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.