In order to avoid some of the debates on recent rides about where we should go, Michael made today's ride a "mystery ride" and everyone found that it made the event much more interesting. Points were offered to anyone who could answer Michael's questions correctly, such as which village we would be going to next, or what special feature would be found around the next corner.

The ride took us up the hill to Pennywell and Rattery. Nobody remembered that there was a viaduct at the bottom of the next hill. We continued on past Blue Post to Diptford village and stopped on the old bridge near the river Avon for refreshments. It was amazing how many fish there were in the river below, and many of them managed to hold stationery position by clever swimming.

Ash remembered the old station building a little further along the road, then there was time to play around the river for a while and spot a few more fish before taking the old cobbled lane through Avonwick. We stopped at South Brent's Plymco for refreshments, headed back towards Buckfastleigh along the back lanes and then, as we were in no hurry, decided to explore the rough track that runs off to the left of the Dean hill decent. Michael knew there was a reason why he hadn't done this for many years, and when the track petered out by a boggy gate and led us into a field he remembered why. We managed to find a gateway that took us back to the road near Dean and vowed not to try that particular detour again.

After heavy overnight rain we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by sunshine as we set off along Colston road. A family near the Riverford end of the road had created such excellent pumpkin carvings for Halloween that they had put them on display at the entrance to their farm.

The riverside path at Staverton looked stunning today with autumn colours everywhere. The river Dart was so high and dangerous today that there was no way we could consider crossing to the island, but just after crossing the railway line a steam train came along, making another fine sight.

We took the track up through the woods to the waterlogged park and then headed home through the lanes past Hole Farm.

With ice on the roads and near freezing temperatures in the morning sunshine Michael was surprised when everyone was up for a ride to the Avon Dam. They were still keen after we had climbed the lane from Dean to Skerraton, so we headed straight for Shipley Bridge.

The private road from Shipley up to the dam had serious patches of ice over it, and Ash came off three times in a row on one patch - much to everyone's amusement. He's not one to be defeated by a bit of ice however and having learned the hard way not to brake or turn on it he finished by riding confidently to the end.

Some light snow fell as we rode the final stretch to the dam, making everything look very scenic, but in view of our proposed route home we were not disappointed when the snow shower came to an end. It really was bitterly cold - hands taken out of gloves for our chocolate break by the river took a considerable time to warm up again.

After admiring the view of the reservoir we headed across the open moor for the Abbots Way. A large group of very attractive Dartmoor ponies greeted us as we started up the climb, and we then met a family of cyclists heading the same way as us. They rode with us down the fabulous moorland descent, and were no doubt amused when Ash's front wheel sank into what he thought was a frozen bog, jammed solid and forced him into a somersault over the handlebars! He was sore and bruised for the remainder of the ride, but as usual put a brave face on it.

Some members were still away for half term, but four of us enjoyed a good ride to Broadhempston via Green Lane. The roads were icy in places after some overnight rain and sleet, so we had to take care.

The play park at Broadhempston has been extended since we were last there, someone having taken out the tall hedge between the park and the adjacent field. Our Frisbees have gone over that hedge several times in the past, previously necessitating a walk halfway around the village to get to the far gate. Today we were able to use the whole field for our Frisbee, boomerang and tennis ball games.

We returned home via Staverton and the riverside track, arriving just in time to see a holiday diesel special running on the train line. Zac just couldn't resist going into the station to buy some Milky Bars from the antique penny vending machine, and of course everyone else followed suit.