We had a good turnout for this evening’s ride so we all felt in high spirits as we rode out to Ashburton and up the hill to Chuley Cross. The track from just beyond Parkfield turned out to be muddier than expected, but then on the downhill section the real problems began when Arthur’s tyre came off his front wheel and would not go back on. Michael did the best he could to fix the problem but it just kept coming off again.

Arthur made the decision all by himself that it would not be repairable and had already telephoned his father by the time we reached Landscove. We had no choice but to wait with him until nearly 9pm, but then it was getting so cold and late that Michael led the rest of the group home whilst keeping in mobile contact with Arthur. We met his father just down the road near Riverford and saw him again with Arthur at Austin’s Bridge. We all got home by 9.25 and the youngsters played PC games in the clubroom until 10.