Neil had a slight problem on the way from Buckfastleigh to the Marldon pick-up: his derailleur bolt broke meaning that emergency repairs had to be effected. Martin and Carrie sped on to Marldon on their tandem using the main road, arriving in time for the 11.15 meeting time. When everyone had finally arrived we had been joined by Ben from Paignton and Eliot from Newton.

Cockington is a picturesque village near Torquay with a magnificent park with mature trees and a mansion. We took a look in the park, then noticed a strong smell of horse manure. As we rode along the lane to the sea front we soon found out why: tourists were being carried to and from Torquay on a multitude of horse-drawn traps.

Torquay harbour was bustling today, which made a pleasant change for us as most of our previous visits had been out of season. We used quieter roads to take us to our next stop, Meadfoot Beach, where the water was surprisingly still for the open sea, then followed the valley road up to Kents Cavern and the one-way short-cut to Babbacombe (it was really supposed to be ridden the other way, but it was very quiet and we were of course very careful).

We had a glorious lunchtime on the downs overlooking the sea, entertained by Budgie who got so annoyed by the pigeons that he aimed a well-placed kick in their direction.

Continuing on past the model village we took the new road to Watcombe and then rode over the hill to Maidencombe, our destination. Here we played with gloop for half an hour, purchased from the beach shop. Ben drank something that contained Quinoline yellow and ended up with coloured tongue, teeth and lips!

Stoke-in-Teignhead was the next stop where we spent a very pleasant time in the café. Our Safety Team jumped into action for the first time when we came to the descent to Combe-in-Teignhead, making sure everyone arrived safely at the bottom. The final climbs to Newton Abbot left Ben feeling very tired, so after dropping leaflets into Tao's house we went to Fermoys where Ken met us to collect Ben.

We returned home via Broadhempston to conclude a thoroughly enjoyable ride.

[This report never previously published - please tell us if you see any errors]