Believe it or not we’d never been on a ride to Yealmpton before today! We planned to spend a little time there, so we wasted no time and sped through Ermington along the B road.

After a peaceful lunch on the grass outside the Shire Horse Centre, Michael managed to negotiate a special rate of £1 per person for a thirty minute exploration of the Centre itself. There was plenty to see, including falcons, pets of all kinds, horses and foals, and of course the adventure playground, where Jem, Budgie and Julian dropped endlessly off the highest drop slide and skinned their elbows superbly.

Jem wanted to buy a drink so we took some back lanes that brought us into the village and then found some more unfamiliar lanes that took us back towards Lee Mill. Looking at the map, Michael suddenly had a flash of inspiration and suggested a lane and footpath short-cut that would offer even more new scenery and avoid a long section of the A38 corridor. Everyone agreed (including Budgie!) so we gave it a try.

The lane through Popple’s Bridge was pleasant enough, but the footpath began with a high stone stile and then led us through a rather muddy field. We quickly decided that the parallel farm track would be preferable and joined it half-way down the hill to West Worthele farm. When we reached the farm, the owner said that she was very happy for us to use that track, so that was OK.

Budgie, who likes to keep his bike spotless, jumped up and down with rage when he realised that he couldn’t see most of his bike for mud. He tried to blame Michael, but he just reminded him that he had agreed to the route!

We enjoyed refreshments at the Copper Kettle cafe at South Brent and then rode speedily homewards as the first drops of rain began to fall. Nick was a bit tired after his first full-day ride, but you wouldn’t have thought it to see the way he cycled the last few miles!

The poor weather was undoubtedly responsible for the low turnout this evening. Ashley, Julian, Paul and Philip wanted to keep their bikes reasonably clean so we chose a route through Green Lane, Baddaford, Parkfield Cross and Landscove that stayed firmly on the tarmac.

It wasn’t long, however, before we came across a tempting downhill track that nobody could resist. A second short track brought us out at Charlie’s Cross on the main Totnes to Buckfastleigh road just as the rain began to set in, so we gave up the idea of a Colston Road return in favour of a main road sprint homewards.

Budgie was late! He’d had a puncture, and now he couldn’t get to the Budgie Box (RAC box on the A38 near Caton) by the usual time. He chased down the A38 to the Chudleigh Bridge pickup, but alas, everyone had already gone. He got out his map and decided that the most likely route we had taken was the right turn to Longdown at the far end of the Teign Valley road. He set off at high speed.

Along the way, who should he meet but Charlie Walker, hotly pursued by Andy Walker, heading the opposite way! This was a stroke of luck: they would obviously know where the group had gone. He stopped and turned around - only to see Charlie and Andy disappearing into the distance! Budgie swore!

He pressed on to the destination, but didn’t see any other club members all day! Where had they gone?

The answer was simple: to the BMX track at Christow for 2½ hours! Paul Oakley had suggested visiting the track, and Michael had thought that perhaps we could spare half an hour for a bit of fun. Once there, however, we were joined by some local youngsters and the whole crew just wanted to go round and round the track, doing incredible jumps over the bumpy bits - so we stayed there for lunch! We could see the Teign Valley road from the track: if only we had looked at the right time, we’d have seen poor Budgie riding by!

Paul’s younger brother, Philip, was on his first full-day ride today, so there was no question of doing a quick sprint to Holcombe Burnell. Anyway, some nasty rain clouds were heading our way, so we chose a route through Bridford to Blackingstone Rock. We’d never approached it from this angle before: surrounded by beautiful countryside full of bluebells it looked quite stunning today.

Next stop was Moretonhampstead, for refreshments at the Corner Cafe. The final lap took us through North Bovey and across the moor via Hound Tor and Hemsworthy Gate. We stopped along the way for hot dogs (vegetarian variety for Michael) at the Hound Tor van. Then, with renewed energy, Philip had no trouble making the final few miles to Buckfastleigh.

By the time Michael arrived at the start, Julian had persuaded Ashley that his rim was too dangerous to continue with the ride, so Ashley set off for home.

The long climb past Nurston Farm was followed by an unusually muddy ride along the track to the moor. At one point Philip made a wrong move, walked through some particularly gooey mud and discovered that his muddy foot was in fact shoeless! After a little help the missing shoe was dug out of the mud and reunited with its owner.

The descent across the moor to Cross Furzes was fun as always. I think Becky enjoyed her first ride with us, despite the large differences between our club and the one she last rode with in Norfolk!

This was one of those not-too-long rides that seemed to have just the right mix of all the ingredients that make up a perfect ride.

The lanes through Scoriton, Michelcombe and Holne to Venford reservoir were as enjoyable as ever, but then Michael suggested a track short-cut to Dartmeet that we hadn’t done for many years. Some (Tom actually) were doubtful at first, having experienced Michael’s short-cuts on many previous occasions, but as the pleasant grassy track took us down into the secluded valley, everyone had to agree that it was ideal.

When lunch had been consumed overlooking a stream and small woodland, we set off for the doubtful part of the short-cut - the stepping stone crossing to Dartmeet itself. The stones weren’t submerged as Michael had feared, and were easy going for the most part. There was just one tricky gap near the middle that had everyone pausing for courage and left a few (Philip in particular) with wet feet!

The Dartmeet cafe was filled with tourists and cigarette smoke as usual, but we were in need of a rest and didn’t fancy climbing the steep hill to visit the nearby farm cafe. The food and drink turned out to be tolerable, so the occasion was not quite as unpleasant as Michael had anticipated.

We concluded an excellent ride with the ascent of Dartmeet Hill, the descent of Dr Blackall’s Drive (a superb mile-long track offering magnificent views over secluded sections of the Dart valley), ice creams at New Bridge, the Hembury Woods track and Star Trek videos at Crofters!

After a short ride past Buckfast Abbey, a hard climb past Bowerdon to Cross Furzes and one puncture we decided we were wet enough and retreated to the dry comfort of Crofters for computer games.

There was a slight delay at the Charlie’s Cross pickup as a result of Seb’s puncture. The Paignton contingent waited patiently at Broadhempston, however, in eager anticipation of another visit to the garden cafe at Landscove.

They were not disappointed. Although the tiny tea-rooms were full with queues waiting at the door, we were told that if we cared to sit on the lawn we would receive priority service. Unlike similar promises from other establishments, this one was kept admirably - we were enjoying hot and cold drinks and three different varieties of home-baked sponges within about five minutes! This is definitely a cafe to visit again.

This evening’s ride was the first in a trial series of special evening rides designed especially for children of primary and lower secondary age. The rides, running from 6.30 to 8.30, had only been advertised through the Buckfastleigh Cycle Training Scheme and by word of mouth from older members, so Michael was somewhat surprised to see a turnout greater than one!

We kept the ride fairly gentle by riding along Colston Road to Staverton’s riverside path and then returning via Abham and Caddaford. The youngsters seemed quite happy with the ride: watch this space to see how they develop!

Michael began the ride with a stern warning to the youngsters who think it’s clever to speed around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, and was surprised to see a marked change in behaviour for the remainder of the ride!

We took Colston Road and the A384 to Dartington’s Cider Press Centre and then followed the cycle path as far as Totnes Weir. From here we had planned to take the riverside path to Brutus Bridge, but after crossing the bridge over the leat we discovered that the river was so high that the path was submerged!

Neil and Matthew rode through, with water covering their hubs, but the rest of us decided to retrace our steps and follow the main path to the station. It was at about this time that a passer-by would have heard a loud splash followed, after a moment’s silence, by a great deal of laughter. Edward, poor lad, instead of walking back over the bridge, had walked straight over the edge of the leat, fallen about a metre and was now standing knee-deep in the water below! Eliot had managed to walk into a river at Bellever a few years ago, but he had a sort of excuse - it was dark! Edward had no excuse, which made his unfortunate predicament all the funnier.

After meeting up with Neil and Matthew again, who had discovered that the riverside path had been shortened and diverted, we rode home via the Sixth Form Centre, Dartington Youth Hostel and Rattery, loaning Edward sufficient dry clothes to keep him warm. A few of the older members concluded the evening with an action-packed game of Dynablasters at Crofters.

We couldn’t have wished for better weather for this moorland track ride. The ride from Bickington to Haytor was notable only for the fact that Tao and Paul insisted on taking the Pinchaford track route from Ilsington. It includes a good deal of uphill work, so the rest of us were waiting several minutes at Haytor as they picked their way across the rough moorland to the road.

After following the bridleway to Natsworthy Manor we settled down for lunch by the crystal clear East Webburn River. Within minutes we had discovered that the area was infested with biting midges of the type usually found only in Scotland, so it wasn’t long before we were on our bikes again, climbing to the top of Hamel Down.

Today was Remembrance Day, and we were touched to note that fresh poppies had been laid against the memorial to the RAF pilots who crashed on Hamel Down during the war.

The long track took us past Hamel Down Cross, Broad Barrow, Single Barrow, Two Barrows and the cairns at Hameldown Beacon, with skylarks being the only source of sound to break the stillness. Then there was the descent to Widecombe - steep and rough to test the most skilful cyclist. Instead of wasting money in the poor quality Widecombe cafes, we bought cheap and plentiful supplies from the village shop and enjoyed them on the Common. Philip obviously wanted to attract attention to himself - instead of buying wholesome food or drink he bought two enormous bars of nougat.

Our homeward route, suggested by Budgie, took us through Buckland, a packed Spitchwick and Hembury Woods. Nearly everyone took up Michael’s offer of a free drink and biscuit at Crofters before saying farewell to another superb ride.