Nine were booked for the first of our Easter Specials, but Brodie rang early to say he was too tired which left eight. We loaded the bikes into two cars and set off around 9.45, Zac going with Tao and the rest with Michael: somehow we managed to get four bikes in the back of Tao’s car so we didn’t need to use his rack.

We parked at Woodbury Castle car park and, after admiring the fabulous views towards Exeter, tried the first bit of off-road, a bridleway that started in the car park. Unfortunately there were so many tracks crossing each other that we came out in the wrong place, but undeterred we continued down the road to Woodbury in search of the second track to Exton. This was marked clearly on the OS map as a cycle route and it was certainly a great track at the start. Unfortunately it turned ridiculously boggy near Rydon Farm. It was so bad that it should never have been marked as suitable for cyclists on the map. We pressed on bravely but Callum O’B got his shoe stuck in the mud at one point and then a little further along came off in a lake of muddy water. Callum F’s loud laughter was not appreciated and it took Michael some time to persuade Callum O’B to retrieve his wet muddy shoes and put them back on!

From Exton station we joined the Exe Trail cycle path towards Exmouth, relieved to find a proper cycling path at last although slightly annoyed that some unforeseen light rain was dampening us down. Michael’s SatNav got wet before he realised, which was to cause problems later in the ride. This was a new cycle path for us and it turned out to be very interesting. Callum O’B was interested to find another Globe Inn at Lympstone, the same name as his father’s establishment in Buckfastleigh.

The rain had stopped by the time we arrived in Exmouth so we parked up in the busy town square to buy lunch. Some had brought packed lunches but everyone took advantage of Michael’s ten-minute shopping allowance to go and buy something. After twenty minutes there was still no sign of Callum F or Connor, and they both had packed lunches, so Ash went off to hunt for them. He found them in KFC, buying food and having a chat with one of Callum’s relatives! Michael had words with them when they eventually returned.

Tao knew Exmouth quite well so he led us to the beach in what was now glorious sunshine. We ate our lunch on the sand, soon joined by Callum F and Connor who had been playing on the trampoline. There was time for Rocket throwing and for Callum F and Connor to go in for a dip, making this a very enjoyable part of the day.

When we set off at 1.40 Michael discovered that water had seeped under the touch screen of his SatNav so that it no longer worked. Fortunately we had printed maps, and anyway Tao had planned a route, so we followed him up the hill and down to the park where we picked up the cycle path to Budleigh. This turned out to be delightful: it had once been a railway line and now it made for perfect cycling through leafy scenery. We passed a tame woodpigeon and a child on a small bike playing gun games. Connor made some unfriendly comment to him and got some unfriendly comments from Michael in return!

It was 2.30 when we arrived at Budleigh so we decided to skip the beach and went straight to the Otterton path. A swan was nesting near the bridge and someone suggested to Connor that he might be able to steal an egg: he clearly didn’t realise the danger and almost had a go before Michael stopped him.

The old lane to Otterton, long since abandoned by the council, made another perfect cycling route, lined with trees and following the river. We then took the lanes to Newton Poppleford and were disappointed to find the shop was shut. To bring us back to the car we followed the bridleway up to Woodbury Castle: Callum O’B was tired now but a chocolate break before the climb helped him find the energy he needed. The scenery on the Common was excellent so we were all pleased to reach the top.

We concluded a very interesting and varied ride by riding around the remnants of the fort in the woods –the youngsters found lots of cool places to jump their bikes. We packed the bikes back into the cars and got back to Buckfastleigh by around 6.25. Everyone played games at the Crofters clubroom until 7.30.

Callum F disappointed Michael by announcing that he was taking Connor somewhere else for the next two days and wouldn’t be joining any more of our special Easter rides, and Callum O’B announced he wouldn’t be coming either as it was “too knackering”! The idea had always been that these rides would be just like a tour except that we’d be going home each night, so the prospect of some people not taking part in all of them seemed to be missing the whole point. At least Connor said he would have preferred to do the cycle rides.

We were sadly down to four for our second Easter Special ride: disappointing, but those who stayed away were going to miss an easier ride than yesterday. We set off around 9.30 for the 49-mile car journey to Lanhydrock House near Bodmin, where we arrived around 10.45. The weather was perfect today, although back at Buckfastleigh they were getting rain.

We followed some interesting new cycle paths into Bodmin and then joined the Camel Trail, stopping at the usual café for a welcome break. Ash and Michael had coffee cake and drinks but Tao had a full cream tea. Prices were not exactly cheap but we ate our refreshments in the garden surrounded by tree blossom so we didn’t really have cause to complain.

We set off again around 12.06 and rode at a good speed along the flat trail which was once a railway line. Zac got a puncture as we entered Wadebridge but this time he had a spare tube so Tao performed a lightening replacement.

The town was busy and so was the next stage of the path to Padstow: bike hire shops at both ends meant there were loads of people cycling in both directions. There was a refreshment trike halfway along and we got some nice photos from the bridge.

We arrived in Padstow at around 1.25 and spent an hour and a half there. Ash and Michael bought pasties but disappointingly the Pesto shop didn’t have rhubarb pasties as it was “out of season” and had sold out of blackcurrant pasties! We sat on a seat overlooking the busy harbour while Tao bought scampi and chips for £7. The seagulls seemed remarkably adept at catching food in mid-air: we imagined that throwing remotely-detonated explosive food pieces would be a good way to get them.

By the time Tao had bought a printed hoodie for his daughter it was 3pm when we finally left Padstow for the return journey. It had been a very enjoyable stop however and we were reluctant to leave even then. It took us exactly an hour to return to the café we had stopped at this morning, so we stopped there again although didn’t buy as much this time. We left there at 4.36 and got back to the car by 5.25 which got us home for around 6.35. This had been a great ride and we wondered what the absentees had been doing with their day that could have come close to the fun we had.

We were pleased to welcome Brodie to our third and final Easter Special ride. After Tao loaded the bikes into Michael’s V70 we drove the 45 miles or so to a location in a Tiverton industrial estate that Tao knew from his lorry-driving experiences. When Zac had visited the cashpoint machine outside the closed Tesco store we joined the cycle path along the course of the old Tiverton branch railway from the roundabout. Ironically it was the railway that signalled the end of the canals in the 1850s, but by the 1960s the railways were being taken up as well.

We soon joined the Grand Western Canal, although a bumpy section near a tree caused Michael’s SatNav to jump out of its holder and fall apart. When he reassembled it the top of the stylus had gone missing, so it’s probably time to move to a phone-based SatNav.

The scenery along the canal path was absolutely delightful, with ducks, ducklings and a few barges added into the mix. At Halberton the path led us away from the canal through the village, bypassing a large canal loop that once had a serious leak and was dammed at both ends. As the path cycle path went past the church we were annoyed to see a No Cycling sign!

After re-joining the canal we followed it along the right hand bank to Sampford Peverell. Michael noticed a Spar shop in the village but didn’t think to go there because he assumed everyone had a packed lunch. That turned out to be a flawed assumption.

There were plenty more ducks and moorhens on the canal path past Westleigh. It was when we reached the old lime kilns at Whipcott at 12.30 that Tao and Zac announced that they had no packed lunches. We had no choice but to follow up on a sign that was pointing to a pub and shop at Holcombe Regis. The 1km turned out to be more like a mile and the shop was closed, but Zac and Tao managed to get carveries from the rather inferior pub. Brodie and Ash wanted to eat their lunches by the canal so we returned to the lime kilns and settled down on the conveniently-located seat. Some information boards nearby explained the history of the kilns, and overall it made a very pleasant lunch spot.

It was 1.30 when Tao and Zac re-joined us in the hot afternoon sun. After some discussion we decided to continue to the end of the restored section of the canal at Greenham and then looped back near Thorne St Margaret to the canal. Tao was apparently hoping to return to Tiverton via Bampton, or at least via the roads that followed the canal, but Brodie was quite tired and Tao was out-voted so we returned along the canal.

Whenever we got to a bridge over the canal there was a sign that advised us not to cycle under the bridge as the path got closer to the water. We took the messages into consideration, sometimes walking but mostly riding slowly enough to make sure there were no problems. At one point a woman decided it was her duty to tell us off even though we were not affecting her in any way. “Can’t you READ?!” she snapped. Michael was about to explain our policy but then decided he would be wasting his breath so gave her a rather short reply.

After seeing more ducklings and some mallard drakes raping a duck we stopped at the Spar this time for refreshments. Ash had a puncture at the next village while we were enjoying the duck pond – it was a broken valve, and the ducks ate out of Michael’s hand while the tube was replaced.

As we neared Tiverton we came across the tourist barge being pulled by a magnificent shire horse, a very tranquil scene and a fascinating insight into times gone by. We reached the car by around 4.10 and got home by around 5.35. A games social until 7.30 concluded a great ride that was to be the last of our Easter Specials.