It was very cold (4 degrees) this morning with a forecast of rain and sleet coming in after 12.30. Everyone was out today except Lawrence who used the excuse that it was “too cold”.

Michael had thought about Ashburton as a destination today, but it was so cold on the way down Crest Hill that he changed it to Burchett’s Wood: this was still a bit muddy at the start but the second half is now much dryer and more enjoyable than it used to be.

We rode up the steep hill past Mill Leat Farm, pausing part-way up for a rest and some photographs. They saw an intriguing cow way up in a high field and asked Michael to photograph it, but it was so far away that it came out as little more than a dark blur.

We took the lane down past Shuttaford and up the other side to Humphrey’s Cross where there was the inevitable rush to climb the tree. We planned to ride the Slalom through Hembury Woods but when we got to the entrance gate it looked a bit muddy and only Ash and Callum O’B wanted to ride it. They followed the usual route via the Fort path while the rest of us took the road and waited at the lower car park. We chatted with the Scottish owner of a car that had very large alloy wheels and was interested to hear the cost of replacement tyres was easily twice that of anyone else’s tyres.

We got home by 12.35 as planned, but in the end the rain didn’t arrive properly until after 4pm. There was a social after the ride that included Risk on the PCs at Zac’s suggestion, although there was a slight delay as it needed to be installed on all five PCs before we could play. There was half an hour for trampoline fun before everyone left at 3.30.