We set off rather late at 11am with a Totnes café in mind as destination. Everyone was really fast today and we soon warmed up as we rode along Colston Road to Dartington. We headed straight on along the cycle path, stopping at the weir for photos in the now perfect sunny weather.

Dillan particularly enjoyed the next section of path, meandering through the riverside trees. Morrisons café offered us a warm refreshment stop with excellent value hot food, then we rode up the main street so that the youngsters could buy some blue gloop from the Spar (the sweet shop was unfortunately closed for some reason).

After considering alternative return routes we opted for the fast and direct route, along Barracks Hill to Dartington and then up the path. For a change we took the main road from Charlie's Cross all the way to Buckfastleigh, and suddenly the youngsters realised that using the fast routes for the first and last parts of a ride would mean we could actually visit more distant destinations! They vowed to try some longer rides as soon as possible.

Exceptional weather conditions call for exceptional club rides. Last night's light snowfall - the first real snow of the season - was quickly melting in Buckfastleigh, but the roads were still too treacherous for cycling so we made the most of the morning by using the car to search for thicker snow. We found it at Venford reservoir and spent the rest of the morning enjoying snowball fights.

It was Lawrence's idea to build two "forts" for a massive battle. It took over an hour to roll up enough snow blocks to make walls of a suitable size, but everyone was very satisfied with the results and the battle rounds that ensued were the highlight of the day. The rules were simple: if you were hit by a snowball you were out of the round, and the last team standing were the winners. I have to report that Lawrence and Michael's team won all three main rounds, but everyone had a great deal of fun.

Our youngsters have been asking for longer more adventurous rides in recent weeks and today’s superb winter weather provided the ideal opportunity to get started. Bovey Tracey’s Brookside Tearooms was selected as an enticing initial destination for the ride. After a rather late 10.55 start we rode around Ashburton and through Bickington at a good pace before taking the lanes from Blackpool to Bovey, arriving around 12.30 in glorious sunshine. The café was packed with bookings for Sunday Lunch but we were allocated sofa seats and enjoyed some tasty refreshments at very reasonable prices.

Haytor Rocks was selected as our next destination. Dillan felt a little ill for the first part of the climb, and it didn’t help that one of his brake springs had become detached from the brake earlier in the day, leaving the other side rubbing constantly on the rim. He recovered for the final sections however and we were soon buying hot dogs and drinks from the van in the Haytor car park.

Having worked hard to get here our youngsters were determined to climb the rock. As we neared the base of the tor there were, surprisingly, patches of snow lying in shaded areas, left over from last weekend’s falls, so there were a few brief snowball fights. The whole area was swarming with visitors today so progress up the rock was slow, but the view from the top was spectacular when we finally arrived.

We finally left at 3.45 and headed back along the speedy route through Cold East Cross, stopping for more snow fun on the way down towards Ashburton as temperatures began to drop. This had been a superb ride that will hopefully lead to many more adventurous rides whenever the weather conditions are favourable.