That mysterious cyclist Trebor Ecneps led his flock through Totnes to Avonwick on a damp April 21st to meet up with other fools who wanted to visit Milton Combe. After Ivybridge the route became more and more bumpy and our navigator added a few more feet of climbing by dropping everyone down the wrong “hole” en-route to Shaugh Prior. This also gave us the chance of being dive-bombed by radio-controlled model aircraft.

Down in the valley of the Meavy we had a choice of two roads to get us to the A386, one very steep and the other steeper according to the arrows on the map. We opted for the steeper one and were thankful that we only had a matter of yards to ride on the traffic-packed A-road before turning left across some heathland to Pound Cross and plunging through five arrows to the Combe itself. A mile up this lovely valley was our destination and so 1.30 saw us outside the “Rest and be Thankful”, tearing into our packed lunched to gather strength for more climbing.

The sun was well and truly shining for our passage through Yelverton and the six-mile drag up to Princetown. Thank heaven the café was open, it’s amazing how many cups of tea can be squeezed from a pot. Having checked our Mars bar stocks, we battled the headwind across the roof of Devon and relished the brief freewheel down to Dartmeet. At this point we experienced the full force of Dartmoor’s fury in the hailstorm that ensued.

Walking up the hill out of Dartmeet was twice as painful as normal, with all those ball bearings flinging themselves from the sky at us. At the top of the hill the sun came out again and the remaining miles to Ashburton were pleasant enough.

Once off the moorland roads and into narrow lanes, we experienced clouds of tiny insects and somehow managed to ride with our eyes shut for short distances – not to be recommended! I’m sure we all felt the satisfaction that comes from completing a strenuous ride in fine countryside.

(Robert Spence, aka Trebor Ecneps)

[We have been unable to find attendance records for this period, so the attendance list for this event is incomplete]