CTC Birthday Rides 2010
CTC Cornwall hosted the CTC Birthday rides in August 2010. They were based at the Combined Universities of Cornwall Tremough campus (near Falmouth).
There is a lot of information below about getting to Tremough, produced in August 2010, which might be of use in the future. Please note that this is unlikely to be updated.
Getting to Tremough campus by train
This section offers information about getting to Tremough campus by train with your bicycle.
The information here comes from train company leaflets, personal experience and from a very useful guide in Issue 78 of the a to b magazine June 2010. Up-to-date information should be available from the train operating companies.
To get to Penryn you first travel the Cornish Mainline to Truro, then the Maritime Line to Penryn.
Cornish Mainline to Truro
There are two train operating companies that run services on the Cornish Mainline, CrossCountry and First Great Western.
CrossCountry
CrossCountry trains run from Bristol and many places beyond, as far away as Aberdeen. There is a useful map here.
Cross Country services into Cornwall mainly use Class 220 (Voyager) trains with just two cycle spaces available for reservation. The cycle storage in Coach D is near the door furthest from the First Class (Coach A) end and is three sets of high mounted hooks. Station staff should be able to tell you whether Coach A will be leading or trailing and approximately where to stand on the platform for Coach. There is a yellow line just below the red roof and above the grey side on Coach A and this lets you check that the train’s configuration as it comes in. These Voyager trains aren’t all that long and the cycle space isn’t right at the end so knowing the configuration in advance is less critical than it is for HST.
There is quite a lot of other luggage space near the cycle space in Coach D but as these trains are often rather full it is unlikely that other full size bikes would be welcome. Unfortunately full sized bikes in bike bags remain bikes although the train managers are sometimes prepared to be flexible. Folding bikes are allowed on without reservation and above the reservation limit. The space near the cycle storage area looks ideal for a bagged Airnimal, Bike Friday or separable Moulton although I have not tried this since the trains were refitted to the current configuration. In 2009 Cross Country were also running some Class 43 (HST) trains which have dedicated space for at least six bikes at the end of the carriage next to the leading power car when going towards Penzance. I have not found a good way of working out when an HST will be used rather than a Voyager and in any case only two reservations are offered.
First Great Western
First Great Western runs Class 43 (also known as HST and formerly Intercity 125) trains from London to Penzance. Some services run through Bristol but most take the shorter route from Reading to Taunton. There are reservations for six cycle spaces on these trains and more can be accommodated if the train manager is especially cooperative and the space isn’t filled with other things. For most journeys travel with a bike is very straightforward if you have a cycle reservation but it is worth getting to your departure station with time to make contact with the staff and make it known that you intend to board with a bike. This web page gives some information and includes a link to the leaflet Cycling by Train which can be opened or downloaded as a .pdf file and is also available in printed form at stations.
The next four paragraphs give the basic information and some extra hints.
The cycle spaces are at the end of the carriage A entered by the door immediately next to the power car and you can load into these spaces without staff assistance although the train manager will often be at the office next to the cycle spaces and ready to assist to some extent. The A carriage is normally at the end of the train furthest from London. If the train is the other way round the indicator board should include the warning “Reversed Configuration” and station staff will be aware that cyclists need to load at the London end instead of the normal Penzance end. These are long trains so it is important to be at the appropriate end for loading before the train comes in.
There are also cycle racks in at least one of the two power cars on First Great Western HST trains. These were fitted a few years ago to be used regularly in certain circumstances but are now only used at the discretion of the train manager. You can’t load a bike into these spaces without help from train staff as the door to the powercar is locked. A few stations, for example Westbury and Saltash, have very short platforms that make it impossible to bring the cycle storage area alongside the platform and you will need to load into another carriage and move your bike to the cycle storage area at the next station.
The racks in carriage A are intended to take bicycles upright with the wheels run into a guiding channel. I find that putting the bike in rear wheel first makes for a more stable ride but if you do this beware that rack can catch some rear derailleurs. Putting the bike into its lowest gear at the back helps as it move the derailleur inwards. The velcro on the straps provided to restrain the bikes has been exhausted for some years if not decades so unless the straps have been replaced on the train you board you may need to lightly knot the strap or use a strap of your own. For a tandem it is best to ignore the guide channel and put the rear wheel alongside the rack so that the bike can be held right back against the bulkhead. A good strap is required for this and some padding. Some cycle tourists leave their luggage with their bikes in the storage area against the advice of the train company. While this doesn’t normally cause a problem it may not be helpful for travel to the Birthday Rides when we expect the cycle space will be full. Once you have your bike stowed you have to get out onto the platform and head for another carriage door. As loading a bike takes a little time it is important to get out onto the platform and into the nearest door without delay. For a party of cyclists it would make sense to agree who is doing the loading and who is staying on the platform as the space gets quite tight and extra bodies inside the storage space can cause confusion and delay.
The racks in the power cars use straps and hooks to hang bikes from overhead. Solo bikes hang by the front wheel and it is possible to load a tandem with its rear wheel hoisted all the way up provided the front wheel has been removed first.
The Maritime Line
First Great Western run the service from Truro to Penryn using a one or two carriage set. There are no formal cycle reservations on this service and officially the number of bicycles is limited to two per train although the local train managers are very helpful in practice. Many of the passengers on this train in term time are students.
If you arrive in Truro on the Cornish Mainline but are unable to load onto the Penryn train, the ride to CUC Tremough from Truro is described below.
Cycling from Truro Station
The ride from Truro Station to Penryn is about 11 miles and can be made mostly on quiet roads using one of the routes offered here without significant extra distance compared to the main A39. The section of the A39 from Truro to Playing Place is a busy, bendy, climbing road with restricted passing for motor traffic. It is poor cycling that can easily be avoided using either of these routes.
To go directly into the lanes from the western end of Truro take X1 route from Truro Station to Tremough.
If you want to go into central Truro before you ride to Penryn take X2 route from Truro Station to Tremough
These routes are also held here as .gpx files suitable for import into mapping software on computers, smart phones and GPS units:
These routes are also on the Bikely web site on two pages, X1 route and X2 route
