Gavin needed to start training for the summer tour today after completing his studies. He is concerned about knee pain, but tonight seemed the perfect night for a visit to the Avon Dam, and Gavin didn't complain despite the large range of hills.

On the ride up to the dam we noticed several pieces of animal, including what looked like a tail.

The dam was nearly full and the whole area was tranquil and warm, inviting us to stay longer than we planned. The return across the moor was as pleasurable as always, and Gavin didn't feel too bad considering it had been his first ride for several months.

With just Tao and Michael in attendance today there was nothing stopping us from enjoying a longer ride. We sped through the lanes to Red Post and Marldon, then took the lane to the delightful village of Cockington. We needed refreshments, but as we didn't want to stop cycling for too long we selected the village shop rather than the cafe. Sadly, however, the shop took longer than the cafe: there was just a single shopkeeper to serve customers, and whilst she was very friendly she would have needed two more clones of herself working flat out to work as fast a single shopkeeper anywhere else! We had to wait while she prepared what seemed like an endless sequence of ice creams from the freezer for one customer, then when she returned to the desk she had to answer the phone - well, I suppose we weren't really in a hurry!

We rode past the various refreshments on offer at Paignton sea front, continued to the harbour area and then took the cliff path through the golf course, an area neither of us had explored before. Tao, who seemed to be unusually keen to avoid upsetting pedestrians, pushed along the wide promenade to Goodrington, only to be overtaken moments later by a policeman riding a police bicycle! He decided at that point that perhaps it was ok to cycle after all!

Tao bought fish and chips, Michael bought sandwiches and both enjoyed hot doughnuts on Goodrington beach before we continued along the coastal path to Broadsands. This section involved a lot of steps, both up and down, but the views were tremendous. To conclude an excellent ride we returned home via Waddeton, Parliament Hill, Totnes and the cycle path to Dartington and Colston.

Matthew had a strong desire to ride through Hembury woods tonight, but the youngsters had other ideas and insisted we went to Staverton. Riding standards from Glen and Dennis left much to be desired during the first part of the ride through Caddaford, but when they had received a lecture from Michael things improved significantly. We had time to skim stones across the Dart at Staverton Island and throw Frisbees before returning along the same route to Buckfastleigh.

The lads wanted to go to Spitchwick, and since Michael felt Glen was probably ready for a longer ride now we set off through Hembury Woods and down the hill to New Bridge. There were a few people enjoying the setting sun at Spitchwick, but that didn't stop Dennis and Glen from having a dip in the cool waters.

Refreshed and ready for anything we took the longer route home via Buckland. Michael kept the lads moving fast by offering a chocolate bar to the first person to reach the top, so by the time we had enjoyed the long downhill to Ashburton and returned along the old road to Buckfastleigh, both lads had performed incredibly well and felt very pleased with themselves.

The summer was showing signs of heating up as we rode the climb from Bickington to Haytor. We stopped at the top to enjoy ice creams, chatting briefly with a visitor from Cornwall who was interested to see Michael's Mercian cycle. Next stop was the track from Bonehill to Natsworthy and the rapid descent to Widecombe, where we enjoyed an excellent lunch in the garden of the Green cafe.

Before leaving the village we called into the village store and bought half their stock of home-made chocolate brownies and rocky road - recommended if you're ever passing! Our return route then took us at good speed down Leusdon hill, past Spitchwick and home via Hembury.

Our final junior evening ride of the season took us through Buckfast and up the long climb to Cross Furzes. This was Josh's request, and it proved a good choice: the deer on the other side of the valley made an impressive sight as we avoided the bumps and dips on the exciting descent to Chalk Ford.

This was a perfect evening for cycling. Having climbed to Skerraton Down we couldn't resist the opportunity to sit down and admire the extensive views from Dartmouth to Haldon.

With just Tao and Michael on the ride again we decided to tackle a really ambitious ride, despite the unpleasant heat. First stop was the local store at Chudleigh for cold drinks. In what seemed like no time at all we had ridden to the top of Haldon, crossed the newly-closed central reservation and descended the long hill to Starcross. Normally we would have stopped on the path for lunch overlooking the estuary, but today we had other plans, so we pressed on past the Turf Lock hotel and along the newly-improved path alongside the canal. The path was good of course, but somehow we liked the narrow tree-lined nature of the old path a little more!

Soon we were riding through the continental bustle of the quayside area of Exeter with its interesting shops and boats, but we pressed on to our chosen lunch destination - Pizza Hut at Exe Bridge. Perhaps we chose it because of the unlimited refills of ice-cold 7-Up, or perhaps simply because we knew Joe had wanted to do this ride for the last 12 months and we wanted to make him really envious that he missed it! Either way, we enjoyed an excellent meal in the cool restaurant and then enjoyed half an hour relaxing in the shade of a tree by the nearby canal.

Eventually we set off for home, trying Tao's suggestion of Longdown rather than our usual route through Underdown. It proved a good choice: the drag to the top of Longdown wasn't brilliant, but it was easier than Underdown, and once at the top the ride was pretty much all downhill right through the Teign Valley to Chudleigh Knighton! We certainly kept up an impressive speed.

We had time for refreshments, and the Riverside cafe at Bovey Tracey provided us with just what we needed - well priced refreshments and a well-earned rest in the shady garden. We rode home through Blackpool and Bickington, congratulating ourselves on a job well done!

The absence of slower riders this evening meant that we reached Spitchwick in record time, even though we included Hembury hill in the route! We were enjoying the fast pace so much that we decided not to stop at Spitchwick, pressing on at top speed up the long wooded hill to Buckland-in-the-moor before returning home via Ashburton.

Our first afternoon ride for many years took us to one of our favourite destinations, the Avon Dam. The path to the reservoir was packed with people soaking up the fantastic weather - we even met ex-member Gage, out for a walk with his family!

Tao and Matt cleared out Michael's chocolate box while enjoying the view across the reservoir. Nobody wanted to leave, but Matt needed to get home by 5.30 so we dragged ourselves away from the soft grass and headed back across the moor to Cross Furzes. By way of a change we returned to Buckfastleigh via the long track through Kings Wood - an exciting ride, marred only by Michael getting a pinch puncture on the way down.