The Lion King was the most popular computer game on this pre-Christmas social.

Our Boxing Day special took us, inevitably, to Shipley Bridge and the Avon Dam. The moor looked fabulous on this sunny winter’s day, but we had to exercise special care to ensure that we didn’t damage the muddy areas. We returned to Buckfastleigh at 12.37, just 37 minutes before the rain began.

This brisk ride took us through Hembury Woods and brought us to Holne Chase and New Bridge just as a nasty shower was delivering its payload. Luke and Harry met us a few minutes later.

While we played with Budgie’s new aerobie (a Frisbee with a big hole in the middle for those who don’t know) on the Common, Richard Goss discovered that he had broken his rear spindle. There was nothing else to do but walk home while the rest of us returned via Buckland.

Tao always reckons that his bike breaks down more often than anyone else’s, so he was a bit jealous of Richard’s breakdown. He put things straight by breaking his chain as we returned to Buckfastleigh at 4.30.

This was another exciting and warm social evening where Skidmarks was the most popular computer game. Philip Stone seemed to be quite addicted to the game!

Michael, who was recovering from a bad cough, decided to accompany the riders by car today. Some wanted to go home early at Avonwick, but Michael assured them that sunshine was on the way and pressed them onwards to Harford church for lunch.

By the time we had ridden up to the moorland car park the weather was fresh and sunny, so everyone was looking forward to the track across the moor to South Brent. A few members were so enthusiastic that they fell off on the final descent.

The Copper Kettle was closed today so we returned to Buckfastleigh via Shipley Bridge (only four took the track through the Dam today) and enjoyed cafe-style refreshments at Crofters for the second time.

It seems as though there are more Star Trek enthusiasts out there than we thought! Tonight’s lucky crew were entertained to a scintillating episode from the original Star Trek series, an innovative episode from the animated series, a breathtaking story from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ and pure entertainment from the brand new series ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’.

We used today’s winter morning ride to explore some little-used lanes between Diptford and North Huish, riding outwards via Rattery and Diptford and returning home via Avonwick garage and Marley Head. We had recently heard that the bells from North Huish church, which is no longer in use, have been transferred to Salcombe church.

Several came up to Crofters after lunch (and a wash) for a social.

There’s nothing special to report about this social: it was just great fun and, as usual, very friendly.

The forecast was bad for the morning, so after meeting at Chudleigh Bridge we returned to the Riverside Cafe at Bovey Tracey. When Tao had fixed his punctures (that kid’s bike is always breaking down) we rode back to Crofters by 2pm for computer games and a live Compuserve chat to some children in North America.