With ice on the roads and near freezing temperatures in the morning sunshine Michael was surprised when everyone was up for a ride to the Avon Dam. They were still keen after we had climbed the lane from Dean to Skerraton, so we headed straight for Shipley Bridge.

The private road from Shipley up to the dam had serious patches of ice over it, and Ash came off three times in a row on one patch - much to everyone's amusement. He's not one to be defeated by a bit of ice however and having learned the hard way not to brake or turn on it he finished by riding confidently to the end.

Some light snow fell as we rode the final stretch to the dam, making everything look very scenic, but in view of our proposed route home we were not disappointed when the snow shower came to an end. It really was bitterly cold - hands taken out of gloves for our chocolate break by the river took a considerable time to warm up again.

After admiring the view of the reservoir we headed across the open moor for the Abbots Way. A large group of very attractive Dartmoor ponies greeted us as we started up the climb, and we then met a family of cyclists heading the same way as us. They rode with us down the fabulous moorland descent, and were no doubt amused when Ash's front wheel sank into what he thought was a frozen bog, jammed solid and forced him into a somersault over the handlebars! He was sore and bruised for the remainder of the ride, but as usual put a brave face on it.