Our Easter Day special got off to a flying start at 10.10 when we drove the cars to Meeth in North Devon for our first ever excursion along the southern part of the Tarka Trail. The forecast was for a windy day with occasional showers, so we felt that the shelter afforded by the hedges and trees along the route would make this a preferable ride to the other alternatives we had considered.

We set off along the path at 11.20. It follows the course of an old railway line so it’s quite flat for the most part and very scenic. We stopped for refreshments at the first café at East Yarde, seven miles along the path, which had a distinctly Totnes feel to its décor. Tao preferred to drink his own coffee outside in the cold but the rest of us enjoyed excellent drinks and one of the tastiest and moistest cherry and almond cakes we had ever tasted.

Continuing on past the interesting-looking café near Great Torrington we were soon at Bideford station in bright sunshine. We had covered 16 miles but everyone was keen to continue to Instow. Here the Trail was more exposed, running alongside the Torridge estuary, but in this direction we had a strong tailwind that sped us along to Instow in just a few minutes.

Arriving at 2pm we bought lunch from a very well-stocked café called Johns that sold hot home-made soup as well as some delicious-looking cakes. Today’s route had been suggested by Tao and we had so far given him ten out of ten for the route and a bonus point for the café. When it came to selecting a sheltered spot for lunch, however, he failed miserably and lost his bonus: we had great views over the beach and across the estuary to Appledore and the sunshine was brilliant, but the wind was in our face and frequently blew sand onto our food. Nobody complained much though as it was good to have completed the intended ride.

The return section to Bideford was very tough against the headwind, but after that it was more sheltered again and soon became quite easy.

Approaching Great Torrington we encountered our first shower of the day. Tao blamed this on Michael for loudly tempting fate on the outward journey (two hours earlier) with his comments about how lucky we were with the weather. Michael wondered why there would have been such a delay, he said the rain was probably busy making other people wet before it could deal with us. We took shelter in the café on the right near Great Torrington that we hadn’t noticed on the outward journey which offered us a wood-burning stove and a multitude of pictures of dogs in various poses all around the room. Michael wasn’t too impressed with the dogs, but the Easter biscuits and hot chocolates were excellent.

The sun was out again when we set off. Unfortunately the showers soon returned but we still stopped to chat with some of the strange wooden people sitting on the seats by the side of the Trail. The long drag back up to the first café (which was closed) was followed by a good descent back towards the car. We completed our 39-mile ride – the longest we have done for quite a while - by 5.50, and we all felt the effects.

Tao took the shorter but slower moorland return through Bovey Tracey in the rain but I beat him home by eight minutes which annoyed Tao a little. Everyone planned to meet tomorrow at the same time as we arrived home at 7.12 for hot showers and well-deserved food.