Keir had a broken freewheel today, making his bike un-rideable, so he borrowed Michael's Romany touring bike for the day. It was strange to see him not on a mountain bike: he handled the bike sensibly and speedily and looked more like a serious cyclist than we had ever seen him!

From the Avonwick pick-up we continued down the fast descent to Ermington and on through the lanes to the Brownstone area. We had planned to take the long track through Pool Mill Farm to Membland, but on arrival it was clearly too wet to ride so we took the road route to Newton Ferrers and had lunch by the water at Bridgend. A multitude of ducks and swans helped make this a particularly enjoyable lunchtime, although we all had to pay by donating sizeable portions of our lunches.

We returned homeward along the coast road to Holbeton, looking forward to a nice café stop at Ermington fish farm. When we arrived however we discovered that the café was no more, the premises now being owned by the Car Graphics Co. We really did want refreshments, so we had to make do with the Shell garage at South Brent.

The afternoon was still young so after some debate we elected to return home the long way, via Bloody Pool and the Skerraton Down track across the moor to Cross Furzes. Skylarks hovered and sang in every direction making a perfect ending to an excellent ride.

[This report was written in 2014 from the following notes - please tell us if you see any errors or omissions.]

[Sunny inland, misty around coast. Keir broke freewheel, used Romany. Avonwick, Ermington. Track to Membland was too wet so took road. Lunch by water at Bridgend feeding ducks and swans. Homeward via Holbeton, Ermington (café replaced by Car Graphics Co). Keir handled Romany very sensibly and speedily. Shell garage at South Brent, eventually decided to take road to Bloody Pool and track to Cross Furzes. Skylarks everywhere.]