Our special car-assisted ride to Padstow and the Camel trail, postponed from May, attracted the maximum nine participants that we could carry in our two cars, but we were disappointed that more of our junior members didn't seem to be interested in what was always going to be one of the best rides of the summer.

With 6 bikes and 4 people packed into Charles' car and 3 bikes and 5 people in Michael's car we finally set off at around 10.45 for the hour-long journey to Bodmin. There was a single shower on the way down, but by the time we parked in the Camel Trail carpark the sun was shining and summer stayed with us for the rest of the day.

Michael had brought his new high-definition camcorder on the ride today, making sure it was working well for the forthcoming Lake District tour. The camcorder offers true high-definition recording, which consequently also allows much higher quality still frames to be taken from the video than are possible with standard-definition video. Compare the widescreen stills attached to this report with those taken on our 1993 Easter tour to see the improvement.

We made good speed along the Camel Trail through Wadebridge despite the huge number of cyclists, as we didn't want to be too late for lunch. The tide was in and the Camel estuary looked magnificent in the afternoon sunshine. Poor Freddie, who has a Giant Rock mountain bike, was devastated to see that almost every other bike on the trail was a Giant Rock too! Many had numbers on them however, so we presumed that one of the hire shops probably had nothing but Giant Rocks for hire!

Many of the group headed for Rick Stein's fish and chip shop when we arrived at Padstow and were very pleased with their purchases, but Michael, who wasn't so keen to part with £7 for battered fish fried in "beef dripping", preferred the wide range of vegetarian pasties in the Presto pasty shop. Everyone settled down on a conveniently-vacated seat amidst the bustle of Padstow harbour and were royally entertained by a brass band that struck up nearby. It really was a surreal atmosphere with the attractive boats and the moving music, which included the theme from the film The Mission.

There was time for shopping, then we headed around to the other side of the harbour for the main attraction of the day - the fifteen-minute speedboat trip around the estuary. Initial interest from the majority fizzled down to just three takers for the trip for some inexplicable reason, so only Henry, Ryan and Michael ended up enjoying what must be one of the most exciting boat trips available anywhere in the south west. The driver performed plenty of twists and turns than ensured Ryan got soaked by the spray - but that's all part of the fun! The 'landies' bought BB guns from the local shops and seemed very happy with their purchases.

Time was pressing so we reluctantly said goodbye to the bustle of Padstow and headed back along the trail, over the railway bridge and through Wadebridge. Olly was smart enough to spot and capture a tiny shrew by the side of the trail, which he proudly showed off to the rest of the group.

Everyone was strangely tired when we got back to the cars, so the journey home was relatively quiet. We made it back to Buckfastleigh by 6.25 after what had been an action-packed and very enjoyable day.