(There is no report for the start of this ride, but Robert Spence takes up the story once we met with him and Richard at Bowerman's Nose.)

Looking at the Nose, it is very hard to believe that Mr Bowerman is just a product of erosion. I maintain that he was built by the sheep, who used cranes and a JCB to move the massive granite blocks into place.

Richard and I had located the Dartmoor Letter Box and stamped our hostel cards with the rubber stamp therein, and the others spent one and a half hours doing the same, but it didn’t really matter because we only had a few hilly miles to Lustleigh and tea and raspberry gateau in the tearooms.

By the time we trooped out and waited for Michael Jones to put the finishing touches to his puncture mending, the glorious sunshine was fading fast and a blood red sky was coming alive. Colin chose a route that got us to Newton Abbot with very little motor traffic to contend with and our lights made a strange dance through the lanes past Seale Hayne College, the Brierly tandem setting a fast pace. Once again, the weather had been more than kind to us. Well it always smiles on the righteous!!

(Robert Spence)

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

Slight, or should I say considerable confusion on the day of our Christmas invasion of Don and Grace’s hospitality at Dawlish, for no-one seemed certain whether we were expected at lunchtime and if so, with or without our own grub. Most of us had taken food with us, which as it happened was the right thing to have done, and others soon found sustenance in Dawlish to go with the very welcome “cuppa” in the warmth of Hawtreys.

A gentle wander to the Warren after lunch, where unfortunately the amusement arcade was open, but we did eventually drag them all out, and after saying cheerio to Phil Benstead at Starcross, we carried on up to Mamhead Lodge and turned through lanes towards Dawlish Water, heading back to Don and Grace’s for tea.

Enough food to have had a noticeable impact on the Ethiopian famine was soon disappearing down gullets at a remarkable rate, leaving barely enough room for Jelly Babies and Custard – and mince pies. After thanking Don and Grace we headed home in much better weather than last year, but with slight puncture problems.

(Colin Brierly)

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

Rather a cold day for our trip to Hansel Mill just before Christmas, and only half a dozen of us out all day, though a few others joined us out as far as Moreleigh. Rather dull and grey, although it stayed dry after a few damp minutes while we met at Totnes and if we’d spotted a warm looking barn as we dropped to the destination we may well have asked to use it. We had to be content with an “out of the breeze corner” where we did not linger too long.

Rob was the only one who decided on going to Blackpool for a cuppa – the rest of us must have known it was going to be closed and wandered home via Tuckenhay.

(Colin Brierly)

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

The last club-run of ’84 was well attended, with fourteen of us taking the air and also the Bovey to Moretonhampstead road, turning off after Wray Barton to climb and gasp our way past the 1000 feet contour, though the view back down the valley was worth it. Onward past Mardon Down and Butterdon Hill to reach the top of the “test hill” which was at this time of year wet, muddy and very slippery with its loose surface.

Lunch was taken amidst the trees before the steep bits were tackled and Richard mended his puncture. Then the wrist-snapping descent began, requiring full concentration from those who rode it. At Fingle Bridge at last, we admired the fine old motorbikes of a vintage club, while Richard mended his other puncture!

Most of us elected to take the Nature Trail through Cod Wood, having reached Clifford Bridge, and so began a ride of a couple of miles of what resembled Florida’s Everglades. When we rested our bikes outside the café at Steps Bridge, the mud on them obscured minor details such as frame tubes, wheels and handlebars!

Light rain in the gathering dusk encouraged us to keep a brisk pace down the Teign Valley and we went our separate ways at Chudleigh Bridge after our warm and fairly sunny day’s ride.

(Robert Spence)

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

No-one turned up at Five Lanes, Marldon for the hard ride to Mary Tavy, so I continued on to Avonwick with the vague hope of company. I arrived to see an empty seat outside the inn. From there I had a strong biting headwind all the way to Ivybridge. I stopped at the large clay quarry just outside Cornwood for a drop of coffee. It began to snow, falling thick and fast. Through the snow I saw a cyclist in shorts walking his dog whilst riding his cycle.

I carried on, slipping in all directions to the destination. The snow stopped just before lunch – by now it was about three inches deep. Heading homewards across the moor, I think I shocked a Hells Angel on his 1100cc motorbike when I zipped past him.

Disappointed at Ashburton with the café closed, I took to the lanes heading for home. On the brow of a hill I tried to slow down, hit a patch of black ice and the bike and I ended up in the hedge. While I trued my wheel, a car did a more spectacular slide at greater speed into the hedge.

(Richard Wiseman)

Here we are, ’85 and all that, and the Torbay Section’s first Afternoon Run of the new year took us in a higgledy-piggledy fashion to Ideford and back in cold, cold weather. Funny how some stretches of road seemed to have a private snow cloud which dumped its contents in a clearly defined 100 feet or so of the road. This time of year, in the lanes, you can round a bend and find a patch of ice or a pheasant. We found both - pheasants are much the nicer of the two!

(Robert Spence)

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

Shillingford St George was the destination for Sunday 13th January. So cold, the water in our bidons froze! However, we enjoyed sunshine for the ride up Teign Valley and over Longdown. Bill Perkins and his two sons left us here and we continued to the Dalley house for the partaking of sustenance.

Reluctantly we dragged ourselves out into the FRESH air and wandered through Shillingford St George and Clapham without too much trouble from the icy surfaces. When we climbed from Underdown and took a forestry track through Tower Wood, it was a different matter. We emerged at the top of Haldon and wondered how to get down again, but the back road into Chudleigh was OK, and for a bonus we found a newly-opened café run by a very agreeable couple.

(Robert Spence)

[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]

27th January was our Puncture Run to Hallsands. After admiring Kevin’s new racing jersey, we climbed out of Totnes and took “our” quiet back way to Moreleigh and thence Sherford and Frogmore. Poor old Cossers’ rear tube would not stay inflated, and the Brierly machine followed suit close to an inviting-looking barn. Nobody at home though, so rather than risk upsetting anyone with an uninvited occupation we rolled on up the road and spread our capes at Loo Cross.

During lunch we decided to skip Hallsands and not push our luck with the menacing sky. The descent to Torcross was excellent as always, and after a brief gaze at the wildlife and the Sherman tank we got the wind to shove us along Slapton Ley.

I left the others at Strete for their windy return to Totnes, and my luck was in for getting a cuppa at Blackpool. Not so, however, when I left the café: the rain did rain and the gale did gale and the Dartmouth Ferry nearly made me seasick!

(Robert Spence)

[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]