Everyone was up for badminton this evening but unfortunately there were no courts available at Ashmoor until 9.30. We played games on the PCs until 9.15, then played badminton on two courts for half an hour until 10.05.

When Michael had dealt with an unexpected business customer we got away rather late at 10.43 with a forecast that had changed overnight to predict more in the way of showers.

Continuous rain yesterday and overnight had caused flooding in the lower part of Buckfastleigh, so severe that the Prime Minister David Cameron came to see for himself later this week. When we rode through Strode Road however the only sign of flooding was a chap spraying stuff onto his car engine to disperse the moisture. The river Mardle was still quite high though.

We rode up Green Lane, then had to change Will’s tube as he got a puncture. Nobody seemed to be in much of a hurry today. There was a lot of water running down the lane from High Beara to Wash, and when we got near Broadhempston we found that the River Hems had burst its banks, spilling out all over the road.

We arrived at Broadhempston community shop and café ridiculously late at 11.55. It doesn’t close until 12.00 so we expected to be in time for a coffee, but we were quickly informed that at this café everyone has to be out by 12! The woman got into a real flap about it, saying we couldn’t have proper coffee because they had turned off the machine and it takes ages to warm up. She offered instant, but only if we could decide how many we wanted within sixty seconds. And it would have to be take-away as they wanted to clean the café area! We had wanted shelter from the shower that had just started but we took up their reluctant offer and bought take-away hot chocolates for £1 each. We were then shown the door as quickly as possible, and the woman left four minutes later to go home to make her Sunday roast! Maybe they should visit the Holne community café to see how it should be run.

We took shelter from the rain in the play fort in the park. Ash, being Ash, went out to play with the football in the rain, so then Will decided to go and join him, ignoring advice from several of us that he should put his coat on first. After he had got properly wet he went to put on his coat, but by then the rain was easing. There were more showers on the way back and of course Will was now cold as well as wet. He and John eventually caught us on the climb to Green Lane while we were redirecting the “river” of water into one of the unblocked drains. We finally got home at 1.20. George and Jack played Minecraft, joined by Ash after lunch, until the club closed at 3.40.

Ash and Jack played Minecraft all evening and seemed to have a good deal of fun.

Chain problems derailed today’s ride. When Jack arrived his chain was threaded incorrectly through the rear derailleur and would not be forced through the gap, so Michael had to break the chain apart and reassemble it. We finally got away at 10.45 with a plan of riding to South Brent, but halfway up Dean Hill Ash had a problem with his chain which proved impossible to fix on the road even after 25 minutes of trying.

Returning to Crofters Michael found a new chain and a new cassette, but sadly the small ring was missing from the cassette and could not be found anywhere. We had no choice but to give up the idea of a ride and spent the rest of the day until 3.30 playing games and ordering a new cassette.

Everyone wanted to watch The Hobbit next week at the cinema, so tonight we were content to stay in for a games evening that included Minecraft, Modern Warfare 3 and Supreme Commander.

CoB came up early for a puncture repair only to discover that his tyre just needed pumping. When everyone had arrived we set off promptly at 10.25 and rode up Dean Hill to South Brent. Here the coop provided us with a range of delicious cakes and other refreshments which we consumed in the park while Ash entertained us with some flips off the picnic table.

A spell of drizzle dampened our enthusiasm so we headed back towards Marley Head and took the lane towards Harbourneford. Then, unbelievably, Ash’s chain broke for the second week in a row. After another repair where a damaged link was removed we returned home via Harbourneford, getting back by 1.10.

There was a games social after the ride until 3.30 where most played Minecraft but John had a go at Age of Empires 2.

Everyone was so eager to watch tonight’s massive movie that they arrived a quarter of an hour early, interrupting Michael’s mealtime. We called in to Tesco on the way to Plymouth so everyone could buy some refreshments, then we arrived at Vue by 6.45 as planned.

We were early enough to get excellent seats for the 7.30 showing in Screen 9 and everyone (except perhaps Callum who hadn’t seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies properly before) thought the movie was excellent. We got back to Buckfastleigh by 11.05.

For this evening’s social we drove to Plymouth and enjoyed several games of Pool at Tenpin. We got back in time for half an hour of computer games.