Michael's attempt to arrange another full-day summer ride were not met with much enthusiasm from the members today who all seemed to want to be back by 1pm. We rode out through Buckfast and then took the interesting track through Burchett’s Wood. This track always used to be very muddy at all times of the year, but Hallam recently told Michael it had received loads of wood chippings and we were pleasantly surprised to find today that, despite recent rain, it was nowhere near as muddy as we had expected.

Continuing through Scoriton and Michelcombe we were soon in Holne Play Park enjoying the swings and Michael's chocolate box. There was some debate about whether to visit the cafe, but in the end we decided to return home via the popular Slalom track through Hembury Woods. Ashley couldn't resist having some fun with the jump near the bottom.

Ryan was out this evening and once again he managed to persuade us to do his favourite ride - out to Ashburton, through the back lanes to the wedge-shaped Belford Mill and then down the woodland track back to Ashburton. We stopped halfway down the track by the felled tree so the youngsters could eat refreshments and enjoy the jumps.

Tonight seemed like a good night to visit Spitchwick, and there were certainly no arguments from the lads as it is always a popular destination. We got there for around 8pm and found absolutely nobody there. Everyone went into the cool evening waters of the Dart but only the three youngsters went all the way in, having a great time splashing around. A couple of groups of visitors came along while we were in there, including a couple with a young lad who just had to go paddling when he saw us in the water.

In view of the rapidly fading light we had to return along the same route as our outward journey, via Hembury Woods.

Today's ride took us through Buckfast to the lower Hembury Woods track that runs alongside the Holy Brook. The marquee, tents and cars that we had seen in the field last year were back again - Michael later found out it was the Buddha Dharma Sangha summer camp and that a number of other camps are run on the same site over the summer. Callum had a few problems with his bottom bracket coming loose on his new bike.

After emerging from the woods we took the track through Holne Woods to River Dart Adventures, which was packed with visitors as one would expect in peak season. At Ashburton we had time to take the old railway track to the park so that Ash and Callum could play on the jumps for ten minutes before we headed back along the old road to Buckfastleigh.

Michael's Mercian was still halfway through its service so he accompanied the youngsters with a support car this evening on our ride up Green Lane and past Baddaford. He had to take the alternative road route as the cyclists descended the track across the fields to Landscove, but we all met up in the school playing field where the Frisbee flew well and everyone learned that the one thing Ryan hates more than anything else is getting bits of grass in his "afro" hair - apparently it takes ages to get it all out!

Zac had a new bike this evening - an enormous Gary Fisher hybrid - bought for our forthcoming tour, and he certainly seemed to make good speed on it. We returned via Abham.

Michael was still bikeless and the youngsters for seemed to want to save their energy for the tour, so he led by car a short ride up Dean hill, over to Rattery and back to Buckfastleigh via Pennywell Farm.

Heavy rain put an end to all hopes of cycling on our last ride before the tour. A social was organised instead, starting with computer games at Crofters and ending with several games of Pool at Plymouth. We called into Tesco as usual on the way home to buy some snacks, and even had time for some more games when we got back to Buckfastleigh.

With our Scotland tour starting tomorrow we had made the decision some time ago that today's morning ride would be replaced by a social. We spent the morning playing various computer games and said farewell at 2pm - until tomorrow afternoon!

When Michael booked us on the earlier train to London as insurance against unforeseen delays, he really hadn't expected problems to start before we had even boarded the train! We were all waiting on the platform at Newton Abbot Station when the announcement came out that our planned 1540 service had been cancelled owing to engine failure and its replacement would only be going as far as Taunton. Passengers for London were being advised to take a slightly later train to Bristol and then change again for London. We knew how difficult it had been to book all six bikes on a single train several months ahead of travel, so it was not hard to imagine the complications that might arise if we tried taking them on two different un-booked services.

Michael negotiated with the station manager and he agreed that space would be made for our bikes on the next direct service at 1640, so with time to spare some of us enjoyed scones and jam in the station cafe while others huddled together for a chat on the platform.

When the train arrived - one of First Great Western's 54 class 43 high speed train sets - several of the six standard cycle spaces were already taken. But the guard had been asked to accommodate us and obligingly unlocked the rear section of the trailing power car to reveal a cavernous space with hangers for several more bikes. Michael remembered many times in the past when this area had been denied to us by unhelpful train staff who argued that they "might need the space for something else later", so it was a a pleasant surprise to find it so readily offered today.

The journey to London passed quickly as everyone was playing first cards and then 6-player Bomberman on Michael's laptop computer - the first time he has brought it on a full length tour. Two controller cables had to cross the central aisle from one table to the next and had to be passed back whenever a passenger wanted to walk through, but this didn't affect the games too much.

Arriving at Paddington at 7.20 we had the simple task of getting to Euston station by 8.30. As it was after 7pm we were technically allowed to use the Underground, but Michael had programmed his Satnav with the recommended cycle route through the city, and since it was only around 2.1 miles and we would have to cycle it on the return journey anyway we decided to give it a trial run now while we had plenty of time.

Michael had bought a special cycle mount for his Satnav, but it didn't take more than a few minutes for him to realise that something was wrong: it was taking us in the right general direction but seemed to be misreading its location by 20 or 30 metres. After being advised to turn right into a private car park and then being told to continue straight on into a brick wall, Michael decided that perhaps his wireless speedo may be affecting it. Once the wheel sensor had been moved so that no more signals were transmitted to the handlebars, the Satnav worked fine and brought us quickly and safely to Euston station.

Our ScotRail sleeper train was due to leave at 9.15 so we had time to buy our evening meal from the excellent shops in the station. In the dash to the platform, however, Ash somehow dropped a bag that contained some rather expensive M&S yoghurts! More serious was the loss of Zac's pump while loading the bikes into coach A: it dropped down under the train and Zac was not allowed to retrieve it from the track.

We were soon settled into our cosy (or cramped, depending on your point of view) bunks, and after placing our orders for breakfast and eating some long-overdue food Michael spoke to everyone about the dreadful weather forecasts for later in the week and tried to put as much positive spin on it as he could: "It shouldn't be too wet on the first day" and "we would have had bad weather whichever week we had chosen this summer". Clearly this was not going to be a tour for comfort-lovers, so while everyone tried to envisage how they would cope with being cold and soaked to the skin we enjoyed some hot drinks and card games in the lounge car.