Cycling around North Devon

Hills will be the rule, not the exception around those parts!  I would second the above, Exmoor is beautiful.  Climbs tend to be short and steep although occasionally long and steep!

Be warned, Devon traffic is not like London.  Obviously while there are idiots everywhere, many drivers will be very considerate.  However, the problem is that the roads can be very narrow with high hedges / banks so you can't always see oncoming traffic or have room to get out of its way if you end up in the middle of the road descending fast.  Have fun.

Other Halfs mum lives in Barnstaple and my "standard loop" is out to Braunton, Croyde, then either through georgeham or closer to the coast, up to Mullacott cross, down in to Woolacombe, back up to Morte, down in to Lee, up and over into Illfracombe, then back up and down past the Hospital into Barnstaple. If you want to hurt yourself try Chalacombe lane out of Woolacombe, it is the one up from the bottom that passes marine drive car park, or if you want to travel a bit further, drop into Lynton and then climb back out again. 

Might give some ideas, just be aware of traffic, some of the roads gets silly busy, either rat running on lanes or tourist traffic jams on the more major routes.