EVENT UPGRADE IN PROGRESS

On Day 2 you will stock up with food in the busy town of Minehead, then climb North Hill which offers superb views of the coast. An interesting track will take you down through the woods to the National Trust village of Selworthy, then some more lanes and tracks will bring you to Allerford where you can try your luck at riding through the stream if you dare.

To conclude the day you will climb onto Exmoor and follow moorland roads to Exford youth hostel, now run by the nearby hotel since it was sold by YHA in February 2015. It's a great hostel located in the centre of this delightful moorland village.

Day 3 will involve riding across Exmoor through Simonsbath, where there will be some refreshments at a local café. You'll ride onwards to Blackmore Gate, then you'll head to the coast at Hunter's Inn. From there a fabulous coastal path will take you right around the headland offering you some of the best views on the tour.

Next stop is Valley of the Rocks, and then a final stretch of coastal path will take you to the town of Lynton, famous for its very steep railway that connects the town to Lynmouth far below. We'll hopefully be staying in a very attractive guest house.

For your final day you will ride from Lynton back up to Blackmore Gate and then take the fairly easy downhill main road into Barnstaple. There may be time for pizza hut before we take the trains back to Exeter and home.

With everyone in fine form after our recent tour we took the Silver Street route to Scoriton and the café at Holne where a new coffee machine had taken residence. Also visiting the café was an Ashburton mother and son on a child-back tandem, equipped with Carradice bar bag and saddlebag. As they were leaving we noticed that the saddlebag had been cleverly adapted to carry the family dog, who seemed quite happy to have the bag closed around him.

Michael had guests for the weekend so we needed to be home for lunch, but our entusiastic youngsters voted to return via the steep climb from Combe to Cross Furzes and of course rode the hill with ease.

Our progress to Fermoy's was impeded by various events. First, Dillan's chain broke at the bottom of Green Lane. Michael fixed it but it broke again in a different place a few minutes later. The cause turned out to be a broken front derailleur that kept catching the chain and pulling it apart, but once that was straightened the chain didn't break again.

On the way past Abham we encountered a fallen tree that perfectly blocked the whole lane. There were no warning signs so we guessed it must have been an overnight fall. The process of negotiating the branches on the left was a little tricky but we eventually got through and headed onwards via Staverton. By way of a change we took the Newhouse Barton lane from Fishacre Barton to Ipplepen: apart from temporarily losing John and Will at a double turn it definitely felt like an easier route than the usual.

Fermoy's must have been busy today because they took 30 minutes to deliver Michael's toasted teacake and 40 minutes to supply John and Will with their bacon meals. Dillan was not unhappy however as he had longer to savour his delicious chocolate flake cheesecake.

John needed to be home by 3 so after returning to Broadhempston via Denbury we split into two groups: John and Will went home via the direct route to Green Lane while Dillan and Michael took the Beaston Track, this time in the downward direction, and then returned via Landscove.

Several of our members inexplicably missed out on this memorable exploration of the Grand Western Canal, but their absence just made the task of packing bikes into the car much easier than it would have been.

The day started at the Tiverton end of the canal at 11.30, where a visitor centre and café welcomed us. Without the photographs showing the “navvies” digging the canal by hand with only shovels and barrows to help them it would have been hard to believe it could have been built in such a way.

The whole canal was alive with ducks, moorhens, swans and fish, giving us plenty to look at as we rode the first section to Sampford Peverell. Here we diverted from the canal to check out the local Spar, but the absence of hot food made us glad we had brought our own lunches. We rode a little further along the canal to a secluded seat which made a suitable venue for lunch, although a chill wind encouraged us to dress warmly.

We pressed on to the current end of the canal at Lowdwells Lock, although we could see that the canal once continued all the way to Taunton. We had covered nearly 12 miles from the start, flat all the way but still quite tiring because of the mild headwind. The return journey however was swift and easy, encouraging Dillan to race to every bridge – nobody else was racing, but he was definitely fast and seemed to enjoy awarding himself first place every time!

As we neared Tiverton we were rewarded with the sight of the horse-drawn Tivertonian tourist barge turning in the canal in preparation for its return journey. The magnificent Shire horse was temporarily released from his duties so he could enjoy a snack break in the bushes.

On reaching Tiverton again we couldn’t resist trying out the Canal Café: the scones and drinks were reasonably priced and the garden setting made a perfect end to a very special ride.

With showers forecast for the morning and rain for the afternoon we set off up Wallaford Road with a plan only to make up a route as we went along. It was still dry after a brisk climb to Cross Furzes, so we headed through Combe to Holne with the idea of possibly going to Venford or Ashburton. Stopping outside the café we had just decided not to stop there when a rain shower began, so we did the sensible thing and spent an enjoyable half an hour sampling the cream of carrot soup and other tasty refreshments. Dillan seemed reluctant to break into his notes – we think he is saving up for something – but in the end he bought a toasted teacake.

The sun was shining again as we left, but as it was nearly 1pm we were now forced us to head more directly home via Hembury Woods so as to avoid the later rain. Only Lawrence rode the ‘Slalom’ track through the woods, although everyone rode around the fort. The rain began as we reached Buckfastleigh, almost exactly as we had planned.

Our planned weekend to Bellever YH had to be cancelled since many of our members are revising for exams. With just Dillan and Michael out today, Dillan was able to select whatever ride he wanted, which turned out to be a thorough exploration of the blue and red tracks at Haldon Forest Park.

We got back to the car by 1pm and finished the day with an all-day breakfast fry-up at the Route 5 restaurant on Haldon and a visit to Tesco at Newton Abbot.

Stan Ford joined us for our 30th anniversary ride to Dartmoor, and we received several good wishes from ex-members who were unable to be with us. Stan’s trusty Raleigh Randonneur suffered a broken chain on the first climb up the shortcut near Peartree, but Michael got his hands oily to ensure we could proceed up Ausewell Hill with the minimum delay.

We took the unsigned path across Welstor Common to Buckland Beacon, a fire beacon still used to celebrate royal events, and after hauling the bikes over the stile Michael took the group to the pair of granite slabs that together form the Ten Commandments Stones. Most of the group had never seen them before, and in Stan’s case that was not for want of searching. The stones, which were inscribed in 1928, have become somewhat eroded over the years so you really have to know where they are to be sure of finding them.

When we had finished taking in the breath-taking views across Southern Dartmoor Dillan found one letterbox and Will found the other. The boxes don’t seem to contain ink pads and stamps these days, but we left our comments in the books using the pens provided and continued on our way.

Will was ravenously hungry for some reason, so after taking the path down to Cold East Cross we decided against looking for more letterboxes at Bonehill Rocks, instead proceeding down the steep descent to Widecombe. Here we were in for a surprise: the famous Green Café had been gutted and completely refurbished inside by new owners. The old kitchen and serving area was gone, replaced with a new eating area complete with old fireplace; there was a brand new kitchen and serving area on the car-park side; the cloakrooms had been completely rebuilt; and new tables and chairs both inside and out completed the conversion to a café that finally seems appropriate for such a popular tourist village. We enjoyed a range of tasty food from the excellent menu and gave the new proprietor full marks for what must have been a very expensive enterprise.

Next stop was the ice-cream hut in the village which boasted very generous helpings of delicious ice cream topped with clotted cream for just £2.50. Refreshed for the return journey we headed onwards via Ponsworthy at a good speed, diverting through Leusdon in the hope of seeing our favourite white ducks. We were not disappointed: they seemed to have brand new fox-proof quarters next to their refurbished pond, so hopefully they will survive until Christmas at least!

We returned home via Hembury for around 4.10 after a very enjoyable ride. For those who couldn’t make the ride we will be running a 30th anniversary get-together at Christmas.