The youngsters wanted to ride to Totnes Food Market as it was the third Sunday of the month, so Michael accompanied them by car as he was still recovering from some minor surgery. We rode along Colston Road and took the cycle path to Dartington and Totnes. The Food Market was very busy and had some new ranges of food available, including Falafel wraps and Tulumba, a kind of long doughnut dipped in liquid chocolate that proved to be particularly tasty.

We returned via Plymouth Road, Tigley and Rattery, noting that Google Maps has now learned not to direct cyclists down the A38 to Buckfastleigh. The last two hours of the day were spent on computer games at Crofters.

Jude had been baking carrot cake over the weekend and we all got a slice this morning before we finally set off at 11am. The rough plan was to head to Loddiswell and the Avon Mill café, but by the time we had reached The Sign Of The Owl pet store near Wrangaton Michael had a new suggestion. All was agreed so we took the very long downhill road to Ermington, stopping for photos at Ermington Bridge.

Dillan liked the idea of an extended ride to Mothecombe with the traditional wading of the river that we haven't done for many years, but our late start and the darkening evenings meant that was a ride to be arranged for another day. We contented ourselves with a ride back to Ivybridge where we bought hot food from the Subway and ate it by the river next to the Leisure Centre.

Next stop was the Co-op for a coffee and a pastry, consumed on a table in the courtyard opposite until the gentleman locked the gates. We then headed back at good speed along the cycle route through Bittaford and South Brent, leaving us all feeling quite tired.

Our planned ride to the track from Haytor to the ruins of Graetor Village had to be changed since George, who enjoys off-road, did not turn up but his father, who dislikes it, came in his place. Additionally John needed to be back for 2.30, so our options were somewhat limited. We wanted a Dartmoor ride so we headed up Ausewell Hill to Cold East Cross, a climb that took us over an hour today for some reason.

We had just reached the start of the interesting part of the ride at Hemsworthy Gate, with plans for an easy track to Natsworthy, when Jude announced that he thought he had better ride home now (he lives at Ilsington). We all thought he was joking and waved merrily as he set off towards Haytor. When he continued into the distance, however, we began to suspect he was not joking after all. Text message communications proved very difficult up on the moor, but we eventually discovered that his Mum had suggested he could ride home today if he was ever close enough. We were pretty sure she hadn't intended him to go home an hour into the ride, but there was no way to discuss alternatives now so we pressed on to Widecombe for lunch.

We haven't visited the Wayside Café for a long time, so today we called in for omelettes and other tasty snacks. It was very quiet today, with just two other customers - very different from the busy days of the 1990s when all the staff would run outside to wave happily at passing coaches. The prices were a little more than they used to be but we were happy with what we had.

We left Widecombe at 1.20 and it took us over an hour and a quarter to ride back through Ponsworthy. We rode the recently-discovered lane back to New Bridge, stopping at Newbridge Marsh for photos along the way. We were all tired when we finally got home at 2.45 but unfortunately John had to get to work immediately to make over a hundred portions of fish and chips for the steam train!