Post-tour exhaustion gave rise to a shortened ride through some 'new' lanes near Harbourneford.

Heavy rain did not deter the Hopper family from arriving at the start, although Crofters proved too tempting only five minutes into their ride.

Some of the youngsters were completely lost when we took the Caddaford lane towards Landscove, and even more so as the blundered back along Colston road in the inky blackness. Young Toby found a rather dangerous ditch to the side of the lane, but fortunately was not hurt.

This special ride saw five members riding with sponsorship in aid of the Four Corners bike ride appeal, raising a total of nearly £50 between them. There was plenty of action along the way, with Michael breaking a quick release skewer just out of Totnes. The youngsters managed to get as far as Moreleigh before he obtained assistance and rejoined the group, and a decision was then made to head for Slapton Sands and Torcross (for obvious reasons).

Return was via Tuckenhay but not before Brett had been placed on the beach in front of an approaching wave and released with just insufficient time to get away - he was not at all pleased!

An interesting ride along the track through Hembury in the near-darkness was punctuated by Michael's rear deflation - in his new puncture-proof tyre.

With the Bellever weekend postponed by the warden until October, the usual gang were able to give Andrew a thorough introduction to traditional club activities, such as speeding down to Jay's Grave track and riding up and down the stream near Natsworthy. Some of the most notable events were Richard's bottom bracket noises, which so concerned him that he decided to strip it down near Hound Tor. A stone proved an inadequate substitute for a hammer, so he borrow the real thing from the ice-cream van! It was all to no avail, however, as the noises continued unabated, so Richard went home and left the rest of the group to enjoy the delights of the Hamel Down track and refreshments at Widecombe.

Our last official evening ride of the season was celebrated with hot refreshments kindly provided by Julian's parents in Scorriton - most welcome after the lamp-lit ride through the icy darkness of Hembury Woods.

Tea and cakes at the Primrose were followed by an excursion through some interesting lanes near Moretonhampstead, which led us up some rather steep hills to the top of the famous Fingle track. A hair-raising descent and an equally hilly ascent brought us to the Hunters' Path, from where the glorious heather and spectacular views were enjoyed over lunch.

The next destination was the wonderful tea-room at Chagford, at which Andrew had last year found himself paying for three cream teas after ordering only one! In order to verify that this was in fact just an unusual mistake, we tried again today, only to find a menu which offered just two items: cream teas at £1.25 or cream teas at £2.25! Extensive negotiations eventually yielded an agreement to provide fruit juice and cakes as separate items, subject to a minimum charge of 70p per head, but he could not say exactly what it would cost. And when the two ordered cream teas arrived with six scones we challenged again, only to discover that he thought we had ordered three! When the time came to pay, he presented us with a bill for £5.95 and then failed to reproduce his calculations when asked for a breakdown! Cyclists beware!

Return via Jay's Grave was relatively uneventful.

The Buckfastleigh to Totnes Raft Race gave rise to more confusion along the nearby roads than it does in the river Dart. It was almost impossible to count our cyclists at the Totnes pick-up as the madding crowds dashed hither and thither in their attempts to catch a glimpse of the action below the bridge.

Today was a special occasion in another way for Torbay Section's Dawn Brewster, as she found out when we reached the Gallery restaurant at Dartington Hall. There, in all its glory, was a huge birthday cake kindly provided by the Presland household. Sadly, however, its life was short.

Leaving Torbay Section at Dartington Church we returned via Staverton Bridge and the lanes through Bumpston Cross, choosing (as always) to ignore the 'Road Closed' sign. On this occasion however it turned out to be well and truly closed as the gas board were working on a huge trench which stretched right across the lane! Had they not agreed to assist us by stopping their JCB we would have been forced to retrace our tracks. Needless to say they were highly amused at the sight of us struggling across the gap.

We returned via the Caddaford track, from where Richard and Mark escorted new rider Noel part-way home.

Michael's new computer graphics package, BBC computer Grand Prix game and Table Tennis kept everyone amused this evening.