This was the night of the escaping prisoners. We reckoned they would have found it easy on bikes - we only saw one police car as we set off at ten. The evening was just cooling down as we headed through Holne and Hexworthy and on to Two Bridges. Andrew's crank needed tightening and Tessa's stiff link loosening on this stretch. The moon rose behind us on the road to Postbridge, making lights almost redundant. We paused for lunch at Postbridge and consñidered what the rest of the route might be (we had already decided that sunrise at Haytor was a worthwhile aim).

We enjoyed the empty road to Moretonhampstead, where we stopped again for refreshments - they leave the lights on in the bus shelter all night. Richard punctured on the way to Bovey, and then we had the long climb up to Haytor. We got there before sun-up, but the tor was shrouded in mist, so we stopped at the bottom and had a brew-up while the sun struggled through the clouds in the east.

The sun broke through onto our backs, promising another hot day ahead, as we coasted back to Buckfastleigh at 6, with the traffic beginning to claim back the roads once more.