After a few minutes spent truing Luke's wheel (damaged last week), we headed off along the old A38. Just climbing into Ashburton Richard's tyre deflated loudly enough for everyone to hear. The tyre needed patching, and these delays meant that we arrived at the pick-up point at Chudleigh Bridge about 20 minutes late. I hope no one thought they had missed us. The A38 had been busy, but traffic on the Teign Valley road was surprisingly light, given that it was a bank holiday Monday. The first track, from Steps Bridge to Clifford Bridge, was generally a good surface, but had enough ruts in it to give Matthew misgivings on his skinny‑tyred machine. We stopped by the river for lunch and a paddle. Matthew took the road alternative for the next stretch to Fingle Bridge, which is a little rougher.

We were disappointed to find the shop closed, so no ice creams. Luke and Martin compensated us with an attempt to ride across the river, a hopeless task, and Martin discovered it was waist deep in places. Nothing would drag Matthew along Hunters' Path, so we arranged to meet at the main road. Luke decided to ride all the way up the path while the rest of us walked. We had a pleasant 15 minutes in the sun, admiring the view, while Luke stuttered his way up. The descent below Castle Drogo made the climb worthwhile and we met up with Matthew as agreed. A cafe stop was now necessary, as we were all fairly thirsty, so we headed straight for Moretonhampstead.

A couple of miles south of the town Martyn encountered some bad news: his front brake cable snapped and the springs on the cantilever brakes pulled the straddle cable down on to his front wheel. Result: instant stop and Martyn flying over the top. He had a cut on his head, ugly scrapes on his shoulder and hip, and couldn't move his thumb. The good news: (a) no one ran him over, (b) a car stopped immediately with a retired nurse in it. By the time Richard got back Martyn had been made comfortable and the ambulance called. They took him back to Moretonhampstead for a local doctor to assess whether he needed treatment in Torbay. Richard and Matthew stayed with him while the rest of the group made their way home. The doctor decided no further treatment was necessary and we had the two of them picked up by car.

We cycled to Hamlyn Way roundabout and then took the back roads to Barton, which included some long, steep hills. Neither Peter nor Philip could keep up with Dave Humphreys of course! Taking the main road towards Shaldon we turned left near Labrador Bay along the track to The Beacon (a trig point commanding excellent views), and then continued down the rough track to Stoke-in-Teignhead. The whole excursion proved thoroughly enjoyable, and will no doubt be repeated.

At Roccombe we met one of Dave's friends who owned the Roccombe Farm ice cream business. We were given a guided tour around the organic ice-cream factory, but sadly there wasn't a bit of ice cream to eat! We returned via Coffinswell, Kingskerswell and Stoneycombe, getting home at about 9.50pm.

With Michael et al hostelling there was a reduced turnout. However this did not stop the group enjoying perfect cycling weather. Bigadon hill warmed everyone up in time for the descent to Huxham's Cross and then Staverton Bridge. Catherine was outvoted on whether to take the riverside path to Staverton (she didn't want to). On the way back a couple of the youngsters played 'chicken' with Simon (failing of course) but this didn't slow the group down too much to stop them reaching Buckfastleigh before dark.

We took the train to Plymouth station and rode the short distance to the hostel.

None of us had been to Plymouth hostel before, but we were fairly impressed with it by the time we left on Saturday morning. It is a large mansion located not far from the Torpoint ferry in its own magnificent gardens. The male dormitory is simply enormous, and not at all to Michael's liking as the only windows are high up in the central dome. The members' kitchen, warden's kitchen (I believe) and games room are situated within the labyrinth of connected passageways and alcoves that make up the basement. The only problem with this arrangement is that milk or bread ordered at reception takes some time to find its way to you in the members' kitchen. All in all the hostel is good fun, and I'm sure we'll be paying a visit again in the future.

We had planned to go to Denbury, but Peter and Philip wanted to try the woodland track again at Whilborough Common. Fortunately they remembered the way, but poor Dave didn't. On more than one occasion he found himself alone in a clearing which had several possible exits, and had to wait until the boys came back for him.

Michael was late this evening (is this unusual?), and to compound the problems Paul delayed us with some minor mechanical problems along Colston Road. Somehow we still managed to get to Dartington, from where we took the riverside track to Totnes - fortunately there was no neap tide this evening and we were able to enjoy the path without wading through waste-high river water.

Many of the youngsters enjoyed the track so much that they wanted to return by the same route. Michael over-ruled, however, and we continued to Dartington hostel via Barracks Hill, delayed this time by David who was having trouble persuading his lights to stay on his bike. The warden was unavailable to provide us with refreshments, so we set off for home via Rattery, just making the town limits by 9.48.

This special rough-riding event was organised by Arthur Brown of Exeter on behalf of all CTC groups in Devon. Plymouth Section were there, and so were Torbay. After a picnic lunch in the sun at Bickington the participants set off, one at a time, around the selected route, being observed by a marshal at each difficult section of track.

The marking is always a bit suspect in this event as it depends so much on the marshal's opinion of what constitutes good and bad riding on rough ground, but many of our riders achieved high marks: Dayle Guy, with 57 points, was just two points behind the winning rider, and Martin Hills was close behind him. Dayle won the award for first junior. All our riders enjoyed themselves, however, and that is really what the event is all about.

Another trip to Stoke Gabriel, this time via Aircraft hill and Collaton St Mary.