A brief stop in Ashburton for ‘mountaineer’ Jon to buy lunch was followed by a dash to Gappah for our rendezvous with the few from Torbay sensible enough not to have taken part in the ‘100’. An hour waiting and making phone calls gave no clue as to their whereabouts, so we made for Mamhead in the hope that they may have gone there themselves.

An extensive search in the area failed to locate them, and another phone call established that their intended leader for the day, who shall remain nameless in order to protect the guilty, had not turned up, so they had ridden elsewhere!

The magnificent view from the obelisk compensated somewhat for the time wasted, but it was getting on a bit so we abandoned our original plan to return via Lawrence Castle and the Teign Valley, instead heading home via Gappah and Bickington.