We set off with the intention of completing our planned ride to Haytor, but before we had even reached Ashburton, we realised that the strong wind, coupled with temperatures of around four degrees, meant that the moor was not a good destination. We all had painful ears even though we were still on low ground, but Dillan was particularly badly affected.

The solution was to leave the A38 corridor and head back through the relative shelter of River Dart Country Park and Holne Woods. We stopped briefly on Holne Bridge to admire the delightful autumnal scenery, then rode up Holne Chase to the community café at Holne.

Once we had warmed ourselves with hot drinks and soups, we left at around 12:10 and took the lane down through Michelcombe to Scoriton where Jude settled down on the seat to eat his packed lunch. Leo, the farm dog from Scoriton, was out and about this morning with his friend: he did start to walk over to us from his farmhouse, but after a few steps he clearly felt he was too old to make the journey and headed back home.

We got home by 12:45 and stayed warm by the fire until Jude was collected at 2pm.

With Jude unwell, only two of us set off from Buckfastleigh at 10:15, taking Colston Road and the cycle path to the shops at Dartington.

The Venus cafe closed a few months ago, and to fill the gap the Dartington organisers had set up a new, temporary cafe in the same premises. It seemed similar in some ways to the Venus, although the cakes seemed a little less varied. We enjoyed some excellent coffee and a teacake however, warming ourselves nicely from the chill November air outside.

After some self-timer photos outside on the picnic tables we returned via Staverton Bridge and Caddaford.

Jude was unwell today, but John arrived in time for a pre-ride coffee before we set off at 10.45 for our ride through Staverton and Fishacre Barton to Ipplepen. Jude, who is a co-op member and proud of it, welcomed the opportunity to look into the Ipplepen branch, which turned out to be a bit smaller than Buckfastleigh. We bought some blueberries and then proceeded to our planned destination, Fermoys Garden Centre, for 12:25.

We were quite hungry so two of us bought the medium-sized vegetarian nut roast dinner in the café for £7.95 which turned out to be surprisingly good. John enjoyed toasted sandwiches, and we are pleased to report that the service was much faster than we experienced on our last visit.

After a browse around the many Christmas treats on sale in the shop area, we headed home via Two Mile Oak and Denbury.