At 10 o'clock precisely it started to rain in Buckfastleigh. It continued light and intermittent until we reached Bickington. There we realised we should have waited for the Totnes group before we left Buckfastleigh. But no matter, when Dave and Peter arrived from Newton Abbot they informed us that Mike had come to them from Totnes but had turned back because he wasn't feeling too well. Up to Haytor, almost without incident. Marcus had a stick entwine itself around his rear derailleur, bending it into an interesting shape. At first sight it looked beyond redemption, but we amazed ourselves by getting it working again.

There was no sign of Charles and Erin who had said they might meet us at the car park, so we made our way to the quarry for lunch. It was nice to get out of the wind, and we had on-site entertainment in the form of some slightly foolhardy abseilers. We then explored the tramway until we had been bounced around enough on the granite setts and headed off for Bovey. Gravitational pull triumphed over both Dave and Peter on the way down the track, and Marcus managed to find another stick in his back wheel. It was on the nearside this time, and no harm was done.

Why go to Bovey? For the Riverside Cafe, of course. But when we got there we decided we hadn't done enough cycling after our lunch to merit a cafe stop, so off we went to Primrose Cottage in Lustleigh. We returned to Bovey along the main road, ignored the Riverside Cafe again, and went our separate ways.