We were sadly down to four for our second Easter Special ride: disappointing, but those who stayed away were going to miss an easier ride than yesterday. We set off around 9.30 for the 49-mile car journey to Lanhydrock House near Bodmin, where we arrived around 10.45. The weather was perfect today, although back at Buckfastleigh they were getting rain.

We followed some interesting new cycle paths into Bodmin and then joined the Camel Trail, stopping at the usual café for a welcome break. Ash and Michael had coffee cake and drinks but Tao had a full cream tea. Prices were not exactly cheap but we ate our refreshments in the garden surrounded by tree blossom so we didn’t really have cause to complain.

We set off again around 12.06 and rode at a good speed along the flat trail which was once a railway line. Zac got a puncture as we entered Wadebridge but this time he had a spare tube so Tao performed a lightening replacement.

The town was busy and so was the next stage of the path to Padstow: bike hire shops at both ends meant there were loads of people cycling in both directions. There was a refreshment trike halfway along and we got some nice photos from the bridge.

We arrived in Padstow at around 1.25 and spent an hour and a half there. Ash and Michael bought pasties but disappointingly the Pesto shop didn’t have rhubarb pasties as it was “out of season” and had sold out of blackcurrant pasties! We sat on a seat overlooking the busy harbour while Tao bought scampi and chips for £7. The seagulls seemed remarkably adept at catching food in mid-air: we imagined that throwing remotely-detonated explosive food pieces would be a good way to get them.

By the time Tao had bought a printed hoodie for his daughter it was 3pm when we finally left Padstow for the return journey. It had been a very enjoyable stop however and we were reluctant to leave even then. It took us exactly an hour to return to the café we had stopped at this morning, so we stopped there again although didn’t buy as much this time. We left there at 4.36 and got back to the car by 5.25 which got us home for around 6.35. This had been a great ride and we wondered what the absentees had been doing with their day that could have come close to the fun we had.