We’ve never had a Snooker social in the cycling club before, but those who came with us to the Galaxy Centre at Torquay had a fun evening.

Yet another wet Sunday saw five of us going to Totnes by car. Tao and Eliot, who had cycled from Newton Abbot, were unimpressed at first, but enjoyed the Totnes cafe stop.

We met Richard Goss as we entered Buckfastleigh, so that made eight for the extended games and videos social at Crofters.

Once again this was just another very enjoyable computer games evening. This season’s new weekly socials seem to be very popular with our members.

We had to wait twenty minutes at Broadhempston’s play park for Ken’s Paignton contingent to arrive, but our youngsters found plenty of things to do.

Quiet lanes brought us eventually to the Rising Sun Tearooms where John showed us his personal organiser. After Philip’s jammed chain and Julian’s many complaints about the hills we eventually returned to Buckfastleigh by 5.55. Once again a few members had not brought lights.

The video this evening was Steven Spielberg’s record-breaking Jurassic Park. Most of us had seen the film in the cinema, but it was just as exciting on the second viewing.

A swift climb from the Bickington pick-up brought us to the quarry behind Haytor by midday. Sheltered from the wind the inside of the quarry was warm in the winter sunshine, but we found another sheltered spot for lunch behind Smallacombe Rocks. The problem was, Budgy didn’t see where we went. We sent John up to find him, but then John didn’t come back either! Michael eventually went to find John, but while he spent 10 minutes searching in vain, John and Budgy had found the group by a back route!

The rough descent of the path was fun, although some walkers gave us hard looks as we passed them at the bridge. Peter and William led the way up the other side to the deserted remains of Graetor village, and when we had located the fireplace in one of the foundations we set off for Widecombe’s Wayside cafe, arriving at 2pm.

Luke was most disappointed when he received his scone and cream, because there was nowhere near as much cream as he got last week at the Rising Sun.

Budgie allowed us to play with his aerobie for half an hour at Spitchwick, then we returned home via Hembury Woods where John came off on a sharp corner near the fort. Fortunately there was no damage done.

There’s nothing much to report about this evening’s social, except that everyone had a good time on the various computer and board games that were made available.

We decided to continue with this morning’s ride despite the unpleasant weather conditions. Having climbed Wallaford Road to Cross Furzes, however, we decided to keep off the wet moor and diverted instead to Coombe, Scorriton, Michelcombe and Holne, keeping a close eye on Austin during the descent because his brakes weren’t working too well.

There was some demand for some off-road riding, so we started with the rough track descent from Holne. Here came our first casualty: Eliot came off on the lower section and cut his knee, but he was able to continue with the ride.

To conclude the ride we took the lower Hembury Woods track, today awash with a stream. Luke became the second casualty here when he broke his rear derailleur. Wounds and equipment were nursed and repaired at Crofters when we eventually returned at 12.30.

Because of a mix-up regarding our booking we were given free bowling between 8.30 and 10.15 - which gave some of our youngsters some spare money with which to enjoy Laser Craze, the crazy laser shooting game at Newton Abbot’s LA Bowl.

Today’s ride got off to an excellent start when Keir broke William’s seat pin as we were waiting for the last few members to arrive. When asked how it happened he replied “I just rode it ..”. While the main group rode to the Avonwick pickup, Michael took William to Ashburton by car, purchased the required replacement part and returned directly to Avonwick by 11am.

Unfortunately, not all of the main group had made it to Avonwick. Peter had apparently been unaware that Michael had left the group and had waited for him at Dean Prior despite warnings from the leaders to stay with them. When Michael finally came back to find him from Avonwick he had just telephoned home to get picked up, and by that time was complaining of feeling unwell. It was 11.30 before we finally left Avonwick, despite Michael’s very best efforts to avoid delay.

Our route took us through California Cross and Harraton to the small village of Ringmore, where a local chatted with us to see which path we were planning to take. Our selected path was the bridleway to Ayrmer’s Cove, but it turned out to be one of the muddiest tracks we have ever ridden. When we finally arrived at the beach we had to spend a considerable time cleaning our bikes and shoes - some idiots actually walked through the river that flowed across the beach.

A couple of showers ruined our lunch, but things looked brighter as we set off along the coastal footpath that leads past Toby’s Point to Challaborough. We got some good views of Burgh Island - and we had plenty of time to enjoy them, because Budgie had a slow puncture.

We needed to make some fast progress now, so this was not the best time for Keir’s rear derailleur to fall apart. It happened during the long climb towards Bigbury, and it must have taken Keir more than half an hour to find the jockey wheel and fit it back on the derailleur.

Eventually we were off again, heading for the Aveton Gifford Tidal Road. Keir’s chain broke again, and then we discovered .. that the tide was in.

Never before had we found the tide in. Never before had we realised the problems that this could cause. We could only see one section of road under water, and the alternative route involved retracing our steps up a large hill and then negotiating another descent and climb. We decided to carry our bikes across after removing our shoes. Little ones got carried across.

Things went surprisingly well and we were soon reunited on the far side of the submerged section. Around the corner, however, were more sections of water, and many of the youngsters were too impatient to wait to be carried. They just waded or rode through the salty water, getting their shoes full of water. We all got to the far side quite quickly, but those who hadn’t removed shoes or socks would have a price to pay as the afternoon wore on.

We returned home via Loddiswell and Kitterford Cross at an ever-decreasing speed thanks to a number of youngsters having cold feet, finally arriving at South Brent after the cafe had closed. We used the Shell garage for warmth and refreshments, and the smallest members (who were suffering most from the cold) were collected by car as we headed towards Buckfastleigh.

Crofters provided welcome warmth and food for many of the group. When everyone else had gone home Michael took pity on Tao and Eliot and drove them home to Newton Abbot at 8.15.

There are two morals to this story: expect the tide to be in at Aveton Gifford, and never allow your feet, shoes and socks to get wet on a cold day!