Martin and Richard faced a strong headwind as they made their way over the moor. By Two Bridges the threatening rain had become steady, and several heavy bursts were quite dampening, of both body and spirit. The adverse weather didn't deter some clay pigeon shooters from peppering the moorland with pellets, and Tavistock Wheelers bowled down the hill the other way looking quite happy. What a difference a tailwind makes. We had a brief chat with a tandeming family on the descent from Merrivale, and Martin then scoured Tavistock looking for acceptable food.

With the rain cleared and lunch eaten in a field gateway we turned down to Denham Bridge. A sign warns that the water is 40 feet deep by the rocks, and it certainly swirled menacingly under the bridge. There's a choice of routes up from the bridge to Buckland Monachorum, both exhaustingly steep, but neither is as bad as the road down to the bridge, a twisting 1 in 4. We opted for the Plym Valley cycle path, as Martin had only ridden it once before, and that was at night: he wanted to see what it looked like. He was puzzled in the tunnel that his front light seemed dim, and then realised that he still had his sunglasses on. The wind was now on our backs, and we made a quick return home on an afternoon when cyclists seemed to be out in force.