Julie's home-made vegetarian mince pies and fruit punch made this a festive occasion.

Attempts to find the published grid reference of ZZ000000 proved fruitless, but Charlie seemed to know what he was about and led us with customary decisiveness. Ken had dressed as Father Christmas, with Ben and Karina dressed as gnomes on the back of the tandem/Rann trailer combination.

When we arrived at Lapland (which bore a remarkable resemblance to Stoke Gabriel) we were met by Julie (dressed as Mother Christmas) and Lorraine (dressed as Lorraine) who both served us with hot soup and drinks, along with rolls and Parkin cake. We then made our way home accompanied by the odd hoot and wave from festive minded motorists.

The four of us started towards Venford, but Neil, Martin Luke and Paul were unenthusiastic so the ride was abandoned.

The ever-popular Christmas gathering at Crofters offered members a selection of computer games, videos and board games - along with the customary vegetarian mince pies and ice cream.

The final run of the year was short but very hilly. After lunch by the water and the steep climb out of the village, Dave Humphreys suggested a track! The contingent that followed him had a wonderful time, and those who didn't had a lengthy wait.

A short but brisk ride took us to Didworthy and then back across the moor via the Avon Dam and Cross Furzes. Michael wondered at the way the mountain bikers sped across the wet grassy inclines, commenting that he always felt nervous about his near-bald front wheel slipping out on the mud. As an experiment he decided to ignore his inner warning bells and try a faster descent - with inevitable results!

Ken brought his Moulton again today, and reckons that Gary Taylor was surprised at its performance. We had a good ride to Ogwell, returning via Broadhempston and Red Post - where young Robert had to buy sweets!

A small turnout, and those who came along already knew a fair amount about map reading. Nevertheless we had some fun solving some cryptic map-reading quizzes from previous years.

We were overtaken by a group of racing cyclists as we ambled up the Teign Valley. Martin and Seb just couldn't resist the temptation to race after them, hoping to prove that mountain bikes are every bit as fast on the road as racing bikes. Unfortunately they forgot all about stopping, and were nowhere to be seen when we were ready to turn off the road. We met them later in Doddiscombsleigh and found a quiet rural spot just outside the village for lunch.

Eliot was very, very slow today, but eventually we got back to the craft centre cafè at Bovey Tracey for refreshments.

Lots of nice food, Trivial Pursuit, cycling chat, parlour games and the Taylors' inimitable hospitality made this another pleasant evening.