George was away collecting John from his recent surgery in Cambridge but the rest of us felt that Fermoy’s would be an excellent destination at this time of year. We rode out through Broadhempston for a change, arriving by 12:30 to find a café packed with Christmas gardeners. We had some reasonably tasty food, although prices seem to have jumped sky high without a proportionate improvement in quality. There was then time to look around the store: it seemed that the Furry Animals pet section has been removed now, but there were plenty of other things to browse.

For the return journey Michael wanted to take us along the lane past Newhouse Barton. This turned out to be muddier than the last time he rode it, which was frustrating for Jude as he was wearing his brand new Adidas trainers. We continued home via the usual route through Staverton and Caddaford.

The weather today was really quite cold at just three degrees but everyone was keen to go to Endsleigh for lunch so we set off briskly up Dean Hill, chatting briefly with Gavin near the top who was sawing up trees. By the time we reached South Brent George was regretting not finding his TOG24 gloves before the ride and suggested a visit to the warm Co-op. His fingers were extremely cold so a return home via Dartington seemed on the cards until Dillan told him to man up and loaned him his gloves.

So we pressed on to Bittaford and Ivybridge, arriving at Endsleigh just after 1pm. Now of course Dillan was beginning to understand why George had been in so much pain earlier, so we all bundled into the café for hot drinks and food.

After a quick look around the pet store we set off for home just after 2pm, aiming to get back as quickly as possible since Dillan had taken his gloves back now. Our return route took us around the Erme cycle route in Ivybridge and then home via Bittaford and South Brent. Gavin was still sawing wood as we descended Dean hill and headed for the much needed warmth of the Crofters clubroom for 3.45.

Dartmoor once supported many small industries, chief among them being tin mining. Today’s ride took us up through Holne and past Venford Reservoir on a chilly but dry morning to find the remains of one of the Blowing Houses from the 15th or 16th centuries.

We parked out bikes at Saddle Bridge, just beyond Combestone Tor, and walked down the path along the O Brook. Both Dillan and Jude managed to get wet feet in the boggy areas either side of the first stile, and there were plenty more boggy areas along the way, but the ancient woodlands lining the picturesque brook made the quarter-mile walk very interesting.

To get to Week Ford we had to cross the O Brook, and whilst the high water levels left no easy crossing we managed to get across safely after a few abortive attempts and then started searching for the Blowing House. It was not far from the river, but we had to cross a broken fence and negotiate some boggy marshes to reach it.

This Blowing House is a listed building as it represents the rare combination of stamping mill and blowing house in two adjacent buildings. Water was brought in from the nearby O Brook by leat to power waterwheels used to operate iron stamps for crushing tin ore in the stamping house and a pair of bellows to blow air into the furnace in the Blowing House so they could reach temperatures high enough to melt the tin (232 degrees C). We found four mortar stones in the Blowing House, used to finely crush the ore ready for the furnace, and a mould stone, used to form ingots of white tin typically 40-90kg which were then sold at the nearest Stannary town, probably Ashburton. Very little had changed here since our last visit in June 1981.

Dillan chose a poor route back through the marshes and ended up with drenched feet – not ideal when the weather is so cold. We carried out the obligatory traversal of the stepping stones before heading back to the bikes, by which time our plans for continuing to Dartmeet or Widecombe in search of an open café did not seem quite so appealing. Both lads had cold, wet feet so we headed back to Holne café and ordered hot drinks and food.

We hadn’t been there more than ten minutes when John, George and Will arrived: John had been out on his first test ride since his November kidney donation, accompanied by his two lads, and Holne café had seemed like a sensible first destination. We ended up spending an hour there before heading back to Buckfastleigh together via Ridgey Cross.

We hadn’t finalised our plans for today when Sue dropped Jude down and told us of a special deal at the Eden Project that would allow us free entry for today only. We hastily fitted the bike rack to the car and drove to a location near Lanlivery. Once the bikes had been unloaded we set off for the fairly short ride through the drizzle to the Eden Project. Our route took us through the Luxulyan Valley which offered plenty of interesting sights, including the Treffry Viaduct, an enormous construction built in the 1800s but of course no longer used for anything other than walking. Huge boulders and mossy trees reminded us in some ways of Lustleigh Cleave.

On arrival at the Eden Project we obtained our free entry and enjoyed an excellent lunch in the restaurant before touring the two biomes. We met up with Sue for a chat and later bumped into Charles and Heidi Acland who were active members of the club many years ago. There is a new high platform in the Rainforest Biome called the Rainforest Lookout. We queued to go up there, and whilst Michael did not feel especially comfortable as it swayed from side to side it was an interesting viewpoint. As usual we were disappointed that there were no real cocoa beans or coffee beans on display apart from a few mouldy ones in a viewing box that looked as though they had been neglected for years.

It was getting late so Jude returned home with his mother whilst the rest of us rode back through the Luxulyan valley to the car for a rather late return.

We were pleased to welcome John back today for his first ride since his kidney donation. It was so cold and breezy this morning that we delayed our start until 11am, browsing through photos of club rides from several years ago. We then rode along the old road to Ashburton with the aim of riding around the nearby lanes and finishing up with a visit to the relatively new Brick House café, but when we arrived the youngsters voted for café first, which of course meant there would be no lane ride at all. The warmth and good food were welcome, but on the downside it did take them half an hour to make up the order.

We left at around 1pm, bought some lunch from the co-op and returned home via Buckfast. As it turned out, this was quite long enough for John’s first ride, so it worked out fine in the end.

As there was some light rain around at 10.15 we delayed our start while watching the latest action from the Winter Olympics at the Crofters clubroom, then set off at around 11am to ride along Colston Road to Dartington. Things were dry now and not too cold, but we were still pleased to settle into the Baynards Kitchen café at Dartington for coffees and scones.

On our return journey we explored the lanes behind Dartington to Week, then took the lane to Westcombe Farm which looked very attractive this morning. A steep climb brought us up to Rattery Sawmills from where we rode on past Pennywell Farm and back to Buckfastleigh.

Conditions really were cold and grey this morning, with temperatures around 3 degrees, and John and George were down with flu, but we had set our target for the new Café at Bovey Tracey so that is where we headed.

We just about survived the cold through Ashburton and Bickington, and by the time we reached Bovey the sunshine was breaking through the cloud.

Café 3 Sixty is a new café that caters primarily for cyclists. It is so large and spacious that you can take your bikes inside and tether them to the purpose-built indoor racks. There is also a cycle repair shop in the building. We were very grateful for the toasty warm stove while we waited for our coffees and cakes to be brought to us. It’s amazing how popular the café has become during the two months it has been open.

Next stop was Bovey Park, where Dillan investigated the outdoor exercise machines that were dotted around the lawns near the river. We then rode through Brimley and on up to Ilsington where Sue and Jude entertained us at their home for half an hour.

It was still cold as we left but the sun was making everything look perfect, so our ride back to Buckfastleigh via Bickington was very enjoyable.

A poor weather forecast and the possibility of Ziggy joining us from Ashburton prompted us to arrange a short ride this morning to Ashburton, in light rain. We had brought our badminton rackets and enjoyed a fair session at Ashmoor leisure centre despite the loss of more than 75% of the lights, which have still not been replaced after over a year.

When we left the rain had settled in quite steadily so we popped into the Brick House café for an hour of refreshments before heading back to Buckfastleigh in bright sunshine, calling at the skate park for a little fun along the way.

Rail engineering works around Taunton over Easter meant that taking two cars to the Peak District would work out far cheaper and less stressful than three train changes and a substitute bus, so by 8.40 we were on our way up the M5.

We knew the forecast was not ideal for us, with cold weather every day and the possibility of actual snow on Monday, but Will’s Apple weather app somehow managed to convince him that it would snow every single day. We stopped at Taunton Deane services at Will’s request at 9.30 to debate his assertion that there was really no point in continuing as we wouldn’t be able to do any cycling at all: he suggested, in fact, that we might as well go home and try again next weekend. Apart from the obvious problems with that idea, such as lack of availability at hostels and the fact that people may have other things planned for next weekend, there was the clear evidence from everyone else’s weather apps that actually there would be no snow until Monday, and even that was not 100% certain. We enjoyed coffee during the discussion and eventually decided to continue as planned, agreeing to worry about Monday if the snow actually came.

After a further stop at Frankley Services for lunch at 12:25 we drove on to our destination, passing through Leek and being welcomed to the national park by the site of the unusual and impressive Ramshaw Rocks to the left of the A53. Our plan was to leave the bikes in the enormous private car park of the Knights Table public house near Flash, and Michael had sent an email to them before we left asking for permission. No reply had been received, but when we pulled in to the car park we were just about the only cars there in a 30-space car park so we felt sure it would be OK. Sadly the proprietor declined to assist us, saying they get “very busy” over the bank holiday weekend, but she suggested we could probably park at Flash village hall, just around the corner. We drove there and found plenty of space, but in view of the warning that they sometimes have events on we parked our cars on the verge opposite.

An hour later than planned, at around 4pm, we set off on our bikes to ride the five miles to Longnor. The afternoon was chilly and cloudy but the scenery was magnificent and rather different to Dartmoor National Park. We got a good view of things from Edgetop, then enjoyed a good downhill all the way to Longnor. Here we quickly found the café recommended on Google – the Cobbles Coffee Shop – which got a remarkably high rating from visitors. It turned out to be small and rather cramped, resembling a transport café in some respects, and yet the food and drinks were incredibly good value: a large portion of beans and cheese on toast was just £3, so we all made good use of the establishment to warm up and get some hot food inside us.

The plan to take the High Peak Trail to the hostel had to be abandoned when we were greeted with light rain as we left the café at 5.15. Cold and wet weather would not be at all ideal for a track detour, especially at this time of the evening, so we took the shorter road route to the hostel via Sheen. Part way along the route the skies opened to release an intense icy downpour. Strong side winds made the rain feel like bullets as it blew into our faces, making it a very unpleasant experience indeed. It calmed down a bit at the top of the hill but by the time we reached the hostel just after 7pm we were very cold and very wet.

Fortunately the hostel was very well equipped with good facilities. We were fortunate to have a fabulous room on the top floor, adorned with old beams and an interesting layout. After hot showers we made use of the hostel meal service to buy some very tasty food before ending the day with some games of Pool in the games room.