Showers shelved the planned ride, so the group switched to squash in Ivybridge, giving Alastair his first taste of the game as the morning settled into friendly match‑ups. The social mood continued with computer games at Crofters into the early afternoon.

With the evening ride abandoned, we followed Lawrence’s lead—there was no one to out-vote him—and settled into a grand game of Lord of the Rings instead. Ash stepped out at 7.30 but returned at 8.50 to finish the evening.

The planned morning ride was lost as we waited for Ash, who arrived too late; we ended up playing computer games instead. Next time he will need to be more reliable or we will set off without him.

With no enthusiasm for the planned ride, we switched to badminton at Ashmoor, bracketing the hour on court with games at Crofters. A simple change of plan made for a relaxed, sociable evening that everyone enjoyed.

On a scorching morning at Haldon Forest Park we kept it steady, though Ash’s high-speed tumble over a concealed stone bridge on the Blue trail briefly sharpened the mood. Restored by cafe refreshments, we rounded off with the easy Green loop before heading back for a relaxed social.

A hot Dartmoor ride to Bonehill and Widecombe felt like high summer, brisk out and back with the moor heaving. Ash free-climbed a near-sheer rock at Bonehill, and later we passed Spitchwick swarming with cars as police ticketed those on the yellow lines on our way home via Leusdon.

An impromptu change of plan turned the evening ride into a sociable night: Will opted for games, Lawrence joined online then arrived in person; trampoline antics, a quick-fire quiz on US TV and film themes, and Modern Warfare 3 rounded it off.

At the riders’ request we skipped the ride for a relaxed social, loading our Swiss tour videos onto computers and reliving the best moments. We ended with shared laughs and a round of computer games.

An easy-going social with a simple mix of computer games, badminton at Ashmoor and a games-themed quiz. The only hitch was Lawrence forgetting the night, but the rest made a compact, good‑humoured evening.

A deliberately shorter ride that still delivered on promised off-road, taking the lower Hembury track to Shuttaford. A serene interlude, passing the Buddhist camp meditating in their marquee, then a lively run back on the Hembury slalom track brought us home by 12.40.

A relaxed evening social mixing computer games with a quick Tesco snack run, then a lively music quiz back in Buckfastleigh. A simple plan, with good humour and friendly competition throughout.