Everyone voted to extend today's morning ride to a full day ride, and in view of the excellent weather, Mothecombe Beach or Salcombe seemed good choices. We put off the final decision until we had climbed Dean Hill, purchased a good lunch from the Plymco store at South Brent and continued to Kitterford Cross. The rich blue skies - and the long descent - finally swung the decision in favour of Mothecombe.

We were all a little sleepy this morning for various reasons, and the heat certainly made the ride a little harder. By 12.30, however, we were descending the final hill to the beach overlooking the Erme, and a few minutes later we had found a private, shady spot where we could watch the many other beach visitors as they juggled and played football in the distance.

One of the highlights of this ride is the ritual crossing of the Erme - impossible at high tide and only really enjoyable at low tide. Fortunately the tide was completely out today, so with bikes raised high and shoes removed we waded across the shallow waters to the far bank. Tao and Oliver, who hadn't fancied the prospect of getting wet to the waste, found the whole adventure much more fun than they had anticipated. With no map we just about remembered our way home, although the planned detour through Aveton Gifford, Avon Mill cafe and Totnes had to be replaced by California Cross garage and South Brent after some particularly unhelpful signs led us astray!