An ambitious ride to Lee Mill and back took the fastest route out and still finished in record time, with a Tesco café refuel. A too-full stomach made the climbs unpleasant, prompting a memorable parrot break at the Sign of the Owl, where parrots wandered the shop and climbed onto shoulders.

A simple reward for last weekend’s riders: Cinema Night with two episodes of Agents of Shield, season 2’s 17 and 18, enjoyed together and setting up plenty to discuss before the next ride.

Marking the last evening ride of the season, we tried a new route from Coypool along the Plym Valley to Crownhill Pizza Hut—2-for-1 leaving more pizza than we could finish. A waft of Wrigley’s on the climb and a herd of deer on the return gave the ride its character.

A sun-soaked meander finally took us to Berry Pomeroy Castle, where we chatted with Plymouth CTC but skipped the bacon-scented café in favour of Morrisons. The standout was the Apple and Cider weekend at the Dartington Cider Press, a live Irish band giving the ride a festive finish.

With better times at Exeter Vue, we caught the 19:00 opening‑night screening of The Martian to a packed house. Ridley Scott’s film—about an astronaut stranded on Mars improvising his survival while Earth races to bring him home—more than earned its excellent reviews.

The youngsters’ carefully planned evening slipped when we were stuck in a 20‑minute queue on the way to Lee Mill. Food finally bought, we headed back to Crofters and rounded it off with computer games.

With just two riders and dull skies, we kept it simple: a morning ride via Buckfast Abbey to Holne’s café, where two friendly youngsters stood in for the chef and offered a pared-back menu. We returned by the lower Hembury Woods track—muddy in places but downhill all the way.

Three back-to-back episodes of Agents of Shield Series 2 made for a concentrated Cinema Night, pushing us to the penultimate chapter and heightening the anticipation for the finale.

The youngsters chose a repeat of last week’s easy social, enjoying a mix of computer games, a quick supermarket shop and videos.

On a gloomy day we made a brisk return to Loddiswell, a destination we’d not visited since 2003, turning the ride into a pleasure. Apple Day at the Avon Mill café—apples lining the drive and an old press at work—set the tone, with a quiet pause at Newmill Bridge among geese and woodland.

Opting for a twist on our usual supermarket theme, we visited the large Asda in Plymouth, with aisles full of Halloween merchandise, then ended the day back in Buckfastleigh with the final episode of Blackadder 4.

A vote for Holne became a longer outing: after soup and a brief stop at the River Dart Country Park playground, Michael’s Bowden Hill lane proved far steeper and grassier than expected, but it returned us to Ashburton as planned, before a fast run home.