When Paul discovered a broken spoke Michael had to work very hard to persuade him not to abandon the ride. Edward Millard joined us for his first full-day ride, accompanied by his cousin Philip Stone who was showing off an ingenious home-made battery contraption attached to his light. When Luke finally arrived at Peartree (he had been delayed by a car breakdown) we set off for Gappah and Haldon.

Adam, who had forgotten his lunch, bought some food from the market near the racecourse and then ate it with us on the Underdown track. Lawrence Castle, the strange building at the end of the track, seemed to be undergoing repairs today.

The descent to Doddiscombsleigh brought us up against another skittish horse: careful riding on our part avoided problems. We had planned to ride the BMX track at Christow, but today there was an event taking place. There were crowds of spectators, and a new batch of riders was being released every two or three minutes. Clearly there was no chance of us having any fun, so we proceeded up the steep climb to the reservoirs.

It was on the track descent to Lustleigh that Keir decided to overtake Budgie on the left hand side. He quickly found himself in a rut, lost control, hit Budgie’s handlebars and knocked him clean off his bike. Budgie, who prides himself on being a careful and clean rider, was not at all amused!

After enjoying excellent refreshments at Lustleigh’s Primrose cafe we returned via the railway track and Bickington, arriving at Buckfastleigh at 5.35. Several members who did not have lights were reminded of the importance of bringing lights on all day and afternoon rides up to the end of March.