Eight members met at Crofters shortly after 9am for our first mid-winter youth hostel weekend since 1991 - there would have been nine if Matt hadn't left his coursework to the last minute! Careful packing and the use of two bike racks enabled us to fit all 8 members and bikes into our two cars, and by 10am we were heading for Cornwall in bright winter sunshine.

Taking the Torpoint ferry made the outward journey more interesting as well as cutting several miles off our journey. At Seaton only Alex, Ryan and Hallam made the most of the short stop at the beach, the rest retreating quickly to the shelter of the cars once they discovered there was a chilly breeze!

The changeable weather and the forecast of heavy showers throughout the afternoon made the decision of where to park the cars all the more tricky. Finally we plumped for a verge near the Monkey Sanctuary, two miles this side of Looe, realising we might only get an hour of dry weather all the way to Golant.

Everyone enjoyed the steep coastal track down to Millendreath beach, but the many steps up to Plaidy proved more of a challenge to the younger members, who were grateful to Tao, Ben and Michael for helping them with their bikes. The coast path then provided magnificent views and a steep descent into the picturesque fishing village of Looe.

The town was surprisingly busy for February and there were plenty of pasty shops open for those who didn't bring a packed lunch. After eating by the river we checked out the nearby joke shop, where Sprite Bombs and Fun Snaps were the most popular purchases! Four youngsters then decided to pay 40p each for the passenger ferry to West Looe rather than riding the 5 minute journey around the bridge! When we met on the other side they were engaged in a hearty conversation with the ferryman who seemed quite taken with their youthful enthusiasm!

The rain started right on cue as we climbed the daunting West Looe Hill, and everyone, including Michael, felt that this was likely to be the prelude to a very wet and miserable afternoon. The rain eased as we neared the top however, and sunshine returned by the time the youngsters were splashing through the enormous lakes of water near the main road.

The fine weather held while we took the cross-country route towards Bodinnick. When we had recovered from the shock of watching Alex pick a daffodil and then shred it in front of our eyes, we came across a major flood at the bottom of a hill. When we saw a smart car partially-submerged in the fast flowing waters and an elderly man walking around it, we immediately assumed that he needed help. Closer inspection, however, revealed that the man was carrying a bucket - and a brush: he was making good use of the surplus water by washing his car! It was all very amusing: Tao joined in the fun by washing his bike, and Alex and Hallam rode through the flood several times just to see how wet they could get!

Arriving at the junction near Trefrawl we were greeted by a very friendly Jack Russell terrier who was determined to get attention from everyone in the group. The owner told us the dog was called Russell and that he had another dog called Jack! When the time came for us to leave he just didn't want to say goodbye and followed us for nearly a mile.

A good downhill from Lanteglos Highway brought us quickly to the Bodinnick ferry, where Michael managed to negotiate a good discount for our group to cross the short distance across the river Fowey. Tao, who doesn't like boats at the best of times, felt distinctly queasy during the windy crossing. Once on the other side we headed into Fowey for a final refreshment stop, and now, finally, the rain began again.

We paused on the climb to admire the view across the estuary to Polruan between two tall buildings and were promptly accosted by a female resident in a woolly hat who informed us that the view would soon be blocked by the owner of the hotel below who planned to raise his building to the same height as the others! We presumed she wanted us to add our names to the petition, but with the next shower on the way we just didn't have time.

Another vicious shower got us drenched by the time we reached the higher roundabout, but the final climb and descent to the hostel was relatively dry. We were greeted by an Australian receptionist who wasn't quite up to speed with the latest YHA membership regulations: he wanted to charge the youngsters extra because they weren't YHA members, and he didn't believe Michael when he told him they were covered by the two adult membership cards. It was two days later before the matter was finally resolved with a call to head office!

We were allocated to an excellent twelve-bed dormitory on the top floor. Four of our youngsters were new to hostelling, and apparently Michael had neglected to remind them to bring a towel! When apologies had been made and the youngsters had discovered the location of the showers, Michael apologised again, this time to our two room-mates, for having to share a dorm with all these noisy children. To his surprise, one of them burst out laughing and said that we were the ones who would be suffering, as his friend was probably the world's worst snorer!

The youngsters coped well with the self-catering kitchen, managing quite successfully to boil the kettle and add the water to their pot noodles with only minimal assistance! Alex, who always seems to have a problem recognising healthy food, managed to buy 20 lollipop sweets from the hostel shop before Michael discovered what he was up to and closed off that particular avenue of unhealthiness!

There was high drama later in the evening when the youngsters saw a strange man enter our dormitory and lock the door. They were sure he was rummaging through our panniers, but suspicion turned to panic when they got the door code off the warden, went into the dorm and discovered that Michael's laptop was nowhere to be seen! They were sure they knew what had happened to it - until they found Michael and he told them it was hidden under his pillow! It turned out the warden had allocated two more people to our dorm without telling us.

The predicted heavy rain drenched everything outside while we enjoyed games of pool in the games room and Bomberman in the dorm. At 10.15 the youngsters discovered that Michael had the first episode of the new Doctor Who on his laptop - still there from our 2005 Easter tour - and from that moment up to bedtime Michael and Tao didn't hear a single peep from any of them!

Ashley reckoned this felt like a massive sleepover and all the youngsters were having a lot of fun, but when the time came to be quiet they all did their duty. During the night the snorer was a good as his word, one of the other two hostellers joined with him to make a duet, and Ben discovered that he had gone to bed with a wasp! He struggled manfully with it on his own without waking anyone but was sufficiently concerned to text his parents during one of his trips to the bathroom. Nearly all evidence has disappeared when they rang during breakfast to see if he was ok!

Morning dawned bright and breezy. We liked the sign outside the bike shed: "Don't even THINK of parking here" and took several photos around the impressive grounds. Everyone seemed much faster today, including Alex who was back to his usual form, and Hallam who completely vindicated Michael's decision to allow him to join the weekend trip for his first ever ride with us. The winds were stronger than yesterday but they were behind us, making everything a real breeze!

The ferryman couldn't help commenting "They're back again!" as we boarded the ferry for the return journey. After climbing the next hill however and starting out on the detour route to Polperro we saw a sign to the Polruan passenger ferry - we'll have to explore that one next time.

After a short climb and a minor incident where Ryan was forced into the verge by an inconsiderate driver, Tao proposed an alternative route through Lansallos that had a good deal more climbing than anyone really wanted. It was nevertheless a pretty village and we were soon enjoying the helter-skelter downhill to Polperro.

We stopped at the pasty shop for some very nice but very expensive pasties, including rhubarb apple and custard, steak, and banana and chocolate. Zac then insisted that we stop at the Chocolate Dream shop to look at the many ridiculously expensive chocolate treats before we pressed on to the harbour. Here there was sunshine, sea, boats, seagulls and seats - a perfect setting for lunch. Ryan's discarded piece of pasty led to two seagulls entertaining us for a full 5 minutes with their cat-and-dog chase around the harbour.

There was time to buy some fudge before we set off up the steep climb to the coast path. AS we neared the top and looked back at Polperro harbour Tao immediately recognised the view as the picture on the front of the Plymouth and Launceston OS map that we were using. By careful comparison he was able to tell us which houses had recently been extended or repainted!

The coast path to Talland Bay offered dramatic sea views and challenging off-road riding, although a few youngsters led by Ashley seemed to manage the final rocky downhill sections without too much difficulty. Michael had been letting word out about the forthcoming MOAH (Mother of All Hills) however, so there was some apprehension as we arrived at Talland Bay. In fact it didn't turn out to be so bad after all: it was no bigger than yesterday's hill out of Looe, and everyone was faster today.

So we got to ride down West Looe hill, and at the bottom we managed to persuade the owner of the Tasty Corner cafe to reopen just so that we could buy loads of his fabulous Knickerbocker Glory ice cream desserts. As Michael tucked into his, Tao noted with some amusement that the KBGs were listed in the menu under "Children's desserts".

The passenger ferry was not running today so the Lazy Brigade had to ride around the bridge. We retraced yesterday's route back to the cars, wishing we had time to go down to Looe beach which looked very inviting in the afternoon sunshine. Some took great pleasure in riding down the steps from Plaidy, and a challenging final track climb brought us back to the cars by 4.45. We repacked the bikes quickly and, remembering the delays on the Torpoint ferry last autumn, headed home via the Tamar Bridge.

This had turned out to be a remarkably exciting mid-winter adventure for everyone and a great introduction to hostelling for our four new hostellers. We're taking bookings now for our four-day Easter tour to Somerset, so get your booking in early before all the places are taken!