Next morning we decided to take advantage of the good weather and visit Wistman's Wood. There was even time for a swim in the river, a loop back to the Foxtor Cafe at Princetown (again) and another swim at Huccaby Bridge to conclude this memorable weekend.

The rain was still spoiling the evening after we had ridden around the Hembury Woods tracks, so we returned to Crofters for a social gathering.

As we neared Shipley, Michael managed to persuade Tao that his new quick-release barbag holder was actually a device which prevented the bike from being ridden into a hedge. Tao actually went to the trouble of testing it out on a real hedge before he realised he had been conned. He's a good sport though, and took it all very well.

The rain cleared up just in time for our ride tonight. James and Andrew performed admirably on their first ride.

Harry was so late arriving at Bickington that Michael rang Ken (who's not the man he used to be) to find out what had happened. Harry turned up eventually: apparently he had thought the pick-up was at Avonwick until he reached Berry Pomeroy. As he hadn't brought a map he couldn't work out a direct route back to Bickington so he had to ride via Newton Abbot!

The ride was very tiring, partly because so much walking was required to reach all the tors. The following participants completed all ten tors and will receive certificates at the Christmas Lunch: James Allason, Alex Lessware, Neil Ault, Seb Lessware, Richard Goss, Paul Oakley, Harry Hall, Chris Platt, Steve Haran, Tom Widger, Michael Jones, Eliot Wright.

With Andrew, James and Tom representing the primary school this evening we were surprised at the good progress we made through Scoriton, Michelcombe and Holne. This proved to be the wrong evening to go to Spitchwick: the Telethon event had set up shop there, and the whole area was swarming with families preparing to camp there for the night. There was non-stop recorded noise coming from the record player, shattering the tranquillity of the whole valley. Riding along the track route to New Bridge felt more like riding in the centre of a seaside resort than on Dartmoor!

We departed with due haste and returned to Buckfastleigh via the relative peace of Hembury Woods.

The weather didn't look too promising for a beach run, so we settled into the cafe near the old Totnes Bus Station just to see whether the rain was going to stop. Four of us ordered tea-cakes, but Paul and James said they could only afford drinks. A little later, when the teacakes were half-eaten, the proprietor arrived with two more for Paul and James - with the compliments of the house! It later transpired that a woman sitting at a nearby table had overheard the boys saying they couldn't afford teacakes and had ordered them at her own expense - anonymously! Now you don't often see that kind of generosity these days. As if this wasn't enough, the proprietor gave us a bag of fresh plums as we left.

A short ride to South Brent and Aish was agreed upon, although we began to question the decision along the Avonwick road as the mist thickened and the drizzle quickened. We enjoyed lunch of sandwiches and plums by the Avon at Shipley, surrounded by dampness, and then returned to Buckfastleigh across the moor. Bob and James, both on touring bikes, weren't too sure what to say about the rough sections of the route, so they tried to sound averagely enthusiastic. The ride just happened to finish at Crofters (how Michael wished that Dave H had been out) so nobody declined the offer of hot tea.

We rode together as far as Avonwick and then separated into two groups: six of us continued to Plymouth for the weekend trip to Plymouth and Golant (see below) while Budgie led the remainder homewards through Diptford.

Things went wrong for Eliot this weekend. Just after leaving Avonwick he was stung on the tongue by a bee (Michael said he shouldn't talk so much). Then at Plymouth youth hostel he burnt his first piece of toast and dropped the second piece on the floor.

Eliot's bad luck continued today: while descending the rough track near the Monkey Sanctuary at Looe, he fell off just when he was trying to show off his mountain bike skills. Poor Eliot!

Looe was the venue for our afternoon tea stop, where we indulged in huge and extravagant ice-creams. Some of the lads were slow in getting ready to leave, so Michael took Richard around the corner to start him up the long, steep hill out of the town. In those sixty seconds the rest of the gang became ready to leave, couldn't see Michael anywhere and foolishly took a best guess at the route. It was a dead end, and involved them in quite a bit of back-tracking to rejoin Michael. Meanwhile, Richard had come back down the hill to see where Michael was...!

Golant was friendly and welcoming as always. We divided the evening between playing Frisbee on the lawn with another family and practising one of Michael's card leagues in the comfortable top-floor dormitory.