Today's forecast was the best of the three days, and the sun was shining as we left the hostel. Michael's satnav helped us navigate the lanes and back roads on a somewhat hilly route, bringing us eventually to the Bedruthan Steps cafe where we enjoyed home-baked refreshments.

Next stop was the gift shop at Mawgan Porth, where Ashley bought some underwater goggles. Michael's Cornish relative used to run the shop in years gone by. A massive hill out of Mawgan Porth then brought us eventually to Watergate Bay, one of the largest and most impressive beaches we had seen. There was another hill to climb there of course, so we stopped for a rest and video interviews overlooking the beach. Ash wanted to continue the interview for as long as possible for some reason!

From Watergate it wasn't far to get to Newquay, a popular holiday resort. After a quick look at the beach and sea front we headed down to the Trenance Par and Boating Lake, where the Lakeside Cafe provided an excellent lunch for around £9 each.

Being high summer, the pedal boats were out and available for rental, so we hired a boat and spent an enjoyable time pedalling around the island and fountain, although Ash got closer to the fountain that Michael would have liked. Ash and Zac did the pedalling and Michael did the videoing, so we all had a fun time.

From Newquay we didn't have a long way to ride to Perranporth. We decided to have fun on the beach before going to our guest house, and when we got there we were tempted by the sight of surf boards to rent. None of us had ever been surfing before, so we decided to rent three boards and find out for ourselves what the sport was all about.

Before we got going we met a couple and their two adorable dogs, so they got quite a lot of attention from Zac and Ash. We then had a lot of fun with the surf boards. We found that once we caught a wave it was really quite easy to ride it, and we all got the hang of it after a while. Surprisingly, Michael got some of the best surfs, and commented that Ash looked like he was being tossed around like a rat on the waves, which he thought was very amusing. When we finished Ash got Michael to tow him back across the beach to the rental hut, riding on his surf board.

Soaking wet, hungry and tired we returned the surf boards and rode the short distance up Cliff Road to the Chy an Kerensa Guest House. We had wanted to stay at the Youth Hostel, but it is small and had been fully booked when we were making the tour plans, so this was the next best place to stay. It was actually nice to have large, comfortable beds and freshly-laundered sheets - a bit of luxury for a change.

We walked down to the local corner shop and bought our evening meal from there, although there really wasn't a lot available. Ash had two cheese straws, a jelly and a mango and passion fruit sorbet, not even bothering to eat the yoghurt Michael suggested he bought.

[The second part of this report, after Mawgan Porth, was written in 2022 as no notes have currently been found]

We had a very leisurely start to our final day at the Chy an Kerensa Guest House. Since breakfast was provided we made the most of it, eating as much good food as we could and enjoying the views across the beach from the dining room window. It was 10:50 when we had finally finished taking videos and set off.

Our first task was to ride a little further up Cliff Road to the Youth Hostel at Droskyn Point, where we had really wanted to stay last night. It had been fully booked, but we were allowed to look around and see the even more spectacular views across the beach that we would have enjoyed from the hostel.

Next we returned to the beach itself, where the tide was out. This allowed us to reach Chapel Rock and climb to the top, where we took our final video and photo shots of the tour. It really was a fabulous beach, but Ash was disappointed when he saw the rock-lined swimming pool in Chapel Rock that he hadn’t known about until this morning. But as Michael pointed out, it had been submerged under the sea last night as the tide was in.

We had around ten miles to ride to Redruth station when we left Perranporth at around 12.15. The light drizzle didn’t help Ash to stay in good spirits, but he soon pulled himself out of it and was charging up all the hills, leading the way.

We had a choice of trains to catch from either Camborne or Redruth, but I think we caught the 15:17 from Redruth to Bodmin Parkway, arriving at 16:04. We managed to get a table but weren’t able to play Bomberman on the laptop because the battery was flat. Instead we played card games. Ash had never really played cards much before, and neither Ash nor Zac knew how to play Whist, so Michael started them on Whist with no trumps, then added trumps when they had mastered that, and by the time we reached Bodmin they were enjoying Knock-out Whist! I think we’ll be able to have card games socials in future!

From Bodmin Parkway station we had 4.4 miles to ride back to the car at Scarletts Well Car Park, which involved a bit of climbing and took 45 minutes. We then loaded the bikes up and drove back to Plymouth, where we stopped at Pizza Hut, Crownhill, for a meal. It was a great way to finish a good tour and we all thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

[This report was written in 2022 as no notes have currently been found]

Donald returned to club rides today, bringing with him a new friend Ashley and his father Tom. We rode through Scoriton and Michelcombe to Holne Play Park, where yesterday's Holne Fair had turned the entrance to the park into a mud bath. We played with the Frisbees until Ashley F finally arrived, then headed off to Hembury Woods where the fort and slalom provided plenty of the kind of entertainment that the youngsters like most.

Our newcomers performed exceptionally well and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the ride.

This turned out to be one of the most enjoyable rides we have done for some time, even though we didn't actually cycle more than 10 miles! We took the car to Malborough, from where Ashley and Zac rode on down the hill while Michael parked the car near the youth hostel. It really was a delightful morning, so Michael coaxed the lads to ride up to the youth hostel and then walk on up to the coast path. When they reached the top and could see the stunning views across the Salcombe estuary and out to sea, they really did feel it had been worth the climb.

Next we took the two short climbs that led to Salcombe, arriving just in time for lunch which we purchased from the local takeaway. We explored the interesting network of paths, streets and boat shops and then found a boat hire company! We spent an enjoyable hour cruising up and down the estuary in the glorious afternoon sunshine. The water was a bit choppy, and Ashley just loved steering us into the waves to make sure we got totally soaked!

To conclude an excellent day we returned to the car near the youth hostel and headed back to Buckfastleigh.

We had a good turnout today with Charles, Sam, Ollie and new member Jack Binmore. Ashley waited at Dean Prior seat while Michael went to Station Approach to get the others. Once we were all together we rode up Dean Hill and through Bloody Pool - the reasonably good weather was making everyone feel good today.

At Bloody Pool we found a group of engthusiasts flying model aeroplanes. One of them showed us his plane before he packed it back into his car. The youngsters watched the others from the gate whilst at the same time being watched intently by a group of cattle in the field.

We got to the Avon dam by 1230, discovering that it was full to the brim. After a short session of stone-skimming we headed back across the moor via the Abbots Way, reaching home by around 1.35pm.

The Acland's were a few minutes late at the start, but after a short time we all agreed on a ride that would bring us back through Hembury.

We had an excellent ride with lots of interesting conversation all the way through Buckfast to Scoriton. We stopped briefly at Holne Park for chocolate and swings and photographs, then headed to Galant Le Bower.

Here we met the Teign Valley Pedal Pushers, a group of adults who resembled our group only insofar as owning bikes: they were consuming alcoholic drinks right off the bikes and wore shirts that bore the motto "Drinkers with a Cycling Problem". Michael was really not amused!

We concluded the ride with a visit to Hembury Fort and the exciting Slalom descent through Hembury Woods, returning home by around 12.45.

Sam and Ollie decided to join us as well today because Heidi was unwell. Ryan met Michael and Ash at Crofters and they rode down to the start together to meet Sam and Ollie. Ash did really well on the ride to Ilsington despite his sore knee and we arrived at the hotel for the Christmas lunch at around 1205, which was a good deal earlier than we had expected.

Everyone had a good time swimming and using the other pool facilities, then we settled down in the restaurant for our meal at 1.20. The meal was excellent - Ashley had the courgette soup, roast turkey and chocolate mousse desert.

We managed to leave the hotel at around 1435, and whilst Ashley and the others were pressing to go back the easier way via Bickington they were fine once we reached Halshanger Cross. We all enjoyed the ride home via Ashburton and the short social at Crofters.