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

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]

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]

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]

Richard and I left Five Lanes at 9am on March 3rd, and by the time we reached Totnes we were getting somewhat damp, but undaunted we continued to the pick-up at Avonwick, and had just finished wringing out our socks and baling out the shoes when Kevin and Tom arrived dry from Plymouth. Our headwind had been their tailwind!

We did not remain a foursome for long. My recent bout of flu told me not to continue to Bovisands, and since Richard was happy to cut the run short, we headed down the Avon Valley to Diptford, then across country to Slapton - almost, except that we dropped down to Hansel Mill in order to get over to Blackpool to eat our lunch.

The café was closed, owing to the disintegration of portions of the sea wall on which it was built, but we made ourselves comfy, ate, and watched the sea with a renewed respect for its destructive powers. Our vow to obtain hot tea was accomplished in Dartmouth, prior to using the lower ferry to get us to our side of the Dart.

In some ways we regretted not doing the whole run, especially as the weather was improving, but we’ll get there next time!

(Robert Spence)

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]

On the 10th of March, Great Fulford was chosen as a destination because the map indicates it a Non-Roman antiquity, an old farm manor house to be precise. Anyway, our large numbers invaded the café at Lustleigh for coffee etc after the very fine ride out from the pick-up. Latest Sanyo (dynamo) anecdote is Richard’s dangling by the wires underneath his chain stays, the bolt having sheared.

With elevenses in our tums, we staggered up the hill from Lustleigh to the ridge road, and swept along, way up above North Bovey, eventually to drop to Moretonhampstead for lunch in the park, an some very bad behaviour on the swings and roundabouts!

Back on the road, and after a very stiff climb up past Coombe Court we had a couple of invalids, so over Mardon Down and on to the B3212 for the well-wooded descent to Steps Bridge where we did not stop for tea. The weather had threatened to turn nasty, but we outrode it down the Teign Valley and did ride up the hill into Chudleigh just to have a cuppa there.

Between Chudleigh Knighton and Newton Abbot we seemed to split into small groups as the Buckfastleigh Brigade went their way and the Torbay folk headed for home. Stephen from Dawlish has been working hard to introduce more people from that area to ride with us. Devon DA Rules OK!

(Robert Spence)

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

Dartmoor is always fascinating to look at, even if you can only see little bits of it through mist or rain, but never more so than on a bright sunny day when it is covered with several inches of snow as it was for our Hamel Down run in mid-March.

Roads were fairly clear, although a watchful eye had to be kept for patches of ice, and we were soon getting warmed up with the long climbs from Bovey to Becky Falls.

By the time we got to Beetor Cross, food was called for and a nice bank in the sun and out of the breeze proved ideal for keeping warm while eating and then getting cold whilst snowballing. Inner men satisfied and honour ditto in the snowball war, we carried on around to Grimspound before conferring on the next actions.

I decided that cycling shoes were not the best of footwear for trudging through several inches of snow, but all the rest decided to give it a try and headed up onto the moor while I wandered towards Cold East Cross and home.

(Colin Brierly)

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

The next week’s destination was Hope Cove, but with some new young riders already having ridden from Dawlish to the Totnes pick-up we decided to split, and the more energetic folk carried out the run. The rest of us had a leisurely wander towards Moreleigh before picnicking and then most ended up at Michael’s at Buckfastleigh for a “cuppa”.

(Colin Brierly)

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

Blackingstone Rock is a high and windy place, doubly so when we stopped there for lunch on March 31st. We were seventeen in number when we left Bovey Tracey to climb the B3344, and shortly turned right for the steep descent to the River Bovey, thence to Lustleigh and of course the Primrose Café where elevenses were consumed.

Up the valley and then the hard climb past Pepperdon and the 1000 feet mark, leaving not a lot of miles to the rock itself which we arranged ourselves on and around prior to feeding our faces once again. After a while the wind gathered strength and the sky blackened and we got rolling, only for a short distance however because Steven Hills’ new bike contracted its first puncture. Nearly all of us left him to it and continued to Kennick Reservoir for an acorn fight and much test riding of Simon Birtles’ Moulton AM7 with is hot and cold running suspension.

Steven reappeared, and on we went, following the quiet wooded lanes that dissect the top of this plateau. There’s a right-angled bend on a hump-back bridge covered with loose gravel and leaves just waiting to give a speeding cyclist flying lessons and sure enough one of the new lads came a cropper. He had a soft landing fortunately.

We investigated an old mineshaft before dropping to Hennock village and “falling off the edge” to Knighton Heath, and from there we headed for our homes as quickly as possible, but the clouds and their contents still overtook us!

(Robert Spence)

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