Our provisional plan for a car-assisted ride had to be abandoned when seven turned up at the start – far too many for Michael’s car. Anyway Lawrence was out for his first Sunday ride so we set out along Colston Road, pausing at Colston Farm to chat with Michael’s relatives who were camping in his Aunt’s field.

Michael was at the back as we neared the kennels at Hood Farm, and this was the moment that he hit a nail, got a blowout and damaged his mudguard. Lawrence was too far ahead to hear so Michael got on with repairs while Lawrence went on to the road, found nobody there and returned to see what was wrong. We eventually caught up with the others at the top of the Dartington track - they offered mock applause for taking so long! They were reminded in no uncertain terms that they should have waited at the main road and returned to check that there was no injury.

We rode down the hill to Staverton, and after a brief discussion we spent some time playing in Staverton park rather than pressing on to Landscove. This turned out to be the right decision for Lawrence who was feeling quite tired by the time we got to Riverford. We got home by 12.50 or so and enjoyed some well-deserved games at Crofters.