Julie was waiting at Buckfastleigh to tell us that Ken was on his way on the tandem, but when they arrived the cold had proved too much for Paul and so they turned back. We had had several heavy showers, including some hail, before the start, so we were a little anxious about how the day would turn out. We first headed past Tao's house so he could pick up some gloves: it wasn't a day for bare hands.

Arriving at the turning for Scoriton Richard and Paul took the easier way, while all the others went straight on to pit themselves against the steeper route to Holne. Richard should have known better: as soon as you split up, things go wrong. This time it was a careless driver pulling out of his drive and knocking Paul off. Fortunately the damage was only minor and we were not far from his house, so it didn't take too long to get him home.

The others had their lunch and we decided, with the late start and the additional delay, that Grimspound was out as a destination. We cruised over to Spitchwick and tackled the climb up to Buckland. A brief break here, and on to Ponsworthy Splash. Just before this Richard realised he had left his new stainless steel vacuum flask back at Buckland. The others went on to whizz down Dr Blackall's drive while he went back to see if it was still there: it wasn't.

We met up again at New Bridge, said goodbye to Martin at the top of the hill, and returned via Hembury Woods.