This proved to be another very enjoyable indoor games evening.

Neil got a puncture on the way to Totnes, but it took an hour to fix it because the valve had broken and he didn’t have a spare tube! In view of the time and the weather forecast we decided to divert the ride to Rolster Bridge near Harbertonford: surrounded by falling leaves this made an excellent lunch spot.

Next we followed some little-used lanes to Diptford, at which point Tom decided to get a puncture as well. Did he have a spare tube or a puncture kit? No sir, he did not. So he had to rely on the generosity of his club friends to get him rolling again, a generosity which he rewarded by leaving us at Avonwick!

The rest of the group headed for the Copper Kettle cafe at South Brent, with Michael reminding everyone of the importance of bringing basic puncture equipment with them on every ride. We reached Buckfastleigh at 3.30pm and spent the afternoon at Crofters, well pleased to be out of the rain.

The atmosphere was definitely electric at this popular games evening.

The weather forecast was bad as we assembled at the Bickington pick-up in light rain. Michael strongly advised taking a brisk back-lane return to Buckfastleigh as soon as possible, but a majority wanted to continue with the ride as planned, including all the younger members!

That decision proved to be a big mistake. First we took the muddy track to Ilsington that succeeded only in getting everyone without mudguards totally filthy. Then, as we approached Haytor, the cold rain lashed down, driven at force by the strengthening winds. We made use of what little shelter the Haytor toilet block could offer for lunch, but it was already partially occupied by a group of four Plymouth teenagers who were close to finishing a Duke of Edinburgh award hike across the moor.

Now, at last, everyone agreed that it was time to go home. Getting home involved riding into the teeth of the bad weather between Haytor and Cold East Cross, but we managed to reach Buckfastleigh by 2pm and spent the rest of the afternoon playing computer games and appreciating the comforts of home.

This hugely popular Disney animation, which also proved to be a big hit with our members, was all the more enjoyable for being seen as part of such a large and friendly group. We were fortunate that Richard, Dayle, Julian and Michael were happy to transport the whole crew to and from Plymouth’s Odeon cinema.

After a late start (all Michael’s fault) Neil found himself in trouble again when his chain slipped on Luscombe hill. He fell off and bruised his ribs again, but seemed to be able to continue with the ride.

We were very late at Totnes, but Eliot was still waiting, patiently. By the time we had ridden to Galmpton via Parliament Hill the time was 5.45, which left us in a slight dilemma. The youth hostel had decided not to organise their own fireworks display this evening because (they said) there would be a better display on offer in Galmpton village at a lower price. First they told us the display started at 6.30 so we’d arranged to have our hostel meal at 5.30. Then they telephoned us to say that the display was actually going to be at 6pm, so we changed our mealtime to 7.30. Now we decided that we wouldn’t have time to go to the hostel first to drop our bags, so we rode straight up to the display on the Brixham road.

When we arrived we were informed that the display wasn’t due to start until 6.45!! Frustrated, we rode to the hostel, cancelled our hostel meal (there was snack food available at the display), booked ourselves into a dormitory and rode back to the display.

We paid £1 each to go in, the fireworks didn’t start until 7pm and were all over by 7.20! The bonfire was good, but some Wally put some old fireworks on it and almost caused an incident. We felt that the Buckfastleigh display was usually far superior, and wondered why Torbay were so backward!

Back at the hostel, Richard, Neil and Michael were still cooking their meal when Ken turned up with his family. They chatted with us in the kitchen and then joined us for our Crazy Post game in the hall which saw everyone running crazily up and down the staircase and around the upper balcony trying to find the right post-box for their mail!

Several members joined us at Maypool hostel for our morning ride to Brixham, including Graham from Plymouth CTC. There was a muddy lake at the lower end of the track descent to Mansands, however, and Graham refused it!

The climb towards Brixham turned out to be very muddy, which pleased about half of the group. Shortly afterwards Neil got a puncture and discovered that he didn’t have tyre levers, spare tube or pump. This caused considerable delays, so let this be a warning to all the other members who ride their bikes without essential tools and spares.

We rarely ride to Berry Head so the steep cliffs and lighthouse (the smallest in Britain according to the Davies family) provided an interesting sight for most of us.

Ben got a puncture on Parliament Hill, so we were very late for the Totnes meeting point. New rider Peter had been waiting for an hour, and since he had to get back to boarding school that evening he decided to go home rather than join us for the ride to Holne. Eliot, seeing that Tao wasn’t at Totnes, also decided to go home, and Keir accompanied him: little did they know that Tao was waiting at Buckfastleigh!

When we finally arrived at the Buckfastleigh start we were just half an hour late. Sue and David were waiting to join us on the ride, but Austin was tired so they had to go home with him. The rest of us stocked up with food at the garage and proceeded to the destination.

When we got to the cafe we found that it was closed for the winter! This was the last straw, so Michael agreed to offer a full cafe service at Crofters - ably assisted by Tao. There was a proper menu that included savoury snacks like cheese on toast, and the whole event turned out to be a good deal more successful than the ride!

Julian got rather carried away with his computer game this evening: he was playing Canon Fodder, and at the end of each game he would stand to attention and salute his dead army personnel!

The forecast was poor, and when Neil got a puncture on the way to Avonwick we decided to shorten the ride. After an extended stop at South Brent’s Copper Kettle cafe we climbed to Shipley Bridge and joined the Abbots Way bridleway across the moor from Avon Dam to Buckfastleigh, taking care not to lose our way in the fog. Roy entertained us on the top of the hill by taking a dive into a moorland puddle.