St Ives - Penwith peninsula 79 km

This cycling trip takes you clockwise around the Penwith peninsula, starting in St Ives, passing by St. Michael’s Mount, Land’s End and Cape Cornwall. The trip offers great views of estuaries, beaches, cliffs, coastal villages, landmarks and quiet hilly countryside, and is completely paved.
The trip starts in St. Ives and first follows the main road south along the St Ives Bay towards the A30. After Carbis Bay you take a smaller road towards Hayle Estuary. You then arrive to the A30 roundabout and follow the A30 towards Penzance for a kilometer before turning left on small roads towards Marazion. Here you have a nice view of St. Michael’s Mount (see waypoint), the causeway leading to the island, and the beach. From here you follow the coast towards Penzance and on to Newlyn. From Newlyn you take the coastal road to the picturesque village of Mousehole (see waypoint). You then climb steeply out of Mousehole and continue inland for a bit before descending towards the beautifully wooded Lamorna valley. From here you take the B3315 and follow it towards Land’s End, once descending steeply in and climbing out of the Penberth valley. Just before Land’s End the B3315 joins the A30 for the last kilometer to the famous landmark (see waypoint). You can enter the site for free on a bike, and there are paved roads towards the theme park, the viewpoints, the signpost to John o' Groats, and the first and last house, although the site is obviously not meant for serious cycling. After having taken in the views of the cliffs, the Longships, and possibly the Isles of Scilly, you go back east on the A30. You pass Sennen and turn left on the B3306 towards St Just and onwards to St Ives. Apart from an excursion to Cape Cornwall (see waypoint) and a short stretch outside St. Just you follow the B3306 to St. Ives. On the way you pass by Land’s End airport, see remnants of old mines, have great views of the north coast, and climb a hill to the highest point of the track at just above 200 m. You take the same road to and back from St. Just to Cape Cornwall. In St. Ives (see waypoint) you do a little sightseeing, passing by Porthmeor Beach, Harbour Beach and some small and here and there one-way busy touristic streets.
Most of the trail was along quiet roads, apart from some stretches on the A30, the A3074 south of St. Ives, and the road through Penzance and Newlyn. You can find something to eat at e.g. Mousehole, Land’s End, St. Just and St. Ives, but also at quite a few other locations. There is no parking at the start of the trail, but there are various other paved parking places in St. Ives.
Route St. Ives/ Carbis Bay/ Lelant/ Marazion/ Penzance/ Newlyn/ Mousehole/ Land’s End/ Sennen/ St. Just/ Cape Cornwall/ St. Just/ Pendeen/ Zennor/ St. Ives.