An early start for those who felt fit enough to ride all the way to Instow, while Graham, Jean and I cheated and took the car as far as Stoke Canon.

Not a bad morning, although the forecast was ominous, and at least we had a nice bit of sunshine while the three of us sat outside the church at Sandford eating our lunch. By the time we got to Copplestone, capes were called for and the mass of very dark cloud foretold lots more rain to come, so we decided to stick to the main road instead of our original Winkleigh plan.

It didn’t rain continuously, but the road a lot of the way resembled an extension to the river, however the sky relented a bit when we joined the rest of the Section and took to the lanes to Newton Tracey and Instow. Quite a lot of stuff to pile in the drying room, but after an excellent evening meal it was nice enough for most to go for a stroll down to the estuary.

(Colin Brierly)

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

A fair amount of fiddling about in the cycle shed next morning to get a better position for one of our newer members, and before long we also had a puncture problem which proved to be due to a brake block carving through the wall of a tyre. The very good coffee stop at Rockford (Brendon) provided us with shelter to carry out the necessary repairs, and sample their excellent cakes etc while the heavens did their best to flood the valley.

We did, however, have a dry period for our picnic lunch and even some sunshine especially for the photographers at Robbers Bridge. There were, however, plenty of wet feet before that, not due to the rain, but the ford at Malmsmead. Once again wet and messy afterwards, so we were waiting on the doorstep for the door to open at Exford, and luckily there had just been one male cancellation, so Graham was able to get in.

Supper somewhat delayed by the late arrival of a large bunch from West Kent who had found that the track over Dunkery became more of a stream bed when the rain belted down.

(Colin Brierly)

[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]

Jackie Lofty had her car at Exford to drive back to South Wales, and Jean was able to borrow her cape, her own having “fallen abroad”, but the wet weather didn’t deter people from riding through a couple of fords at Winsford and making a detour to Bury to find an even deeper one, although John was foolhardy enough to try riding that one!

Late coffee / early lunch at the Black Cat with another later picnic stop just short of Bickleigh in another allocation of sunshine before the last thirty-odd miles over the more familiar Teign Valley route.

(Colin Brierly)

[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]

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]

On April 28th I actually managed to crawl out of bed and get to Newton Abbot for the 10.30 pick-up! It was a glorious morning and as I turned into Decoy Road a flock of cyclists came into view.

No less than twenty of us started out through Newton Abbot, stopping at the Railway Station to see if Thomas from Plymouth was joining us, but since no train was due we carried on at a leisurely pace up the Teign Valley, overtaking dozens of runners on a six mile run, and turned off at Teign House, climbing up through Doddiscombsleigh and past the Nobody Inn.

Shortly before reaching our destination at Lawrence Castle we stopped for a breather and met a young couple who were cyclists. After a chat they decided to join us for part of the ride and we continued to the destination where we ate lunch whilst enjoying the panoramic views from the top of Haldon.

We were all invited to tea at Stephen’s house in Dawlish, so we cycled off across Great Haldon and said cheerio to Julie at the top as she was heading back to Topsham, and then dropped down through Mamhead to Dawlish. To get to Stephen’s apartment we had to scale Annapurna’s West Face, but this made the tea, squash and sandwiches even more welcome – thanks Stephen, and Stephen’s Mum.

Tea scoffed in usual cyclists’ manner, the remaining riders took the coast route home, ending a very enjoyable ride.

(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]