hills. The hired electric bikes were very important for exploring the lovely countryside for us 70-plus year olds!”
– Hilary Mayne on an electric bike cycling vacation in Devon