Our plans to depart promptly at 10am were disrupted by several events, chief of which was that Jamie thought the ride started at 11! To make matters worse, Oliver decided to pace around for a full 20 minutes until Jamie arrived before discovering that he had a puncture. When we finally got moving we decided to stick with our original plans of pushing the ride length over 20 miles, to help those youngsters working towards their Stage 2 certificate.

Tao, Will and Louis had been waiting so long for us at Heathfield that they had been able to fix a puncture as well as getting cold. Everyone did well on the climb from Bovey Tracey to Ilsington, however, and we were soon jumping in the hotel swimming pool, relaxing in the Jacuzzi and sweltering in the sauna.

Finally the time came for the main event, and as usual the hotel provided a delicious meal and a quality atmosphere. When the awards and Christmas announcements were over, the Burgess family headed straight for Newton Abbot as they didn't all have lights, and the rest of us took the short route via Birchanger and Halshanger to Ashburton, arriving home just before dusk.