We proceeded with our planned ride to Dartington today and made excellent progress along Colston Road, partly because George was on top form. We followed the cycle path to Dartington, then everyone was keen to go on to Totnes so we took the cycle path on to the weir where we took some photos.

We continued along the path to the centre of Totnes, then the majority wanted a café stop at Morrisons so we called in there at 12.00 for fifty minutes of tasty food, which in Will’s case included Macaroni Cheese.

Michael needed to get back by 2.30 so we returned along the cycle path from Totnes station and then via Staverton Bridge and Hole Farm. Unfortunately George slowed down to a crawl for some reason, so John stayed with him while the rest of us continued home at a normal pace so that Will could have some game time. We got back at 2pm which gave Will half an hour to play Zombies with Ash.

Wet weather forced us to change tonight’s ride to a social. We enjoyed an hour of badminton at Ashmoor and finished with some computer games at Crofters.

On a cloudy and rather damp evening we rode along the old Ashburton road to River Dart Country Park and had a bit of fun on the snake slide. We then followed the track up through Holne Woods, Ash stopping near the top to ride along a stack of felled tree trunks. We returned home via Hembury for around 9pm and played Zombies and Modern Warfare 3 until 10pm.

Today we took the old road to Ashburton, lanes out to Belford Mill and then the woodland track back towards the town. By way of change we explored a new path that continues on the other side of the road into the town, running parallel to the Terrace Walk: it was OK, but a bit rough in places and boggy in the middle near the gate.

Next stop was Ashburton Park which provided great opportunities for Frisbee and tennis ball fun. It also seemed to offer fun to a passing dog who chased after Ash’s tennis ball and ran off with it.

We got back to Buckfastleigh for around 12.35 and played computer games until 2.30.

A shower just before the start of the ride was enough to persuade the youngsters that a badminton social was in order, so we played at Ashmoor from 7.35 until 8.35 and then returned for computer games.

We were very pleased to welcome one of our regular members from the 1980s and 1990s today, Simon Hopper, who was in the area with his 18-month son Rowan. We rode to Holne play park via Buckfast and Michelcombe and spent an enjoyable time there playing Frisbee in the sun. Meanwhile Simon helped Rowan to use some of the play equipment.

A visit to the café was essential today, and we ended up enjoying drinks and teacakes on the tables outside. After an interesting chat about Simon’s various activities we returned to Buckfastleigh via Hembury: Ash rode the Slalom in a record time of 2:32 while the rest of us did the road alternative in 1:32.

We got back at 1.30 and played games at Crofters after the ride.

We had a great ride this evening in the warm sunshine, up Green Lane to Baddaford farm and then down the track through the woods from Higher Penn to Lower Combe and High Beara. Both Will and George were chattier than usual, making it a very enjoyable ride. We got back at 9pm and played some Supreme Commander by popular request.

Will did not want to cycle this evening and whilst Lawrence was OK with doing a ride Michael and Ash decided to go with Will’s wishes for various reasons. We drove to Paignton leisure centre for squash, which worked out really well. Michael taught Lawrence the basics of play in the first quarter of an hour, then Will, and we all ended up having some good play in our 45-minute session.

Returning to Buckfastleigh Modern Warfare 3 would not work this evening for some reason so the youngsters played on the trampoline until the 10pm closing time.