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An uneventful ride took us up the Teign Valley and through Trusham to the track behind Laurence Castle for lunch. As we returned through Chudleigh, Ben learned one of the reasons for the early returns on recent rides: Michael's dynamo was broken!

There seems to be a general consensus within the Section that winter rides should get us home well before dark. With this in mind we took a short route to the hamlet of Buckland in the South Hams, enjoyed lunch on a convenient grassy verge and then returned by the short main road route.

Only Ken Twydell and Dave Cutts met the Buckfastleigh starters at Bow Cross. We took a right turn near Broadhempston and followed the attractive Newhouse Barton lane to Ipplepen and (inevitably) Fermoys garden centre, where the usual selection of refreshments were on offer.

Following the long climb from Bovey Tracey to Manaton we diverted along the small track that was responsible for the ride achieving an 'R' status in the runs list. We didn't find a rock that whooped, but we did find a small cave for lunch that offered excellent views of the surrounding moorland and shelter from the cold breeze.

In order to avoid retracing our steps we continued along the track. It turned out to be a little rougher than expected, and Bob didn't look too impressed as he was shaken about on his trusty Galaxy. We concluded a good ride with refreshments at the Wayside cafe, Widecombe, and a stiff climb past Bone Hill to Ashburton.

We followed the lane from Ashburton to Halshanger and Birchanger, and then set about tackling the steep, track descent to the River Lemon. Everyone managed to reach the bottom, but when John Stuart tried to manoeuvre himself around the slippery, wooden footbridge he quickly found himself on his back, looking up at the sky.

The track climbed steeply on the other side, and it took Eliot a lot of hard pushing to reach the gateway to the open moor. Some careful map reading eventually brought us through some unspoilt moorland scenery to the main road near Saddle Tor. Seb and Ben came out right beside the refreshment van, bought just enough food for themselves and then rejoined the rest of us at the bottom of the hill!

We returned to Buckfastleigh via Cold East Cross and Ashburton.

Having taken the easy B3210 from Avonwick to Ermington we soon found ourselves at the five-land cross-roads near Alston Hall. The alternatives were simple: a steep climb to the lane route, or a short-cut along a muddy track that followed a stream down to the sea. One look at the hill prompted everyone to vote for the track.

Some of the earlier sections were still frozen after the overnight frost, but the remainder turned out to be every bit as muddy as Michael remembered it. All those without mudguards were plastered by the time they reached Membland. Charlie wasn't particularly amused, but he didn't complain too much (t'old lad).

Dave Robinson had rung Michael the previous night suggesting that he might bring a Primus for the purpose of brewing tea for the group. Michael thought this was a good idea and agreed to bring his camping stove with some cans of soup. Unfortunately, Dave didn't turn up, but the rest of us enjoyed the fruits of his idea, by the water's edge at Bridgend.

We returned through Noss Mayo and the south coast route past Mothecombe. As we neared South Brent we were greeted with the first and last real snow of the season - enough to cover both the bikes and ourselves before it stopped a few minutes later!

Our reward for calling in at the Copper Kettle cafe at South Brent was a chance meeting with Rob Spence of Torbay Section, apparently drawn to the same honeypot.

Another of our classic romps across Dartmoor went exactly according to plan until we reached the stony track descent to Scorriton. Michael advised the youngsters not to ride too fast, but of course they did. Fortunately the only result was that Tom got a blow-out and the rest of us had to wait for fifteen minutes while Seb fixed it for him.

There was Star Trek (inevitably) and Hot Chocolate for those who returned to Crofters.

The ride through Gappah to Haldon was uneventful, and even at the Obelisk the most exciting spectacle was Neil and Michael cooking their soup again - it seems that Dave Robinson has started a trend without even showing us his Primus!

It was on top of Little Haldon that the main event of the day took place. Seb was showing off again by riding his mountain bike off the road towards the surrounding heathland. He saw what appeared to be a low grassy bank and decided at once that it would form the ideal resource for a jumping demonstration. Did he think to check the far side before launching himself over the top? Of course he didn't. He just rode at that bank for all he was worth.

We saw him reach the bank. We heard him squeal. Then both he and the bike disappeared from view. There had been a much larger drop on the far side than he had expected, but fortunately the main damage was to his pride.

We looked in at the Texas Homestore cafe in Kingsteignton, but as there was nowhere safe to leave the bikes we pressed on to Fermoys at Ipplepen for drinks and cake before returning home for about 5pm.

Risk formed the main entertainment this evening.