The Rough Stuff event is a rough riding competition organised for the benefit of all CTC groups in Devon. The start this year was near Landscove, and the weather seemed set for a perfect day despite the forecast of rain.

The only problem (for some of us, anyway) was that many weeks of rain had left most of the tracks in the area extremely muddy. The route was acceptable until we reached the track from Baddaford Farm to Lower Combe. Half way along we discovered a huge sea of mud that stretched from one side of the lane to the other and was more than twenty paces long. We carefully picked our way through, but Peter quickly became stuck. Michael had to struggle past him with his own bike, then come back and take Peter's bike. By this time he was a little muddier than usual, but still Peter was stuck. He had to return again to lift Peter out of the mud, but even that was not the end of the matter - his shoes steadfastly refused to come with him! A further journey had to be made to recover the shoes, by which time Peter, Michael and the shoes were plastered in thick, gooey mud.

Congratulations to Gavin Taylor, who was judged first junior rider. Thanks to Arthur Browne of Exeter for organising the event, and his wife for bringing along drinks and home-made buns.

Our two new members joined us today after a chance meeting at the end of Friday's evening ride. We met up with our Paignton and Totnes contingents at Broadhempston, spent some time playing in the park and then took up Julie's suggestion of trying a new cafe at Landscove. The staff were very busy today, but allowed us to serve ourselves on the magnificent lawns with cans of drink and cups of tea. Two dogs seemed eager to fetch balls and sticks for our youngsters despite the excessive heat.

During the return to Buckfastleigh, Paul took a detour around Lower Combe and then decided to try a track that took his fancy. He forgot that the rest of us were waiting for him. Tao kindly cycled around the hilly detour in his attempts to locate him, but eventually we gave up and went home. In fact Paul had tried the Baddaford track (mentioned under the Rough Stuff report), discovered the mud and then beaten a hasty retreat.

We were pleased to welcome Dave Humphreys back to the fold after a short spell in France, and Dave Robinson and his son Dominic after an absence that's difficult to explain.

The ride to Dartmeet was made somewhat arduous by the excessive heat, so we paused for lunch in a shady glade near Poundsgate before moving on to the Badgers Holt cafe for further refreshments.

There was little enthusiasm from the Paignton contingent for exploring the cave, so Michael led Tao, Alex and Tom on the half-hour detour while the others set off for home. Tom's puncture put an end to our hopes of catching them: it's hard to believe, but he didn't have a spare tube or a puncture repair kit!

A return to our favourite haunt took longer than usual because Peter was somewhat slow: we finally returned to Buckfastleigh at about 10pm.

Peter was joining us this weekend, so Michael took him and Neil to Holne by car before the start of the ride. He did very well, and they had been waiting for more than half an hour when we finally met up with them near Huccaby Bridge.

The weather wasn't quite as warm as last year, but we were still able to enjoy throwing a Frisbee across the river. Inevitably some youngsters managed to get themselves soaked, but I suppose that's all part of the fun.

Once the dubious hostel meal had been consumed the rest of the evening was spent making a silly, three-minute horror movie about a boy being chased through the forest by an unseen monster. It was fun to make; you can judge for yourself whether it is fun to watch if you come to the Christmas Special social.