Six of us, including Dave Smith from Plympton, set out from Buckfastleigh on a sunny morning that threatened to deteriorate. The ride to Bickington quickly warmed us up, and we arrived early for once. Mark and Ian soon appeared, along with Dave and Philip Robinson who had come by car. Martin and Jonathon Hunt joined us shortly after we had started up to the moor. Jonathon's machine had still been lacking a headset and bottom bracket at 10.30, so they used the car to catch us up.

The weather started to close down as we went up through Haytor Vale, and we had a mighty struggle against the wind on the final stretch up to Haytor car park. Here we were above the snow line, and the area was flocking with as many people as on a summer's day - building snowmen, throwing snowballs, tobogganing and jamming the roads. Before we descended Bone Hill the Hunts decided to return to their car, an icy shower having deterred them from going to the cafe in Widecombe just to struggle back up the hill again.

We had a quick lunch on the green and then tried the Green Restaurant. It's a delight for the connoisseur of the bizarre, pink inside, with wicker chairs and tables painted blue. From the outside it is difficult to tell what it was built for. You don't get much idea from the inside either. Dave Robinson likened it to a Methodist chapel without the service, and service is what we didn't get. There was one portable propane heater for the whole room, and we hogged it, in an attempt to dry out feet and warm up fingers. Around the room the furniture and tourist trappings for the summer trade stood stacked where they had been left at the end of the season. One waitress served the bemused customers. The price list was surprising, tea at 65p left even the Primrose Cafe in the shade.

However, value for money was provided by the unintended entertainments. Four of us on different tables had ordered tea, so the waitress brought four cups but only one teapot, leaving us to pour it out and pass it around. The wildlife was unusual. First there was a bird that flitted around inside before leaving via the fire exit door to the kitchen. Then in trotted two dogs, followed by their owner, who proceeded to feed one of them at the table while she ate. The other heckled any customer unwise enough to pass anywhere within ten feet. Twenty minutes after our order the waitress returned to tell Mark that his sardine sandwich was off - they had no sardines!

We tore ourselves away, having completed the cream tea form. Dave and Philip headed over Pudsham Down and back to Bickington, while the rest of us turned up past Southcombe towards Shallowford. The wind at the top of the hill was so strong that several of us were blown over. Turning for home with the wind generally behind us made things easier. After Leusdon and Holne the track past Shuttaford was chosen to please Dayle. (Mark and Ian weren't too impressed, however.)