Another perfect evening ride took us along Colston Road to Staverton Bridge, along the riverside path (now somewhat overgrown) and homewards via Landscove.

The ride to Elender Cove is always tough, but today's excessive heat made it especially arduous. It was early afternoon when we finally arrived at East Prawle and descended the hill to the Elender Cove track.

To our disappointment the main track was blocked by a huge lake of muddy water that stretched from one hedge to the other. First Robert tried to ride through, but he quickly found himself in deep water. Michael then tried edging along the bank, pushing his bike through the water while the rest watched with interest from a safe distance. When he reached the half-way point the mud gave way and he found himself standing in a disgusting soup of mud and aquatic wildlife: the sight of Michael with muddy paws is somewhat unusual to say the least, so there was a good deal of merriment from the onlookers.

Charlie, James, Dave and Bob quickly decided that the village would be a safer place to enjoy lunch. The others found a way through an adjacent field and so avoided the bog completely. We still had to contend with the brambles, gorse and nettles that smothered the tiny path down to the cove, but the lunchtime views across the bay made it all worthwhile.

When the cove had been explored and Michael had washed his shoes, socks and feet in a rocky pool, we fought our way back to the village, bought refreshments from the Piglet Stores and attempted to rouse Dave and company who were sunbathing on the village green.

Buckfastleigh starters finally got home at about 6.45pm. Philip had chosen a tough ride for his first full-day excursion, but he coped very well indeed.

There must be several Michael Jones' in Devon, but it is unusual for two to attend one of our club rides! The new Michael originates from Bittaford.

Our ride took us first to the River Dart Country Park, where the Anaconda Run and its new big brother provided the youngsters with plenty of entertainment. We then made our way back to Hembury Woods by climbing the track from Holne Chase, usually best negotiated the other way around.

In view of the surprisingly low turnout we shortened the ride a little and contented ourselves with Whiddon Farm tracks and a return through Ashburton.

The footpath from Baddaford to Landscove passes through two green fields. Today they were occupied by a herd of inquisitive cows, but Neil, Philip and Paul were convinced they had hostile intentions and sped off towards the gate, shouting at the poor creatures for all they were worth. Michael, the original Dr Doolittle, spoke to the cows to calm them down before catching up with the others.

We returned to Buckfastleigh via Colston Road.

From the Chudleigh pick-up we rode to Blackingstone Rock via Canonteign Falls and the steep climb to the reservoirs. After enjoying lunch with some excellent views we visited the Primrose Cafe at Lustleigh and returned via the old railway track to Bovey Tracey and home.

There was some indecision when we reached Galant le Bower: Peter and Neil wanted to take the track to Holne Bridge but Michael and Nick thought it would be too muddy, preferring a return via Holne. After much deliberation we did the track, and found it just as muddy as Michael had predicted. It was still fun though.

The homeward route took us through the River Dart Country Park.