Just seconds after John arrived at the start he realised his tyre was flat. He had taken the bike for a service a while ago, been advised that his tyre was worn out but decided to wait a little longer to get the last few miles out of it. Now a hole had opened up in the side wall and the tube inside had punctured as a result, so home he went to fit the new tyre and tube that had been waiting there for a few weeks.

When we eventually set off just before 11 we followed the old road to Ashburton, then the path along the A38 to Bickington and the Liverton road to Heathfield. We had to negotiate three separate crossings to get around the new roundabout, but we had soon entered Stover Country Park, our first destination for the ride.

The Park isn’t that big, but there are some interesting paths running alongside Stover Lake that kept us amused for half an hour or so. After joining the Teigngrace road we followed the new Stover Canal path from Ventiford all the way to Newton Abbot, then headed into the main street for an enjoyable lunch at Costa.

We wanted to get home before 3.30pm but we weren’t going to take the main road all the way to achieve that, so we rode home on the easy lane route through East Ogwell, Denbury and Broadhempston, getting back for 3.36.