Oliver had been carrying out major upgrades to his bike for the past three evenings, so it was no great surprise that he wasn't ready for the ride by 7pm. We agreed to wait for him at Michael's house, and passed the time by hearing how he had managed to remove his cranks with a hammer and then fix them back on again with the chainset on the left hand side - so tightly that he couldn't then remove them with a hammer again! He finally arrived at 7.40. We had been happy to wait, until he told us that he had been chatting with a friend on the telephone for part of the time!

The original plan had been to ride to Chalk Ford and then continue through Holne to River Dart Country Park, making a fairly ambitious evening. The late start had not totally dashed those plans, but when Oliver turned his front tube into a tea strainer on the way down the stony track to Scoriton, things looked less than promising. Twenty minutes later and we were still optimistic, choosing the direct route to Holne. Luke's puncture on a smooth road climb was the last straw, however, so we headed for home with all speed before some other punishment was administered.