Michael's last minute bottom bracket bearing repairs delayed our start somewhat, but at 10.15 we finally set off across the open moor with bikes stowed carefully in the back of the Volvo estate. Our plan was vague: park near Peter Tavy and explore the countryside towards Lydford Gorge. The parking was easy, and almost immediately we noticed a cycle route sign of the kind we had been following in Switzerland - most unusual for England. This was National Cycle Network route 27. We didn't know where it was going, or where it had come from, but we decided to follow it and see what adventures it would bring.

To our surprise the route immediately took us down a very narrow path, alongside a river and over a narrow bridge surrounded by woodland. It was the kind of place you could settle down for an afternoon nap and lose hours of the day in peaceful communion with nature! Continuing, we were led across the Tavistock main road and down across some delightful new countryside. After a mile or two the sign took us off road again, along a moorland path that was not clearly defined. There were no further signs to guide us, and we quickly found ourselves at the entrance to a private house, a hundred metres further south than we should have been. A course correction brought us back on track again, but we rode right past the place where we were supposed to leave the moor - no signs jumped up and grabbed our attention, so maybe we were supposed to use a special cycle route map? To cut a long story short we continued along what seemed to be the right track until we had passed through a ford and ended up in the middle of a very grassy meadow that had no path and no exit. Only then did we realise that we had taken a wrong turn, so considerable backtracking was required.

It was all good fun though, and soon we were enjoying our packed lunches on the grass near the National Trust entrance to Lydford Gorge. Disappointingly we were unable to view the gorge without paying a hefty entrance fee, so the ice cream shop had to suffice for our entertainment.

We had been riding downhill for much of the morning, and now we continued the trend with a very long descent that followed the other side of the gorge. It was here that Michael's missing map became a problem: we had to guess the route that linked the edge of one map to the edge of another. None of us knew the area at all, and we were working to a deadline as Stan had to be back at Buckfastleigh by 4pm. Fortunately our first guess was the correct one, leading us down into the gorge and up the very long climb on the other side towards Brentor.

There was not quite enough time to climb the little hill on which Brentor church resides, so we sped off for yet more downhill nearly all the way back to Peter Tavy. We loaded our bikes back into the car we pondered how it could have been possible to have spent most of the day riding downhill and still end up at the same height! This has been a tremendous outing, taking us to brand new territory and new adventures - I'm sure we'll be arranging more during the coming year. And as for those cycle paths, we'll make a point of exploring as many as we can from now on.