John came up to the start but had to get back for lunchtime so five of us packed their bikes into the cars and drove to our starting point near Topsham. The Exe Estuary Trail provided a lot of fun as well as good views, taking us through a nature reserve and past the Lympstone commando training centre with its barbed wire fences. We reached Exmouth by 12.30, raided the local bakery and café for pasties and bacon baps and then settled down in the town square for lunch. A youngster kept us entertained with his newly-acquired radio-controlled buggy.

Next stop was the sea front, where Dillan ate more doughnuts than was good for him and everyone took a walk along the sand. Quiet B-roads then took us up the gradual climb to Woodbury Common, and here everyone had fun in Woodbury Castle, an Iron Age hill fort that offers some exciting jumps across the moat area. We also found a rope swing that persuaded everyone to stay longer than we had intended.

We finally left the castle at around 4pm for the mainly downhill journey of 7 miles back to the car, concluding an action-packed day that had taken many to brand new destinations.

Jack was back! And he turned up with a great idea for a new ride - a new trail that connects with the Plym Valley cycleway. We took the cars to Coypool near Plympton, rode the cycle way just beyond the first viaduct and then headed off along the new trail up through the woods to the left. It was well made and great fun, snaking its way between the trees and very gradually taking us up to the ridge. At one point we caught sight of the Wrigley factory just beyond the woodland border, reminding us how close this part of the woods is to Plymouth.

There were warnings about erosion on the path, and we did find a couple of steeper sections that needed care or perhaps even some foot work, but generally the trail was excellent and included plenty of gentle downhill. Eventually it brought us to the river near Plymbridge from where we rode the short distance along the road back to the car park. The mobile cofee van had finally turned up, so we all made good use of the facility.

Ash and Jack were eager for more fun, and when another cyclist told them of a second trail in Cann Wood they were determined to explore. We rode back to a point just before the first viaduct and then turned right up a track. This time however it was not an official trail, so we only had Ash and Jack's vague recollection of directions to go by. We took a left that after a while seemed to be leading us well away from known territory, so rather than get lost we took another track that returned us to the cycleway.

This excursion seemed to have satisfied everyone's thirst for adventure for one day, so we headed back to Coypool for more refreshments (George got his bacon bap) before heading homewards.

Dillan was not up to his usual fitness today but he dragged himself out of bed for the ride so that he wouldn't miss the social on Friday. As things turned out he was very glad he did, as he felt much better once we started cycling.

With the weather being a little dull we decided that today would be an excellent opportunity to visit Haldon Forest Park. After travelling up in two cars we rode the easy track first by way of change, then planned to have lunch before tackling the red track. Unfortunately the park was so packed with visitors today that the queues for the single café were horrendous and the delay for hot food even worse. We placated the youngsters with the promise of something hot later, made do with a couple of cold items and then tackled the main ride of the day.

The track seemed to have been diverted in several places since our last visit. For example, the bridged gully where Ash came off last time was not on the route now. Ash was using his new Go-Pro helmet cam today so if anything went wrong it would all be recorded. The final section of the route was closed off for reasons initially unknown: a few of us tried it, crossing an increasing number of fallen trees along the way, but soon we came to a huge area of fallen trees that was totally impassable, so we returned to John on the alternative blue route feeling a little stupid.

To finish a fun day in style we visited the Route 5 services restaurant on Haldon Hill where everyone enjoyed American-style burgers and (in some cases) vegetarian breakfasts.

When Lawrence arrived today he was showing off his flashy new hydraulic brakes - a birthday upgrade for his Trek. He didn't feel like riding too far however, so we rode to Ashburton to check out the new skate park and then tried the Headborough Farm track for the first time in several years - it wasn't anywhere near as muddy as last time, but I don't think John was too impressed with the first half.

The obvious next destination was River Dart Country Park, from where we took the track through the delightfully autumnal Holne Woods towards Holne. Ash tried to lift some logs that were clearly too heavy for him - evidently he thought he was Superman today instead of the usual Batman.

As we were now so close to Holne there was huge demand for calling in to the café there for bacon baps and soups. We finally left around 1.20 after a very pleasant stop and headed home via the Hembury Woods fort and tracks.

Our planned route up Dean Hill turned out to be a bad choice today: a steady stream of cars was making a usually quiet lane rather dangerous for cyclists. We soon discovered that the cause of the phenomenon was the closure of the eastbound A38 near Drum Bridges and the reluctance of many motorists to take the recommended detour via Dartington. We opted for Nurston hill instead.

The initial track to Skerraton Down was a bit muddier and rockier than usual, especially around the gateway to the open moor where a few got wet feet. When three had fought over two Kinder Buenos from Michael's chocolate box - resolved when Lawrence kindly gave his to George - we headed up over the rough moorland to the ridge. Here the views across South Devon were fabulous, making all the effort worthwhile.

We had another muddy lake to negotiate around the second gate, then when a few had climbed the fallen tree we continued down the hill to Cross Furzes. George took a tumble on the way down, predicted seconds earlier by Lawrence, but he did not suffer any serious damage.

The final descent of Wallaford Road was chilly to say the least, so everyone was pleased to get to the Crofters café for warm refreshments.

We had a little difficulty dragging John and the youngsters away from Michael's new TV this morning - I think John was a little tired and felt very comfortable on the sofa. We got away by 10.45 however and once we were on the road the ride quickly became one of the best rides since summer.

The cloud quickly departed to leave blue skies and bright sunshine as we rode up through Scoriton, where our four-legged friend Leo was waiting to greet us. Everyone was fast and enthusiastic today, so we proceed through Michelcombe and straight up the hill to Venford without hesitation. The provisional plan had been to ride the track around the reservoir and then return to Holne, but suddenly everyone was keen to ride the full circuit through Dartmeet despite John's attempts to frighten them with his exaggerated descriptions of Dartmeet Hill. So we abandoned the track and pressed on to Combestone Tor.

The moor looked rather wet and boggy in places and we expected the river to be fairly high, so we decided to take the road through Hexworthy rather than the track to the stepping stones. The Forest Inn appeared permanently closed even though there were no signs anywhere to confirm the fact. On the lower side of the hairpin bend Michael was almost tempted to buy a jar of home-made lemon curd, left on a shelf outside a cottage with an honesty box, but decided against it when he saw the price was £2.95 for a very small jar.

Michael wanted to show everyone the stepping stones that we would have had to cross if we had taken the track from Combestone, so we parked the bikes tidily against the wall near Dartmeet and walked the few metres down the path. The river was quite high and the middle stones were wet and a little dodgy: Lawrence got across easily but George and Dillan managed only the first few stones before deciding the road had been a better option today.

On the way back to the bikes we were accosted by an elderly gentleman who lived in the house. We soon realised he was not coming out to wish us a good day and praise the youngsters for being out enjoying the countryside. He was, in fact, telling us off for parking our bikes against the wall opposite his house, and he was really quite angry. Since his living quarters were on the stepping stones side of the house we wondered how he had realised the bikes were even there after just five minutes of parking them - maybe they have become so annoyed by tourists parking cars there that they have installed a CCTV camera, or perhaps they just spend their lives looking for someone to get angry with.

We said, quite truthfully, that we hadn't noticed the no parking sign located on the house side of the layby, and apologised for any offence caused, but we pointed out we were only there for five minutes, we had parked right up against the wall on the other side and we really weren't stopping anyone from parking. He wouldn’t accept it however and went back into his house, determined to remain annoyed.

When we reached the bikes the gentleman's wife was there, and she had another go at us! She said we had parked in someone's parking space, but the facts that we weren't blocking it, that the person hadn't turned up to park there and that we were only there for five minutes had absolutely no effect on her demeanour. Again we apologised but she just would not stop complaining - or being angry. When she realised we were not going to get angry and that she was really not winning the argument she retreated to her garden but couldn't resist one final question about how we would feel if someone parked in one of our parking spaces. Michael quite truthfully replied that he wouldn't mind at all if the circumstances were the same. With that she disappeared.

We needed lunch at the Badgers Holt restaurant to recover from the torrents of abuse, Most had burgers but Dillan saved his money for later and just bought toast - mean, nasty George offered Dillan a piece of burger and then ate it himself. It was warm and cosy there, but the prices were perhaps not quite as cheap as we would have liked.

We set about climbing Dartmeet Hill, everyone climbing it at their own pace. Michael had estimated around 15 minutes and in the end we all reached the top in between 13 and 19 minutes. Both Dillan and George did extraordinarily well today and felt very pleased with themselves as they admired the view.

When Michael had changed his brake cable we set off along Dr Blackall's Drive. John, foolishly as it turned out, decided to take the track as well, but some sections were a little too rough for his narrow-wheeled bike and he did a fair amount of pushing. The views across the secluded Dart valley were superb of course, and some Dartmoor Ponies allowed George to stroke them before getting a bit fed up and wandering away with a parting kick – fortunately George had kept well away from their rear ends.

John re-joined the road at the top of New Bridge hill while the rest of us took the final downhill track to Newbridge as the sun disappeared over the horizon. It was getting distinctly chilly as we returned via Hembury, but this has been an excellent ride in every respect. Hopefully the younger riders will be encouraged to do longer rides like this whenever the weather is suitable.