We had a good turnout, but somehow Jack got the false impression at the start that nobody wanted to help him adjust his disc brakes so he went home. He wasn’t waiting for us in the car park and we didn’t see him anywhere on the way past his house, so we had no choice but to continue with the ride.

We rode up to Scoriton where our friendly dog Ben was out again, then took the lane to Michelcombe and up to Holne. Kevin Presland and the Torbay group came up behind us at the seat junction above Holne just at the point in the ride when Michael was feeling really drained from his recent virus and was wondering whether he would be able to do the full ride to Dartmeet. Callum O’B was also feeling tired so we all rode up to Venford at various speeds, chatting along the way By the time we reached the top Kevin’s group had gone on and the rest of us were feeling somewhat better, so we decided to press on to Badgers’ Holt despite Ash’s kind advice that Michael shouldn’t push himself onwards if he was feeling unwell.

We took the track from Combestone Tor to the stepping stones: it was quite muddy in places, and there was a lot of mud in the narrow gateway near the bottom of the final field – so muddy in fact that Ash got stuck in it!

The river was fairly high today so two of the stepping stones only had small dry areas and the water was quite deep around all of them. As we did our best to carry the bikes across the river Jerry thought the whole situation was crazily fun and adventurous, so he insisted on some photos for the website.

We reached the Badgers’ Holt café at 1.12. Most people wanted to stop there, so we went inside for a very enjoyable break. Ash had chocolate cake and a hot chocolate, Michael had coffee cake and a hot chocolate, but both of them felt the drinks were tasty but too small – yes they were in mugs, but they were the smallest mugs they had ever seen! Zac had a burger with loads of mustard. He also had a black and white cat on his lap that drooled onto him, although he didn’t notice the drooling!

As we were leaving the café at 1.45 some were filling their water bottles, so Michael sent Callum O’B on ahead up Dartmeet Hill on Callum F’s bike, accompanied by Ash, with clear instructions for Ash to keep him moving until he got to the top. He was making excellent progress, but as soon as the rest of us got near Callum F shouted to Callum O’B to stop, then swapped bikes back again! Callum O’B then pushed his bike – slowly – to the top, and we ended up waiting fifteen minutes for him. Thanks Callum F!

Next we rode the famous Dr Blackall’s drive in what was now a quite sunny and pleasant afternoon. Zac almost skipped the final downhill part of the track saying he had had enough of off-road for one day, but in the end we all did it and enjoyed it as always.

Callum O’B was slow again up to Gallant le Bower, so Michael sent the three on that wanted to ride Hembury Woods track and we met them at the car park near the bottom of the woods. We passed Jerry’s grandparents at Coronation Seat and got home by 3.25 for an hour of computer games.

All our regular riders were out today except Callum F who was in Gloucester. Lawrence got Michael to make him a toast and marmalade breakfast, then everyone took a look at Callum O’Brien’s new bike, which turned out to be exactly the same model and colour as Lawrence’s Trek.

Michael was around 80% fit now after his recent cough, so he was back to cycling today. Zac suggested Ashburton and everyone seemed happy with that so we followed our usual route along the old Ashburton road and then took the old railway track to the park where some played for a short time and others stayed outside in the hope that the rest would then finish quicker.

The woodland track back from Belford Mill was a bit muddy today. Halfway along the track we found a rope overhanging the river which provided much entertainment. Callum plucked up courage to have a go after watching the others and had no problems, but Lawrence needed some help to return to the bank when he took his turn.

Leaving the woods we noticed a pair of dirty shorts hanging from a bramble by the gate and wondered how they got there. We then returned past South Dartmoor School and along the old railway line, reaching Buckfastleigh by 12.55. Lawrence did will today, and Callum’s new bike made a huge difference to his performance.

Our plan on this very sunny but chilly morning was to head for Venford Reservoir, but after leaving late at 10.32 Jerry and Jack were slowing us down by stopping for serveral chats, and then Lawrence was a bit slow as well. We split for the climb to Holne, with the shortcut steep hill brigade narrowly winning the race despite Ash pushing hard on the Michelcombe route. By the time we reached Holne Park it was 11.30 and everyone voted to visit the café and head for River Dart instead of Venford. We still found time to play in the park first though.

Starting down the River Dart track we noticed that several trees had been felled near the upper end: clearly it is harvesting time for parts of the woodland. We stopped to play on the snake slide in the park before heading home along the old Ashburton road for 1pm. There was a social after the ride until 2.30 which included Lord of the Rings and trampolining.

It was very cold (4 degrees) this morning with a forecast of rain and sleet coming in after 12.30. Everyone was out today except Lawrence who used the excuse that it was “too cold”.

Michael had thought about Ashburton as a destination today, but it was so cold on the way down Crest Hill that he changed it to Burchett’s Wood: this was still a bit muddy at the start but the second half is now much dryer and more enjoyable than it used to be.

We rode up the steep hill past Mill Leat Farm, pausing part-way up for a rest and some photographs. They saw an intriguing cow way up in a high field and asked Michael to photograph it, but it was so far away that it came out as little more than a dark blur.

We took the lane down past Shuttaford and up the other side to Humphrey’s Cross where there was the inevitable rush to climb the tree. We planned to ride the Slalom through Hembury Woods but when we got to the entrance gate it looked a bit muddy and only Ash and Callum O’B wanted to ride it. They followed the usual route via the Fort path while the rest of us took the road and waited at the lower car park. We chatted with the Scottish owner of a car that had very large alloy wheels and was interested to hear the cost of replacement tyres was easily twice that of anyone else’s tyres.

We got home by 12.35 as planned, but in the end the rain didn’t arrive properly until after 4pm. There was a social after the ride that included Risk on the PCs at Zac’s suggestion, although there was a slight delay as it needed to be installed on all five PCs before we could play. There was half an hour for trampoline fun before everyone left at 3.30.