The alternative hard ride was to Cullever Steps near Okehampton. Nine people met at Bickington, including Douglas Brownjohn of Totnes, out for his first ride. He certainly showed how fit he was considering the distance we covered during the day – we hope he enjoyed his taste of club cycling and that we will see more of him.

From Bickington we climbed up onto Haytor where we fought against a headwind past Haytor Rocks and around to Hound Tor. I decided that Colin would make a good windbreak, but try as I might I could not keep up with him! A brisk pace was set to get as far as possible before lunch, but our stomachs finally forced us to stop after climbing out of Chagford (and it certainly was up). The morning’s clouds had cleared and we enjoyed a peaceful, well-earned break.

We got to Cullever Steps in the afternoon, sampling some excellent Rough Stuff on the way. The water looked invitingly cool, except perhaps to Mark who was nearly forced in head first - no we didn’t quite let him fall!

Retracing our path for a while we then took the main road to Moretonhamptstead, where we stopped for coffee, and then continued to Bovey Tracey. Picnic teas were eaten at Stover Lake – a pleasant spot and well worth a visit. The sight of a mass of black clouds heading our way hastened our departure and we made our separate ways home.

(Frances Lofty)