Only three of us signed up for our ride to Beer youth hostel this weekend, and for Ryan this was his first trip to a youth hostel. To make things manageable for him we took the car to Starcross today, parking in the town car park by the sea front. We had only a few metres to ride to catch the ferry to Starcross, which we had booked in advance as it only crosses once every hour.

We arrived at Exmouth just in time for lunch on the beach. The weather was glorious today, and as we had plenty of time we didn’t rush away, which unfortunately gave Ryan chance to bury Michael in the sand, much to Oliver’s amusement. Michael did get his revenge though before we headed off To Budleigh Salterton.

The beach at Budleigh is nowhere near as good as Exmouth, so we just took a quick look and then headed up the hill, right onto South Farm road and along the quiet back lane to Otterton, which was delightful in the afternoon sunshine. There was a bit of a climb from there to Peak Hill, Sidmouth, but then we got some fabulous views down onto the seaside town before enjoying the long descent to the sea front.

Our trips to Beer youth hostel have for many years involved a stop at the famous Mocha Café on The Esplanade Road. There is of course a reason why we always go there - their Afternoon Teas menu always includes a great range of ice-cream desserts such as Knickerbocker Glories and chocolate sundaes. We weren’t disappointed today, and Oliver got some great video shots of Michael and Ryan enjoying their delicious desserts.

From Sidmouth there was the nasty climb to Salcombe Regis, which took us past the Normal Lockyer Observatory, then a great descent through the picturesque village of Branscombe, known for its floral displays and delightful thatched houses. It won some aware for best kept village a few years ago. There was then a final climb before the excellent downhill to Beer itself, where we arrived at around 6pm.

Beer youth hostel is large and is set in its own extensive grounds. Our room was very comfortable, but once we had showered and had our evening meal (provided by the hostel) we wandered down to the beach for some frisbee fun. The beach itself is very stony so isn’t much to look at, and it drops off very steeply under the water so it’s not great for swimming. It’s also not great for frisbee-finding either, as Michael found out when Ryan accidentally threw the frisbee into the water on his first through. It only went a few metres from the shore, but the water was up to Michael’s waist before he could get anywhere near it. Ultimately he still couldn’t see it, and even if he had it was too deep to get it, so we had to write that particular frisbee off as lost.

We concluded our evening with a short walk along the coast path towards Seaton. We didn’t go all the way, but got some great views to Seaton from the top.

(No notes were written for today's ride at the time, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

We had a sunny start this morning, so after an enjoyable breakfast we spent a little time in the hostel grounds enjoying some frisbee games before eventually setting off to climb the hill we had descended yesterday.

We have ridden this route on several previous occasions, and have always noticed the sign for Beer Caves. Previously they had always been closed, so we never really knew what they were about, but when we went past today the sign said they were actually open! Feeling that we would finally discover their hidden secrets we went up to take a look. There was an entry charge, which we would have happily paid, but then we were told they only accept cash. Michael checked his wallet several times but whichever way he counted he just couldn’t find enough cash. He did try to negotiate a reduced rate entry on the basis that we only had a few minutes, but the person on the door would not be persuaded, so we just had to leave without seeing anything. That was very frustrating.

The return route to Exmouth is always less interesting than the outward route as we tend to go on the higher, inland road, away from the coast. We soon got off the main road and headed up to Woodbury Common, where we spent an enjoyable time in Woodbury Castle having lunch and swinging on the rope swing we found. The weather was beginning to look distinctly like rain, however, so we didn’t wait around too long.

The rain started as we were approaching Exmouth, which made our return crossing on the ferry to Starcross a little less fun today. When we did get back to Starcross, however, we were rewarded with the sight of more then 25 swans in the harbour.

In view of the bad weather we were grateful to have the car waiting for us at Starcross. We drove home for hot showers, arriving back at around 3.45pm after what had been an enjoyable weekend.

(No notes were written for today's ride at the time, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)