Sunday 29th April, in addition to being the date of our ride to Blackawton, was also the day chosen for Torbay’s St George’s Day parade. Most of our regulars were involved, and some of those who weren’t had gone off on an Audax ride! It was a little sad, therefore, that on a beautiful sunny morning in April, only Colin, Jean, Ben and myself turned out to sample the fresh spring countryside.

It really was perfect cycling weather, so we programmed the bikes for “Extra Slow Ramble” and proceeded along the Sharpham House track, stopping periodically to enjoy the view and tackle the numerous gates and stiles that dotted the route. The landowner must have known we’d be coming along with a tandem as nearly all the gates were padlocked and lined with barbed wire, leaving no choice but to lift the bikes over the stiles.

Nearing Sharpham House the path leaves the drive and crosses a field, a diversion which includes two further particularly high stiles and a steep ascent. As we emerged from the woods at the top, tired and breathless, we felt it had all been worthwhile, knowing that we had done the honest and upright thing by following the proper footpath rather than taking the easier Sharpham Drive (as we had done the previous year)!

Ashprington and Tuckenhay looked delightful in the morning sunshine. It was in Tuckenhay that we met Otto Jeff from Plymouth, who seemed to have lost his Section (he didn’t say whether this was deliberate or purely accidental). He declined our invitation to join us as he had just come from that direction, so we proceeded to another part of the village for a photo stop. At this point, Ben carefully removed his pump and laid it in the hedge whilst effecting repairs to his dynamo. It was only when we reached Washbourne that he thought anything more about the pump – such a bright lad!

Lunch was eaten on a grassy bank at the top of the hill before continuing to Blackawton, where very little was happening (and probably where very little ever happens). Ben’s new bike caused further problems at Moreleigh, but I failed to see how kicking the front wheel was going to put it right!

A strong wind had been building up during the afternoon, so it was with some relief that we arrived at Dartington at 4pm to make our separate ways home. Ben won’t be back in this area again until September if he passes his exams next week, but he hopes to join us at a few hostels in Scotland during the summer.

(Michael Jones)

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

The event this year took the form of a conducted tour of green lanes in the Beggars Bush to Ideford area of Haldon. The weather was kinder than on previous occasions, being dry and not too cold. This took the sting out of some of the observed sections, nevertheless all the riders lost some marks.

Tea and biscuits at the finish seemed to go down well. Thankyou, riders, for supporting the event – I trust you all enjoyed your ride.

Colin Brierly came out a clear winner. Other placings, in order, are: Simon Wellaway, John Stuart, Richard Wiseman, Martin Dalley, Kevin Presland, Mike Ward, Jean Brierly and Simon Warner. Once again, many thanks to all who supported the event.

(Arthur Browne)

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

May 13th was our Invitation Ride arranged to coincide with National Bike Week. The Burrows family were out in force, Michael Jones joined us from Buckfastleigh and we were joined by Adam from Newton Abbot.

Our ride took us first to Newton Abbot via the lanes of Compton and Stoneycombe. From here we wound our way around the back of Newton Abbot towards Ogwell, crossing the busty main Newton to Totnes road with the help of a new roundabout – one of the many additions to Newton Abbot’s traffic system which seem to have been done quite tastefully.

We climbed the long drag up to East Ogwell, some riding, some walking, some sort of grovelling in between! Once on top a gentle run into Denbury, past the Union Inn and swiftly down to Torbryan, past Ambrook.

Normally the sharp drop down to Littlehempston is most enjoyable, but on this occasion the road dressers had gone totally berserk and piled about an inch deep of gravel at the steepest part of the hill at the bottom which was not conducive to effective braking. I for one was pleased that my front wheel ploughed a straight course through it whilst not having much control over the matter.

Colin re-joined us at Tally Ho, having stopped to true his wheel which had broken a spoke, and here we said cheerio to Michael as he headed for home. The rest of us then climbed the hill to Red Post and past the “Blasted Oak” to Marldon.

(Graham Brodie)

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

Sadly, no report was written for this ride at the time.

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

The run on the 27th May should have been to Drewsteignton, led by myself, however it didn’t quite turn out that way. At ten past ten when I was about to leave home the heavens opened: it pelted with hail for about ten minutes, and then followed with a good helping of torrential rain. Fortunately, at half past ten the sky cleared again, so I made a mad dash to the pick-up point at Decoy in Newton Abbot. With Colin and Jean in Spain, Phil and family in Sheffield and Robert and family in France, only Michael Jones and John Stuart were there to meet me.

We studied the skies, which were still very threatening, and decided to wander through the lanes towards the refuge of Redmount (Michael’s home) at Buckfastleigh where we could shelter if the worst happened. Amazingly the rain held off all the way there, and in fact the previous showers and the glorious sunshine combined to make the lanes around Staverton, with which we are so familiar, look stunningly beautiful.

We happened to be passing the Hill’s Cider shop in the way (honestly!) so stopped to purchase a bottle to wash down our lunch, which was eaten in the conservatory at Redmount. Here we had a major distraction in the afternoon as Michael decided to show us his “new toy” – a synthesiser. Obviously, we couldn’t leave until we’d tried out all the gadgets and made lots of nice noises.

By four o’clock we decided it would be a good idea to have a cream tea, so we pedalled up to Holne village via Scoriton and enjoyed a very nice tea at the Old Forge cafe. We were entertained by a baby long-eared rabbit who insisted on escaping from the litter in his cage and generally dodging various attempts by the staff to recapture him. Five minutes after his eventual recapture he reappeared between the flower pots to give yet more minutes of free entertainment.

After tea we bounced down the rough stony track that drops down to Holy Brook and I left Michael and John to have another session on the synthesiser while I had a fairly swift ride home via Bickington and Newton Abbot.

(Graham Brodie)

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

On 30th May six of us met at Five Lanes and set off at a great pace down over Kings Ash Hill and along the ring road at Churston. We then climbed gently up the drag to Hillhead and then dropped down to Kingswear via Nethway House.

It’s one of the Section’s favourite runs to look at the view down onto Dartmouth before dropping down to river level and walking the footpath to the Higher Ferry. Some time was spent on the small beach before we took to the path and then started the long climb back up past the shipyard to Hillhead again.

It was getting dusky and, on the way up, beautiful views of the river reflecting a distant sunset were afforded. It was dark as we ran off the top of the hill back into Churston and we split at Windy Corner, Dave Eyre and John Stuart heading back for Marldon and the rest of us returning to Paignton via Goodrington.

(Graham Brodie)

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

The Afternoon Run of 3rd June was the day of the Great Rip Off! It shows just what mugs cyclists can be. If you are enormously rich and are looking for ways of spending your wealth - and also enjoy queueing for ten minutes just in order to purchase a large sticky cake which knocks a hold in your appetite the size of a microchip - then look no further than the restaurant near the craft centre at Dartington.

After a most enjoyable ride to Staverton via Red Post and then down to Dartington for a walk around the immaculate gardens, we had this mad urge to have a cup of tea with perhaps the odd cake! Well, human psychology being what it is, it seems that when one queues for a long time, during which period one spends much time wondering if it is worth queueing at all, that when one finally arrives at the front of the queue one feels obliged to purchase what one has been queueing for, irrespective of whether one now thinks that what he/she has been queueing for is at all worth the wait (that’s my theory anyway!!). I think this was the situation which we found ourselves in because we ended up forking out vast sums of money for an extremely mild blend of tea and some exceedingly gooey cakes.

So it was that with slightly dented morale (and appetite) we wandered through Totnes and Berry Pomeroy to Marldon and then home for some real tea!

(Graham Brodie)

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

The following week, on 6th June, Richard Wiseman led a good run that took us through the lanes at the back of Westerland down to Blagdon. The nine of us who were out then joined the main Totnes road at Collaton St Mary and then turned off for Stoke Gabriel. The chosen route took us along some fairly easy rough stuff, re-joining the metalled road at Port Bridge.

Richard then decided to take us into the village by skirting the creek, but the ground being not quite as firm as it looked produced one or two adverse comments about the run’s leader. However, faith restored, we climbed out of the creek and then visited Duncannon - a beautiful spot, but the steep track down proved tricky for those with cycling shoes and we were soon happy to be back on two wheels to enjoy the trip back. This took us down through Aish, along a bit of main road and then some more fairly easy rough stuff to Barton Pines and back to Marldon.

(Graham Brodie)

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

Ten of us eventually converged on each other at Newton Abbot on 10th June, including newest rider Adam Nice and oldest Frank Boyes making a rare but welcome appearance. The day was a little too hot for cycling, so our planned coffee stop at Teign House was keenly anticipated. The Exeter A Section, who were meeting us, promptly departed, having told us the amended lunch destination, and the female proprietor began to pull her hair out over our apparent lack of organisation.

Rob Spence left us here for his lone trek to Crediton, and we trudged up through steep Christow to Clampitt Woods – a very pleasant part of the world. After checking the less grockle-infested lunch spots around the reservoirs we re-met the A-Section and settled down for an extended lunch break on the shore of Trenchford Reservoir.

By 3.15 we had all soaked up a lot of sun and didn’t feel like putting much effort into the afternoon’s riding. Having said our farewells to the A-Section and to Frank, we slowly made our way up to Pepperdon, down across the valley and the A382 and up again from Wray Barton. In the circumstances, one of which was lack of water, we were not enjoying the climbs, but the views from the hills made it worthwhile (we kept telling ourselves). We eventually swooped down past Bishop’s Stone into Lustleigh, where we consumed large quantities of tea, squash, iced water and, in Richard’s case, strawberry gateau in the Primrose Cottage tearooms.

Those of us who had brought our “cozies” had been promising ourselves a swim all day. When we found a suitable spot in the River Bovey, a mile down-stream, the water turned out to be rather cold and the bed rather rocky. However, Adam, Matthew and Richard (in his cycling shorts) actually swam (a bit) and Phil paddled, although he ended up so wet he might as well have swum! By this time (due to the stops, not miles) it was getting a little late, so it didn’t help when we had to return from Wolleigh to the swimming spot to find Adam’s watch. However, it was quickly found and we re-climbed the hill.

Returning home through Bovey and Newton we suffered the now familiar water spurting fight at Heathfield where Simon dropped his bottle and Matthew nearly wrote it off.

(Phil Burrows)

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

It was a hot Sunday morning when five riders started off from Five Lanes at ten o’clock. The pick-up point was Avonwick so we had to get a move on. Colin Brierly was riding his famous single-geared fixed wheel bike.

We eventually arrived at Avonwick about ten minutes late, finding a somewhat small turnout of one rider, he being the intrepid Mick Jones on his eighteen-geared machine.

We travelled on, going up the dual carriageway to Ivybridge and then up to Cornwood. This was only a third of the way to Burrator reservoir, where we were going to have lunch. But it was later decided that we were to eat at a very nice, scenic bridge somewhere on the open moor. We sat down by the river to eat our well-deserved lunch. Colin read his paper and passed comments on our day’s ride and where to go next.

As we still had to face the climb to Burrator, which was about five miles away, we climbed our trusty steeds and we made off into the sun and the brightness of a summer’s day. On and on we went, going through Princetown (a very grey part of the world). From here we cycled on into Dartmeet and past Pixie’s Holt, ready for the climb up to the top of Dartmeet Hill.

Tea was taken at Ashburton and then we went our separate ways. A very long, tiring, sweaty, hot, enjoyable time was had by all. Well, most of us anyway!

(Adam Nice)

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