The track through the woods to Clifford Bridge was great fun on this occasion (it's not so good when it's muddy), but two of our number didn't seem to enjoy it much: Mark Moxham's knees had been giving him some problems so he turned for home so as not to risk further damage, and Martin Hills was a funny shade of green when he emerged at the other end of the woods. Martin's condition became worse as we proceeded along the track to Fingle Bridge, and when we had completed Hunters Path he had to call his parents out to collect him. It looked distinctly like gastro-enteritis, especially when he recovered within the predicted 24 hours!

The rest of us continued homewards across the moor via Chagford.

This was an interesting ride that took us through Hembury Woods and Holne to Venford Reservoir, and then back to Michelcombe along a particularly "interesting" track. The first half of the track involved some meandering through bracken and gorse: poor Jeremy found out just how prickly gorse can be when he fell off his bike and landed squarely on a great clump of it! Dayle and Paul were late at the start of the ride but managed to meet up with us despite Michael's inaccurate information: he changed route after Buckfast, so Dayle waited for many minutes at Hawson before proceeding to the destination!

Leaving Buckfastleigh at about 10.30pm the dark clouds were banked up over the moor as we headed towards Two Bridges. But the threatened rain never came, and in fact the skies cleared by morning. Three bikes: Simon's skinny-tyred fixed wheel machine, Martin's chunky-wheeled ATB, and Richard on his tourer with a totally bald rear tyre. So it was obvious there was going to be a puncture; Martin was the lucky one, but fortunately it didn't spoil his first ride on the cycle path. With our night vision fully adjusted we got a surprisingly better view of the inside of the old railway tunnel. One of the delights of night rides is the nocturnal wildlife. We saw numerous rabbits, were buzzed by a bat, dazzled by glowworms and nearly ran down by a badger. The other pleasure is having the roads almost entirely to yourselves.

Ah, the Ten Tors Ride!! What visions this conjures up - the stunning views, the demanding climbs and the wonders of Dartmoor. In the event the sky was heavily overcast with a promise of rain later, one which was fulfilled by the time we all met at Bickington.

As ever, the turnout from Paignton was poor (3) and Buckfastleigh good (12), even if the 'Leader' was sheltering in a car!! Matthew Hamlyn-White was in favour of an early return home but was overruled by us hardier souls and we all set off up the long climb to Haytor. By now the wind was quite strong, especially at the very top of Haytor (or so they say!).

Thereafter followed a succession of Tors navigated expertly by Michael as the visibility reduced to only a few yards. Eventually Number 9 was conquered and we descended Bone Hill to Widecombe and the cafe (not The Green).

Suitably refreshed we made our way to the last tor, conveniently situated at the start of Dr Blackalls Drive which we later took on our way home. For some reason Martyn Williams took a severe tumble but was able to continue.

Finally we bid our farewells at Holne Chase. The locals had a short run home through Hembury whereas the Paignton lot took a nice scenic route through Landscove, Red Post and Blagdon to arrive home rather late at around 8.30.

Matthew Jeffery, Andrew Makepeace and Andrew Guy certainly chose an interesting event for their first full-day ride. Everyone completed all ten tors this year, and certificates will be awarded at the Christmas Lunch.

Bob and Steven Taylor appeared on their fabulous new Dawes Super Galaxy bikes this evening, but I'm not sure if they would have come had they known the proposed route: this was definitely a ride for track enthusiasts! Ken was amazed that such an extensive network of tracks existed, and vowed to use some of them en route to Totnes in future - and to bring his youngsters there on their BMX bikes! We finished the ride with some more tracks, just to make sure that the Galaxies were properly christened.

The changeable weather made it difficult to decide what to do. Rain was forecast and definitely in the air, so we chose a circuitous route past the new Pennywell farm centre to Rattery. There were plenty of wild strawberries in the hedge despite the attempts by the vandelous road-builders to knock out all the hedgerows: is this hedge cutting or hedge demolition?

There was a nasty little shower at Rattery (no, not us), so we turned towards Harbourneford, then (as it had stopped now) proceeded to Gidley Bridge. Here the rain came down in earnest, so there was nothing to do but ride for home as fast as the conditions would allow.

The ride was fairly uneventful, except perhaps for the sight of the crop circles near Bickington.

With nine on the all-day ride, attendance was somewhat depleted for the afternoon ride. Those who ignored the morning's rain were rewarded with excellent weather for this short ride through Burchetts Wood (very muddy, much to the delight of Dayle, Andrew, Matthew and Mark) to the Old Forge cafe at Holne. This cafe really does have character. Everyone except Matthew was without money and had to borrow from Michael. Return route was via the track from Gallant Le Bower to Holne Bridge.

Those not interested in the World Cup enjoyed a short ride through the lanes to Ipplepen, Torbryan and the track at Knowle. Ken shared out some "sweeties" at Broadhempston before leading the group homewards through Denbury.

It seemed that everyone had turned up with the idea of going to Crofters! Michael decided they had to earn their refreshments, however, and led the group on a short ride through Buckfast.