We originally had eight booked for this tour, but Fergus had to cancel for some reason, leaving James to come without his friend, and then sadly Gavin also had to cancel his place just six days before the tour started - it would have been his first tour with us.

Most of us caught the 11.21 train from Newton Abbot to Taunton, arriving at 12.03. James was waiting for us there (he had travelled down on the train from Birmingham), so we set off by around 12.30.

We wanted to get out of Taunton for a peaceful lunch, so after negotiating the busy roads and roundabouts we took to the country lanes and found more than enough peace by the little suspension bridge at Ham near Creech St Michael. Some of our members couldn't resist sitting on the bridge to get a better view of the River Tone.

We rode on at a leisurely pace to Stoke St Gregory where we stopped for afternoon tea in the Willows and Wetland Centre. Next stop was Burrow Mump at Burrowbridge, which just had to be climbed of course. After running around the ruined church and admiring the views across the surrounding miles of flat Somerset Levels we watched a person flying a kite in the breeze.

Riding on along the main road to Othery we were grateful to re-join quiet lanes again down to Pathe, where we got our first close-up experience with the Somerset Levels in the form of swans on the Wookey Rhyne, one of the drainage waterways that criss-cross the Levels. There were willow trees everywhere as we proceeded through Aller and along Beer Drove, and the totally flat terrain was very much appreciated by all.

Street youth hostel is located on top of one of the few ridges of hills in the area, so we had to do a little climbing to get up to Ivythorn Hill and the woodland track from Cockrod, which gave us great views over the town of Street to Glastonbury Tor which is on our itinerary for tomorrow. A short ride along the woodland track then brought us to Street youth hostel, a wooden chalet in delightful grounds.

We spent an enjoyable evening cooking our food and playing frisbee on the open downs near the hostel. We a fabulous dorm on the top floor with our own wooden balcony.

(No notes have been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

After a great night's sleep with the balcony doors open we set about making our breakfast on a glorious sunny morning. Michael took some video shots around the hostel.

We started our ride with the descent to Clarks Village in Street, where there were some interesting factory outlet shops. We then found a route to Glastonbury that avoided the main road, parked our bikes at the bottom of the path and set about climbing to the top of Glastonbury Tor. As it is the highest point for miles around, we got some fabulous views in all directions. On the way down we met a woman with a duck - an Aylesbury Duck to be precise. She was taking her duck and her dog for a walk and stopped to chat with us, but the duck seemed to like us so much that she had some difficulty getting her to say goodbye to us!

We took the quiet lanes through Westhay, stopping near Edington to look at a house that was surrounded by drainage ditches that looked remarkably like a moat.

We stopped for lunch within the next few miles, then after finding a fairly peaceful way through Bridgwater we continued through Spaxton to Hawkridge Reservoir at the foot of the Quantock Hills, a delightful spot if ever there was one.

There was then a steep climb through Over Stowey which brought us to the Triscombe Stone car park. We had a rest there while looking at the information sign, then set off to follow the track right along the ridge of the Quantocks, through Crowcombe Park Gate and on to Beacon Hill trig point, which was actually a little further than we should have gone. We got some great views to the coast and Hinkley Point nuclear power station along the way.

We backtracked the short distance to Bicknoller, then took the next track across Longstone Hill. It's actually always quite tricky to find the right tracks across the top of the Quantocks, as there are few signs and many well-worn paths. The map helped, but then we had the final tricky task of finding the best of the three tracks that would take us directly to the hostel. Quite often we have missed it and taken the next track, which then involved a bit of a climb at the bottom to get to the hostel, but today, miraculously, we came out right next to the hostel!

Quantock Hills youth hostel is a very special building in a very special location, nestling in the peaceful foothills of the Quantocks. We were self-catering again for our evening meal.

(No notes have been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

We slept well in our comfortable first floor room. Once breakfast had been sorted we set about some bike repairs - adjusting Lee's seat, which proved difficult as it could not be pulled out of the seat tube - and tightening Julian's handlebar mount.

The ride started with the descent to Kilve village and a short ride to the quaint village of East Quantoxhead, famous for its church and duck pond. Most of us spent an enjoyable 15 minutes feeding the ducks while James decided to use the pond to clean his bike!

Our morning coffee stop was at Watchet Esplanade, where we enjoyed some tasty food in The Corner House cafe. Before going in there, however, Lee took us into Mary's pet store to introduce us to Morris the Myna Bird who was saying all kinds of things to keep us entertained.

The ride continued through Blue Anchor and past Dunster Castle into Minehead, where we bought lunch before climbing the rather steep North Hill to eat it. It was delightful up there however, the views across Minehead were excellent.

We rode along the top until we reached Dean's Lane, a rough track that took us down through Selworhy Combe to the National Trust village of Selworthy. The track was good fun, and we had a bit of time to look around the village and gift shop before heading along our next track to Allerford. Here there is a real ford, and James was confident enough to ride through it - successfully I might add.

We still had some climbing to do however to get to the hostel, which was in the middle of Exmoor, so we rode on through Luccombe and up Horner Hill before turning off for one of the most famous locations on our tours - Cloutsham Ford. Here, in 1979, our first visit to the area, John Stuart had attempted to ride the ford, hit a stone, buckled his wheel and came off, much to the amusement of everyone concerned. He attempted the crossing again in 1983 and once again came off despite everyone else managing to ride it successfully. You can see the reports at http://torbay.southdartmoorctc.org.uk. Well today, most people rode it without problem, although Ryan did manage to come off on his second attempt, getting his feet mightily wet in the process.

There was still some more climbing, through Cloutsham Gate, so it was quite a relief when we finally got to ride the downhill stretch into the village of Exford. Here we had comfortable rooms, good showers and, for the first time on the tour, evening meal provided by the hostel, which wasn't bad at all. John went back for seconds of chips before anyone else got chance and cleared them up - he didn't feel at all guilty.

Several set up a game of Monopoly in the common room during the evening, which provided a lot of fun and some good relaxation ready for the next day of our adventure.

(No notes have been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

Once breakfast was completed and the communal milk and bread had been stowed away (in Ryan's panniers today- thank you Ryan), we bought lunch from the village stores and then set off over Exmoor in disappointing weather until we reached Simonsbath. Here we called in to Boevey's Tea Rooms, which offered not only shelter from the rain but also excellent drinks and cakes in very pleasant surroundings.

From Simonsbath we continued with some climbing to Blackmoor Gate - the place that Michael always describes as Godforsaken, as it is often raining, windy and cold there. We took the shortcut through Parracombe, which involved a steep downhill and a subsequent climb, but halfway up the other side we stopped in Parracombe play park to eat lunch. It seems our members are never too young to enjoy the park equipment.

Our route then took us into the Heddon Valley, which offered some hairpin descents at the start and then just a very pleasant wooded valley lane that ran alongside the River Heddon. A family of ducks at Mill Farm provided an interesting diversion partway down, with most of the valley road captured on Michael's camcorder.

As the sun finally emerged we reached the National Trust gift shop at Hunter's Inn, where Julian tried and failed to buy some collectable spoons for his mother and many others bought ice creams. Lee, who normally hates being on camera, today had a conversion and just couldn't stop talking to it. This might have had something to do with the fact that it was his eleventh birthday today, and he wanted everyone to know about it. He had been a little disappointed when the tour dates had been announced a few months earlier that he would be away on his birthday, but he still decided to come, so we did our best to give him a good day.

The coast path that leads from the Hunter's Inn to Woody Bay must be one of the most scenic paths in the UK. It started with some climbing through the woods, but then opened out to offer tremendous views of Heddon's Mouth Cleave and the sea beyond. As we continued to climb through the heather-covered hills the views just got better, and when we reached the top at Highveer Point we couldn't resist walking (or running) down to the rocks to soak up the sea views. We could even see Wales on the distant horizon now that the weather had cleared so perfectly. This was another of the very special places we have visited on our various tours.

When Lee had finished being pushed and pulled along on Ryan's Romany touring bike, we continued on along the coast path, stopping many more times to admire the views before we finally reached Woody Bay. At one point we could see four Bays all the way from Woody Bay to Lynmouth Bay, together with the jutting headlands that separated them.

A long downhill was then followed by a climb past Lee Abbey, which brought us to Valley of the Rocks, where some used the provided telescope to see the distant Welsh coastline. Another delightful coast path then took us on to Lynton, where the first sight that greeted us was the Cliff Railway passing underneath our little bridge. As it was such a unique feature, we all headed up to the station and took a trip down to Lynmouth, being fortunate enough to get front balcony views.

The main things to see in Lynmouth, apart from the sea and the River Lyn, are the gift shops, so we spent some time in those buying gifts to take home to our families. The basket shop was particularly unusual and offered plenty of ideas for everyone.

We returned to Lynton via the Cliff Railway and quickly found Lynton youth hostel, a large country house in a quite part of the village, accessed along a "road" that was barely wide enough for two bikes. After showers we once again had a provided evening meal, our second of the tour, which was very welcome.

Much of the evening was spent in the common room, where Lee, James and Ryan set up a game of Monopoly with another youngster they had met at the hostel.

(No notes have been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

There had been very heavy rain overnight that woke some of us up, but at least Julian had thoughtfully put all the bikes in the bike shed for us last night. We had been quite tired, so we still slept fairly well. Lee had to get up early for breakfast so he would have time to change his inner tube - it had been leaking a bit yesterday.

The weather today was perhaps not as welcoming as we might have hoped, but it stayed mainly dry for the morning as we rode up to Blackmore Gate and down the long hill to Combe Martin. As we descended we were surprised - perhaps even amazed - to see a new theme park had sprung up since we were last in the area. Given that this was North Devon, we didn't really expect to see major attractions in the area, so even though it sounded impressive - the Combe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur Park - we imagined it must have been done on the cheap with a few toy dinosaurs and some goldfish in a pond.

We had been invited to have coffee with Michael's Uncle and Aunt at Belmont House, Belmont Avenue, Combe Martin. We received a very warm welcome when we arrived and were served coffees and cakes in their cosy conservatory overlooking their immaculate gardens. While we were chatting we asked about the theme park, and were told it had been open for more than ten years and was attracting a lot of visitors. As the weather wasn't great we al decided to go and take a look.

Going to the park meant cycling back up the hill, but once we got there and had paid a discounted entry fee for our group, we were quite amazed at the attractions inside. After seeing parrots doing tricks for us (we were assured the parrots were all very willing participants) we were impressed by enormous animatronic dinosaurs in the woods, spiders and small mammals in a dark room, a wide range of rare and impressive monkeys, gibbons and lemurs, large animals like tigers, water animals like penguins and sea lions, and to finish, a train ride that emptied a very large volume of water in our direction, rather like a ride at Disneyland Paris! To find all this tucked away in North Devon was really quite amazing. Not surprisingly, we made use of the cafe facilities and had lunch there.

We had a good deal more climbing to do when we left the park, but then there was a very long downhill stretch through Muddiford that brought us right into Barnstaple. We used the shops here to buy a few provisions, although we had our third and final evening meal provided this evening.

We found our way to Barnstaple Station from where the Tarka Trail cycle path began. After studying the signs we followed the path down to the Taw Estuary, passing a few rather dilapidated industrial units on the way, and then the views really started to impress. By the time we reached Sandhills on the outskirts of Instow, the sun was out, and when we found ice creams for sale we took the opportunity to settle down amongst the sand dunes to soak up the scenery. This was a very magical spot indeed.

From here it was a short cycle ride into Instow, then a short climb up New Road gave us more great views across the estuary. Worlington House, Instow youth hostel, was a little further up the road, situated in unspoiled countryside and offering great views down to the estuary.

After showers and our provided hostel meals, Ryan set about assembling the kite he had bought during the day (probably in Barnstaple) - James was quite interested in it too, so he helped, by finding the required sticks to make the frame. The kite actually flew, and flew well in the breezy hostel grounds, so that provided a lot of entertainment.

Looking out of our dorm window as the sun set, we were entertained some more by the local sheep, following a path through a gateway and following each other in perfect formation, even to the extent of walking around a puddle in the gateway in exactly the same way as those that had gone before them.

We found out the sad news this evening that Instow youth hostel will close at the end of this season. We have visited it many times over the years, and it made us feel very sad that this will be our last visit.

(No notes have been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

It was with a certain amount of sadness that we prepared our breakfast for the last time at Instow youth hostel, packed our bags and said our farewells. The hostel is a bit out of the way in an extremely quiet area, but was wonderful to be able to stay there, and we will miss it when it is gone.

When Julian had finished testing everyone's reaction times by dropping pens through their fingers, we descended to Instow and rejoined the Tarka Trail which took us further down the estuary to Bideford. Here, the old station building was still there, and a carriage had been permanently set up on the tracks to provide information and refreshments! After looking at the various displays we bought ourselves drinks and cakes even though we had only be riding three miles since we left the hostel.

We continued along the trail, which took us over the River Torridge across the old railway bridge, but a mile or two further on we had to leave the track so we could head west. Our route took us through Landcross and, as you can see from the video, past Orleigh Mills, Littleham, where we stopped so that everyone could play their own version of Ball in the Bucket - we called it Stone in the Drain.

We followed the Yeo Valley, then the A39 towards Clovelly until we reached the start of the scenic Hobby Drive track. The entrance didn't look like it was a public right of way as there was a house right beside it, and it looked very much like a private driveway. I have a feeling we decided not to take it in the end, as we don't seem to have any video shots taken along it, but if you remember differently please let me know.

Clovelly was always going to be one of the main attractions today, a unique village formed around a steep cobbled street with quaint houses and shops all the way down. We parked our bikes at the top and wandered down until we found a suitable establishment for coffee and cream teas. Sadly I don't remember which one it was.

James is always keen to seek out beaches, so we continued down the main street to Clovelly Harbour and beach and enjoyed nearly an hour there while James and Ryan went swimming. From the beach it easier to see just how unique the village is.

From Clovelly we headed out into the remote and desolate lanes around Baxworthy, near Hartland, passing a tractor and cows near Docton Farm, and then we arrived at Elmscott youth hostel.

This, our final hostel of the tour, was also the simplest, being a conversion from an old school building. It did feel a bit like a barn. And of course we were in the annexe, which had very primitive washroom facilities and no showers. Obviously we were cooking our own food again, which was a bit of a comedown after the last three nights. Once all the dishes had been washed, however, we had time for a final walk, following the footpath from near the hostel out to the coast path at Mansley Cliff. The coast here in this remote part of North Devon was wild and desolate - and totally magnificent in the descending darkness. And perhaps also a little frightening, to see the power of the waves crashing on the rocks so far below. We could clearly see the Island of Lundy in the distance with its lighthouse flashing constantly. The camcorder did its best to record the moment, but of course it could never capture the scene very well in such low light conditions.

(No notes have been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

The last day of our tour started with breakfast at Elmscott youth hostel. Michael was most disappointed to find that James had eaten all the remaining bread despite being unsure whether we had another loaf - Michael really likes toast and marmalade to complete his breakfast.

We only had 15 miles to ride today, so we took our time, taking the lane route down to Welcombe Mouth Beach which provided some remote and desolate entertainment in keeping with the rest of the area. The exact route we took next needs to be investigated, but the video shows us taking a track down through a wooded valley to get to Morwenstow. The problem is, there are two tracks through Marsland Valley Nature Reserve, and both have hairpin right turns on the way down, so we plan to go and check which one was taken at some point, but our best guess at the moment is the track from Darracott to Gooseham.

From there it was only a short ride to Morwenstow, where we hoped to find a cafe. There were signs pointing to Rectory Farm, just outside the village, so we headed that way and were amazed to discover the Rectory Tearooms. The glorious smell of home baking greeted us as we entered, and we were very impressed with the ambience and range of cakes available. Definitely a cafe to visit again.

We now headed the last few miles to Stratton, passing the Composite Signals Organisation, later renamed GCHQ Bude. The high wire fences and multiple satellite dishes suggested this was an important government site.

We reached Congdons Van Hire in Stratton by around lunchtime, and that was the end of the cycling for the tour. It was by no means the end of the adventure, however. We had finished the tour in a remote part of North Cornwall that has no train lines anywhere near it - perhaps that's the main reason we don't often come up here. The only way to get home was to hire a van, but whilst the van could easily take all our bikes, there was only room for 3 people including the driver. And James needed to get to Exeter for his train home. And the van would need to be brought back again.

So here's how it worked. We loaded all the bikes and luggage into the van, then Julian drove the van with Michael and James as passengers, leaving John, Ryan and Lee to amuse themselves in Stratton for a couple of hours. We dropped James at Whiddon Down with his bike and luggage, then continued on to Buckfastleigh by 4pm where the remaining five bikes and luggage were dropped at Crofters (Michael's home). Julian then drove the van back to Stratton with Michael following in his car. We returned the van, them Michael drove everyone home. It was 7.40pm when we had everyone back at Buckfastleigh with their bikes. It really is a lot easier when trains are available.

(No notes have been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)