Our room was way too hot overnight, especially for Dillan who was on a top bunk. He still hadn’t got to sleep within an hour or two of going to bed, so Michael helped him take the mattress down to floor level where it was cooler, and he managed to get to sleep there. The other guy got up as expected at 6.00, but he kept us awake for 25 minutes before he finally left, after which we slept until 7.45.

We had a good breakfast in the kitchen. All the Chinese students were having breakfast provided for them in the dining room this morning, which meant no noodles in the kitchen! We took some timed group photos sitting on a bench near the entrance, then left at 9.34.

This time we rode to the station via Morrisons, since we learned the route last night. Once again, Michael’s ankle was hurting so he had to ride carefully to avoid making it too painful. There was a large and very plush Costa on the station concourse, so we obviously went in for some very enjoyable coffees.

Our train to Edinburgh was due to leave at 10.45, but the platform wasn’t announced until 10.38, so we had to move very quickly to load our bikes before it left. There were no seat reservations on the train as, apparently, they hadn’t had time to put the tickets on the seats, but Dillan managed to find three seats fairly close together so we could at least see each other. The train was packed and very cramped, with some people having to stand.

Somehow we managed to make sandwiches under these rather cramped conditions, using bread and sandwich filler. A woman and three girls sitting opposite had been to the Little Mix concert last night in Bught Park, Inverness, the last night of their UK tour. It had been raining, it was standing only, the stars had been 40 minutes late on stage, and then they had only sung for 70 minutes! And tickets had been £50 each, so £200 for the four of them. They were not at all happy with the way it worked out. When they disembarked the train at Kirkcaldy, they gave us their table so we could sit together for the final part of the journey, which took us over the Forth railway bridge. From the train we could see the original Forth road bridge and, behind it, the new Queensferry crossing that opened last year.

We arrived at Edinburgh at around 2.40, which left us with more than eight hours to look around the city before our overnight sleeper train departed at 11.40. We didn’t have anything much planned as none of us had been anywhere in the city before other than the station, so we aimed to do some exploring.

We started by pushing the bikes up Cockburn Street, a quaint, cobbled street with a huge variety of interesting shops that was bustling with people. Michael’s foot was still hurting and even walking with the bike was painful. We wanted a good café, but whilst there were many places selling coffee, most also seemed to be bars, no doubt catering for Scottish tastes! We still hadn’t found a suitable café when we reached the High Street at the top, which forms part of the famous Edinburgh Mile, and since there was now an attractive-looking Starbucks right opposite, we decided to go in.

Whilst this Starbucks looked great from the outside, it was cramped and dirty inside. There were no free tables downstairs, but after waiting a few minutes upstairs we managed to get a sofa. The most annoying thing about the place was the notice on the counter saying that from next week, customers would be charged 10p if they used a disposable cup. When I asked for my coffee in a china cup, for drinking in, they said they don’t do cups! So, from next week people will be fined 10p if they don’t bring their own cup, even if they are drinking in! We felt that was disgraceful, and not at all environmentally friendly. While drinking our coffees in the grubby café, we were entertained by a woman having a go at her husband for not being able to gain access to the combination lock toilet!

So, this was the famous Edinburgh Mile. As we walked up the High Street it was clear that the entire street was busy and thriving, with activity everywhere we looked. We followed Google directions to Cotswold Outdoor, which we had assumed would be nearby, but ended up in East Princes Street Gardens, next to the station again, so as it was raining, we sat on a bench under some trees until it stopped. We then successfully found the enormous Cotswold Outdoor, on Rose Street, where we looked around for 25 minutes.

Next stop was Marks and Spencer on Princes Street, where we planned to have our afternoon tea, but we could find nowhere to leave the bikes safely, so we went back to the station and locked them up near the bike stands. We walked back to M&S, but by the time we had used the toilets and found the café on the ground floor, it was 6.02 and the café closed at 6.00. Annoyingly he refused to serve us, which was a great disappointment. Instead, we went to the nearby Pizza Hut on Hanover Street and had a great meal there. Dillan and Michael shared a delicious pizza for £20.50.

When we returned to our bikes, we found security notices attached to them! Apparently we were not allowed to leave bikes on the station with panniers attached. Any panniers left on bikes could be removed, searched and stored in Lost Property, after which a Lost Property fee would be payable to recover them! Fortunately, our panniers had not been removed so we didn’t have to pay a fee, but it felt like the station staff were being really unfriendly towards cycle tourists.

ScotRail had made an error in the booking and didn’t have enough space for our bikes on the train, so they had arranged for a courier to take the bikes to London by road. We had to meet the courier at “New Street Car Park” at 8pm, but of course we had no idea where that was, or how we could get to it from the station. We wheeled the bikes and luggage to Platform 11, where our train would be departing later, then Dillan stayed with the luggage while Jude and Michael wheeled the bikes on our search for the elusive car park. We took a while to find it but got there for 8.00 as agreed. There was no sign of a courier though, and now we were waiting outside in light drizzle.

Michael checked the online information, and the time of collection was actually listed as 8.45-9.00, which was different to the information given to him in the customer services email. Jude did not want to go back to the platform, so Michael went back and chatted with Dillan, then returned to meet Jude again for 8.35. The courier had still not arrived by 8.55, so Jude went back with money so Dillan could buy some milk. The bloke finally turned up at 9.10 and rang us to confirm we were there, but then he could not get into the car park because of some security issue. He went away and tried again, but still couldn’t get in, so he had to come down on foot and help Michael carry the bikes up a long flight of steps. Dillan arrived to help with the last bike, but it was a crazy situation. The guy said he had personally never done the Edinburgh pick-up, as he usually does Inverness.

When we returned to Jude the train was now waiting on platform 11, but we were not allowed to board it until 10.55. An American family seemed annoyed that they could not board it when it was just waiting there, and we kindof agreed with them. Dillan and Michael bought some more things to eat from the station shop, like fruit and pain au raisins for breakfast, then eventually we were allowed to board. We had the same sleeping arrangement as before, in two adjacent double berths with a connecting door, Coach C berths 9 and 10. Dillan was really tired, so we went to bed almost immediately and Dillan was asleep within seconds.

Michael felt a little ill for a while and was concerned he might have picked up an infection, but after a while he slept fine until 6.45. The train stopped dead for 20-30 minutes at Walsall (according to Michael's satnav). We had no idea why, but it sounded like possibly an engine failure, as it didn’t seem to be a scheduled stop.

Dillan and Jude called in to wake up George on the way through town, and to our surprise both he and John were keen to join the ride. After a welcome coffee from Kelly we headed out via Caddaford Hill to Staverton Bridge, up to Huxham's Cross and then down through Dartington to the cycle path.

We stopped briefly at Totnes weir, and everyone was surprised when Michael said he had seen a seal in the river. By the time they all looked it had disappeared under water, although John said he had seen a blur. The animal did not reappear so people started suggesting Michael had seen a dog in the water - a seal dog! The last laugh was on them however when the seal reappeared ten minutes later and was photographed doing its rolls.

There was a leisurely atmosphere in the club today as everyone renewed friendships, so nobody was in a hurry. We went to Morrisons to try out the new café and ended up buying cooked food, hot drinks and donuts for the usual low prices. We then rode to Totnes bridge and took the riverside path back towards the steam station, stopping briefly so that the youngsters could climb a tree with limbs overhanging the river.

Continuing back to the Shops at Dartington we passed a bird hide off Dartington Lane that offered views over the marshy fields nearby, but look as we might we could not see a single bird from inside or outside the hide. We then called in to the Food shop at Dartington that Michael and Dillan had discovered a few weeks earlier, buying some tasty cakes and snacks. Finally we took the cycle path back to Riverford Bridge and followed Colson Road back to Buckfastleigh, chatting about everything and nothing as we meandered through the twisty lanes.

Jude came down for the Evening Ride, and we did a ride to South Brent, the first with the new camera lens. We rode out along the old road, around the detour, down to South Brent in the near darkness, then back to Marley Head. We took the left turn to join the Dean road. I took some photos of the sky to test the camera, and it all looks good. We got home at 9.09 and Jude stayed until he was collected at 10.00.

Dillan and Jude decided on Bovey Tracey as today’s destination, and we left at 10.42.

This was the first cycle ride with Michael’s repaired Nikon camera lens, so he made good use of it. We took the dual carriageway path past Ashburton, and on the downhill past Bickington, John decided his bike freewheeled faster than Michael’s Mercian! Michael disputed that of course.

We arrived at Café 360 at 12.07, a place that was new to John. The café was very warm and welcoming, and we found a free table upstairs, although as usual they took way too long to bring the coffee up, and the “large” late was not really large at all. John had the soup, which at £5.95 is about the most expensive it could possibly be, but it was large, tasty and fairly good value. Dillan and Michael had coffee and a cake each while Jude had nothing. Dillan used Michael’s camera to take several photos before the refreshments arrived.

Leaving the café at 12.51 we visited the Co-op next, buying sandwiches. We then showed John around the Devon Guild which he had also never been to before, then tried out the “training” equipment in the park. It was very pleasant there by the river, so Michael took a few more photos.

Jude decided to save his Mum a trip to Buckfastleigh, so he cycled home, as he usually seems to do from Bovey, while the rest of us set off at 1.29 and rode back along the same route, apart from riding through Ashburton town and the path past the vets. On the way back John wanted to look at the “pickle stall” he had seen on the Bickington road, Granny Pat’s Farm Shop, but it turned out to be only pickled onions and the rest jams and marmalades, so he did not bother. John went straight home, and Dillan and Michael got home for 3.15.

We left at 10.43 on a warm but cloudy day and set off along the old Ashburton road. Michael had forgotten to bring food, so he detoured to the garage shop at Peartree to get chocolate and biscuit rations, then met the boys back near The Lanterns.

The climb of Ausewell Hill was quite tiring, so when we reached the top we took the fastest route to Widecombe, arriving at 12.22.

We had lunch in the Café on the Green. We were surprised to see that soups there were still priced at £6.50, and the woman behind the counter didn’t seem to know what Michael was talking about when he asked if the seasonal pricing had come to an end yet. Clearly, they are going to keep ripping people off all year round now. Having said that, Michael paid £10 for a large latte, a regular latte and two scones with cream and jam, which wasn’t too bad. They were skimpy on the jam though, which came in a very small glass pot, and when Michael asked for more, he was told he had the large pot and that is what everyone gets with two scones! Well, they may call it a large pot, but it was small by our reckoning, and she should have responded more positive to our request.

We took some photos on The Green, then looked in the village shop - Dillan bought crisps and Jude bought a flapjack. We left at around 1.10 and rode back through Ponsworthy and Leusdon. The ducks were waiting for us at the Leusdon pond, so Michael took some good photos of them.

Dillan and Jude did not want to go along the riverside area at Spitchwick, as they felt it has a bad reputation now with people partying there. It’s a shame that such a lovely spot has been tarnished like that. We returned home via Hembury Woods for 2.36.

Jude was a little late at the start but eventually we set off at 10:45 to ride through Coxhill Cross and up the hill past Nurston Farm. We were in fine form today and quickly arrived at Shipley Bridge, where we were surprised to see that the car park seemed to have been dug up and left much rougher than it used to be. At least the rhododendrons that had been brutally hacked to the ground on the other side of the river a couple of years ago were now growing back to heal the scars.

Continuing on up the path towards the Dam we noticed that huge piles of stones had been dumped into the river Avon at regular intervals: they really didn’t add to the general attractiveness of the area and we wondered what possible reason South West Water could have had for despoiling the area in this way, since the river bed does not appear to have suffered any significant erosion in the thirty or more years we have been visiting it.

Jude asked a very sensible question about the origins of the old ruins on the left of the path. They mark the location of Brent Moor House, a mansion that was later a youth hostel until 1955. When the dam was built higher up the valley the Water Authority decided that the hostel would have to close, and a few years later they allowed the army to blow it up as part of their training exercises.

The reservoir was nearly full today after a very dry summer, but we didn’t stay long to admire the views, pressing on along the rough path that led us to the Abbot’s Way bridleway across the moor. From here we rode up to Gripper’s Hill where views opened out across the whole of South Devon, from Kingsbridge to Widecombe. We then enjoyed the great downhill ride across the moor, through Water Oak Corner and onwards to Cross Furzes, concluding an excellent moorland morning ride. Both Dillan and Jude rode easily through the ford today, although Jude did get a pair of wet feet in the process.

Tao rode out from Paignton this morning to join the ride – he said he spends all week driving and didn’t want to have to drive again on his day off! We rode briskly through Harbourneford to South Brent where we stopped to buy some Danish Pastries for the ride, then took the Cutwell shortcut to Wrangaton and the main road through California Cross.

Tao wanted somewhere away from the road to make a “Thing” of the Danish Pastry stop, so we pulled off the road at the footpath near Reveton which we have used many times in the past to access the Avon Railway. The path is sandwiched narrowly between a pair of hedges that cross the fields down to the river, and on previous occasions it has been somewhat overgrown. Today however it looked very passable and made a pleasant location for our refreshments, including Tao’s flask coffee.

We were already close to Loddiswell so it wasn’t long before we had found our way through the village to the Avon Mill garden centre. By now the sun was out, taking some of the chill off the autumnal air, so we were able to sit outside on the balcony to enjoy soups and chocolate layer cake – a very pleasant stop indeed.

Just around the corner from the Mill is the old Loddiswell Station, situated on what used to be the branch line from South Brent to Kingsbridge. It’s now a footpath that runs along the river Avon as far as Topsham Bridge, and today it provided us with a fabulous autumn colours as it wound its way through Woodleigh Wood. We stopped near a high rope swing so that Jude and Dillan could attempt to have some fun, but it proved to be just a little too high to be useful.

From Topsham Bridge we took the lane route past Hendham House to Moreleigh. From here we decided to accompany Tao back to Totnes and were pleasantly surprised at just how easy the road was to Harbertonford: we used to ride this road the other way in the early days of South Dartmoor, after picking up members at Totnes, but taking it in this direction was pretty much all downhill. As we rarely visit Harbertonford we stopped by the ford for some refreshments before continuing on up the hill to Luscombe Cross and Totnes.

The cycle path took us along the Dart to Dartington, where we were disappointed to see that the Venus Café has closed down. A message on the door informed us that the Shops at Dartington will be opening a new café there later this month, so we will have to return soon to see whether it is as good as Venus.

Tao left us at Huxham’s Cross for the final part of his journey home to Paignton via Red Post and Marldon, making a total ride of 46 miles for him. The rest of us took the main road back to Buckfastleigh, providing us with a speedy finish to what had been a perfect day of cycling.

On a fine sunny morning we took the lanes through Broadhempston to Denbury and then by way of a change, followed on through Abbotskerswell and under the new bypass near Langford Bridge. The road undoubtedly offers a huge improvement in travelling times to Torquay, but it has left an ugly scar on this previously unspoiled area of countryside.

After taking a few photos of the thatched cottages in the picturesque village of Coffinswell we decided to explore the lanes through Daccombe – another attractive village in a secluded valley that felt a hundred miles away from the metropolis of Torquay. One of the steepest climbs we have seen on our travels brought us eventually to what looked like the edge of another country village. When we had rested on the conveniently-provided bench set on its grassy island we realised this was actually the edge of Barton.

Google took us down an interesting narrow footpath complete with brambles and steps, through a rough park area and thence down to the Willows. Here we parked our bikes and made our first ever club visit to the M&S café where we enjoyed hot drinks and great conversation.

We bought some sandwiches in the food hall for lunch, ate them outside in the sunshine and then headed home through Edginswell and along another Google-inspired shortcut from the North Whilborough road to Bickley Road. Having skirted past Ipplepen we stopped briefly at the nature reserve to eat our M&S cookies and then raced homewards through Broadhempston, interrupted only by Dillan’s chain getting seriously jammed for the first time as we rolled in to Buckfastleigh.

This new idea for a day ride proved very successful and enjoyable, made all the more pleasant by good weather.