​The predicted wind was that strong it blew the Sunday`s ride back to Saturday and the start was also changed due to the weather and now it was the Lyneham Inn, near the A38. From the start it was muddy lanes, going through Westlake and Ermington, then over the A31 and up the hill to Mary Cross. Here we took a right and worked our way to Loddiswell and the Avon Mill garden centre for coffee. We then continued along south side of the river Avon to Gara Bridge, along the way Trevor took a photo of some colourful crocuses outside a impressive historic house. 
From the bridge it was up the hill to California Cross and the pub, sitting inside this time made a pleasant stop for drink. Afterwards we rode back to Mary Cross via Brownston and Ermington, arriving back at the start our thoughts were of the impending storm and how it was right to move the ride back to Saturday so that we could enjoy some blue skies in the dry but it was cold.
Graham Black Trevor Bradshaw Andy Prideaux. 32 miles covered.

​Graham

  It was a cold, frosty start at Torpoint ferry and the cause of this was the clear sky over night, though in the morning we had blue skies. I was pleased to welcome two new riders, Penny and Steve that arrived at the start on such a wintry day. After the ferry crossing we were joined by David on the Cornwall side because of problems on the bridge. So now there was five riders, three on electric bikes, including myself and two O' natural!
The usual route was taken to the beach cafe at Seaton after enjoying the sea views on the way, relaxing in the sun with a cuppa Trevor and Steve exchanged stories of their sailing adventures.
I decided to ride up the Seaton valley and not to go to Looe this time because of the cold weather and taking on board two new riders, on the way I managed to loose Steve but we were soon reunited thank's to mobile phones. On reaching the A38 I was happy to let David to take over, because he knew the narrow lanes around there better, the route took us by the old Beskyn Mill then under the A38 to St Germans.
The second stop of the was at the Elliot pub where we had a quiet drink whilst appreciating the warm surroundings,( see photo's.) It was still early so the road back to the ferry was still busy but on the way there was a good view of the main line train bridge at St Germans. After arriving back we said good bye to Penny and Steve and hope to see them again.
35 miles was the total mileage and a good day had by all. 
Graham, Trevor, David, Penny and Steve

​Graham

  A strange phenomenon greeted us at the start this week, blue sky's & sunshine. There was the usual 4 gathered, Myself, Andy P, Graham B. & Dave Newman. We set off heading for Bittaford where we turned right to take us on the lanes to take us to North Huish, it was then down to Bickham Bridge and the long long climb up to the Moreleigh road. We carried on this road to Moreleigh which was busy with traffic for a winter Sunday, it was then through the village to take us up to the main Kingsbridge road. Proceeding straight across to take us to Blackawton & then on to Bugford where we took Batchmore Lane & up to Hemborough Post. It was then mostly down hill - which Dave was glad for, as he had been suffering on the hills - to Dittisham, to find the cafe shut for the winter, so had to go in the pub, ( Shame )
  Leaving the nice warm and atmosphere of the pub, we pushed our bikes up the steep hill a short way to join the path down to the park. We then had a short climb to join the lane following the creek along to Cornworthy, passing through the village we headed for Tuckenhay & on to Bow Bridge and another pub stop.More beer, and with a raging fire going Dave & Graham decided to stop in the pub where as Andy and Myself went outside in the sunshine to sit by the creek. The usually trickle of a stream was now in full flood due to all the rain we have had, Dave & Graham joined us in the sunshine to eat there sandwiches with the benches filling up with other brave souls.
 It was then on the tried and tested route back through Harbertonford - Rolster Bridge and on to Avonwick, here I decided to climb the long hill out of Avonwick, as our usual route back through South Brent and passed Glazebrook House I new would be flooded. Dave thought it was another hill he did`nt want to climb and took the main road back to Wrangaton. The rest of us carried on through the lanes back to the Rugby club & then the station where we said our goodbye`s after a 40 mile route. 

​Trevor

  A nice dry start today from Blunts. Soon four of us on our way & down defibrillator hill with cold air in our lungs.Hopefully it will warm up later. The lanes were rather mushy what with all the rain of late. Soon we had our first climb of 2020 to Bethany village, & this I believe warmed us all up. Shortly after we were on Trevors motorway, the A38 & climbing to the first turning off & heading towards Sandplace. Then on the road alongside the East Looe river, nice & level now & heading to Looe for our cafe stop. Whilst in the cafe I spotted John O`Rourke arriving outside. He had set off from Callington & had just missed us at Blunts. Anyway Dave, Trevor, Les & myself engaged in banter with John when he appeared in the cafe.

Suitably refreshed we set off out of Looe with now five of us. Retracing our steps to Sandplace. Then on the lane beside the Liskeard to Looe railway. Here we started the long climb to the village of St Keyne. Then on another lane taking us up to the junction for the road to Dobwalls & then Redgate for another refreshment stop at Golitha Falls. We must have done quite a bit of climbing to get here, as all of us had a good colour in our faces. It appeared there was no fruit cake available. Never mind maybe next time. Dave & Les decided to saddle up, but no cowboy hat-see photo. John told us he would depart our company at Pensilva, as that was a convenient spot to cut across to Callington & home for him. In the end he must have done close on 50 miles I believe. 

Saddled up, on our bikes this time, & now going up & passing as someone said a group of rocks on our right.(King Doniert`s Stone) to be honest,some say a King of Cornwall many years ago. Or is it just another of King Arthur type tale? Shortly after in Darite, Dave took us along one of his hidden lanes of Cornwall. Nice one Dave. In Pensilva, we all stopped at the big signpost to say farewell to John. I like to think of him as the phantom from Callington. Now four & soon to be crossing the main road to Callington from Liskeard. We soon reached Blunt where we started from. A nice dry day &  35 miles & strong legs.

​Larry

  This Sunday saw us gather with 52 other riders for South Devon CTC annual Mince Pie Ride, we managed to field 7 riders from Plymouth CTC - Myself + wife Sue, Larry Clarke, Les Prior, Andy Prideaux, Grahams John & Reed. The start was at Kingskerswell Arch with Geoff Sharp the organiser.
 So off we set heading for Decor park, then headed for Denbury on some new lanes for the Plymouth group, luckily Geoff managed to find us some nice hills to negotiate. We where now spread out at bit with the main peloton leading & the rest of us in dribs & drabs bringing up the rear.From Denbury it was up to West Ogwell and on to cross the main A383 heading for South Knighton, then more lanes before crossing the main A38 near Blackpool.Its was then up to pass through Liverton with more nice hills and muddy lanes to join the A382 Bovey Tracey- Moretonhampstead road and turning right down to Bovey Tracey Golf Club for our first coffee/cake stop. Here we booked in with Geoff and collected our £2 voucher towards our refreshments, the club where certainly ready for us with some nice cakes on offer.
 We where the last to leave enjoying the nice surroundings, to arrive at our bikes to find Andy had a puncture. So that put us further behind, luckily I had the GPX route on my phone to follow. So off we finally set as tail end charlies to pass through the back streets of Bovey Tracey & then to join the Cycle path from Bovey to Newton Abbot. We where now for some of us on familiar territory having cycled along here a few times. We left the cycle track at Teigngrace Cross to head down to Teigngrace and then on to the main A382 Bovey Tracey road. Crossing straight over after heavy traffic we carried on through the lanes skirting St Leonards to cross over the A383 Ashburton road.It was then more lanes to head back to Denbury and turning right at Newton cross for some new lanes to lead us back to Kingskerswell and the Parish Church Centre for the finish and mince pies.Time we got back after the delay for Andy`s puncture most people had disappeared, but at least there was some mince pies left.
 All in all it was a good ride with new territory and lanes to discover, & the weather although cold at the beginning was mostly bright & sunny. So well done Geoff, and a well worth the outing for the Plymouth mob with just over 32 miles on the clock. 
​Sorry no photos to post I will put some on later when I get some from Graham Brodie, as usual he took loads.

Trevor

  Five today as we left Certini car park heading for Hatt, in cloudy mild weather. Soon after leaving Hatt we came across the very wet & muddy lanes climbing towards Pillaton. After descending through Pillaton, & into the woods the lane leveled out alongside the river Lynher. The weir was not visible due to the depth of water rushing through, but Clapper bridge was holding up well to the swollen river. Soon we reached the Ford on our way to St Ive, & here Les & Trevor showed us all how it should be done. I still managed to get my feet wet due to my light body weight. Dave & Andy I believe went over the raised area to the side. Soon after St Ive we all arrived at the Leisure centre in Pensilva & here we took refreshments. Then went round the table top fair. Some of the group had not been here before & I think they enjoyed the novelty aspect.

Soon on our way again & climbing onto Bodmin moor in thick foggy weather. Here it was decided to descend to lower ground thus avoiding the wet foggy weather. We soon got to Dobwalls, & descended further down to the narrow lanes leading into Liskeard, under a viaduct, & a steep hill. Soon in Liskeard we took refreshments in the King Doniert`s pub. 

Fully refreshed we were on the last leg still in cloudy weather. Les took up the lead on the way to Pengover  Green, & here we re-grouped & managed a stop just before Blunts. To eat what food we had left. Dave suggested a good route to finish on so on & down the steep lane which Dave calls Frenchmans. Then at Notter Bridge, we went on up to Hatt, & on to Saltash. Here we bade our farewells. Then Dave, Les & myself cycled home within Saltash, with 38miles under my belt.

​Larry

  There were 10 of us at the start, this included A+B riders, also  five 'e' bikes and five ordinary bikes, a growing trend?

The destination was Hobleton and coffee at Newton Ferrers. Taking the lanes through Wiverton and Wollaton we were soon at Brixton. Instead of taking a left turn I took a right and my deliberate mistake was soon to be rectified, when I noticed 'Otter' nurseries in the distance.
Turning left on the A379 for  Kitley and Bridgend and then a steep climb towards the Newton Ferrers turn off we were soon approaching our first stop of the day, Café on the Green, unfortunately it was closed. Undefeated it was upwards and onwards to the Ship inn at Noss, the bar was empty apart from our good selves.

The lanes  out of Noss were full of debri, and almost qualified as off- road. soon we were on the main coastal road for Hobleton where we met out first obstacle, the road was flooded. Undeterred Trevor took the lead and managed to wade through and was soon followed by the rest of us.On arriving at Hobleton both pubs were closed, the Dartmoor Union and the Mildmay colours, It wasn't our day!
​
Trevor decided Ermington might be a good bet , so the Crooked Spire it was. After lunch it was the rat -run to Ivybridge and the turmoil of frustrated motorists, weaving in and out of the country lanes.
Soon we were at Ivybridge where we bade our farewells to Trevor and Sue, whilst we carried on through Cornwood and back to Plympton. A good day with 32 miles on the clock.

​Andy

  For this particular Cornish ride we elected to depart from Blunts to avoid problems at the Tamar Bridge and give us a little more flexibility of routes. I decided to limit our ride to familiar lanes in order to arrive at the designated coffee stop at a reasonable time as in keeping away from lanes which were likely to be flooded. There were 5 of us at start - the usual 4 for a Cornish ride Trevor, Graham, Larry and me but with the addition of Les Prior our one time member of the 'Hard riders' section and, due to serous back injury was now sporting an impressive new E bike! It was really good to see him again and his presence enhanced the overall enjoyment of the ride. 
 
   So, it was the usual route through St. Ive and Pensilva and then up alongside the upper reaches of the river Fowey to Jamaica Inn for coffee. Now although this would never rank as one of our better venues we actually spent a very pleasant half an hour discussing a variety of topics of interest. I was even given a present by Graham. We also decided to attempt the far side of the lake in spite of having to negotiate a mile or so of the busy A30! It needs to be said that this not normal group procedure but in this instance the deviation was well worth foregoing a principle. The view from this side was so very different and further enhanced by the blue sky reflecting off the Lake. We continued across the moor to the outskirts of St. Neot where then took the narrow lane through the tiny hamlet of Draynes which was both hilly and covered in debris. It did, however, bring us right to our destination Inkie`s Smokehouse at Golitha Falls which, unfortunately, was closed due to vacation. Trev quickly remedied the situation by suggesting the farm shop at Tokenbury Corner above Pensilva which we duly did. It did involve us retracing our route even more but, never mind, we can do my planned deviation on another occasion. Again the banter was good {mainly at my expense} principally with my vibrating front mudguard which kept bouncing off over cattle grids.
​
   The return journey to Blunts was relatively straightforward as well as easy but after all the rain and high winds we have had lately we were just happy to be out on our bikes. 38 miles on the clock and although the route was not the most inspiring I think it was quite enjoyable.I hope that Les enjoyed his return to the fold and we hope that he turns out with us again.Thanks everyone for your presence. 

Dave 

  It was high tide and all three of us amassed at the Torpoint ferry at the start on what looked like wall to wall blue sky day but this was to be short lived because the predicted rain that was coming around lunch time, came early. After Antony I took a route along a muddy, grassy narrow lane off the B3247 via Blerrrick Farm on the way to Seaton. I thought this would satisfy Trevor but David would would not have approved if he was on the ride today! Then further along our route we went through Narkus and down the steep hill to Seaton but on the way it was mother natures natural traffic calming, a fallen tree, but it did not stop us as we leaped over it and continued on. There was still a blue sky when we arrived at the cafe but by the time we went to sit outside with our coffee it had started to rain but happily by the time we started to head back the rain had stopped though the showers were to return on the way back but this did not stop us enjoying being out in the fresh air. When we had reached St Johns the tide was low enough for us to ride through the ford without getting water in our bearings. Just before the Torpoint ferry with 26 miles on the clock and still early, Trevor suggested that we stopped at the Torpoint Mosquito Sailing club bar where he treated us to a pint and some nautical tales of life at sea.

Leader Graham Black with Andy Prideaux and Trevor Bradshaw on another good ride.

26 miles on the clock

Graham

Six of us turned up at the station car park for this weeks ride, on a bright sunny day which was a bonus after all the rain in the past week. It was nice to see John Orouke had made the trip from Callington, also nice to see again Dave Simpson who made it all the way from Ivybridge.
​  Off we went into a cold easterly wind towards Wrangaton but with the sun in the sky promising to warm it up as the day progressed, plus the occasional hill to warm us up. It was then on a tried and tested route through Avonwick to join the lanes for Harberton, the lanes were full of debris from the recent storms also lots of standing water.From Harberton we carried on the lanes through Lower Cholwell to join the main road down into Totnes and on to the Riverside Cafe for our first stop.

 Off again to join the cycle path for Dartington, the sun had brought out lots of walkers & there dogs to weave around on the way. From Dartington we joined the cycle path alongside the main road up to Huxham`s Cross, crossing the main road and downhill for Staverton Bridge and the station. We turned left by the station and headed for Ben`s farm shop and our second stop.

​  Fully refreshed we joined the main road and over the bridge on the river Dart & railway line, then turning right to join the cycle path by Hood Manor School leading us up to the Rattery road. This road/lane is very undulating with plenty of hills to test us, nearing Willing Cross, & as Andy & myself had ridden through Rattery the previous Sunday, I decided to bear a right and head down to Lower Dean, which took us past Pennywell farm. It was then up the long hill for Harbourneford, arriving at the turn of we normally take to avoid the big hill out of the village, to find it flooded, so we carried straight on to the next right turn. There was just myself & Graham that took the turning because, Dave N started moaning I was taking them to more flooded lanes, and carried on with the others. It turned out Graham & I had a dry run while the rest had to tackle a flood in the village.

 Back together again at the other side of the village we carried on to South Brent, then on the back lanes for Ivrbridge past Glazebrook Hotel.Last Sunday Andy & I had ridden this and en counted a flood under the railway bridge, but was able to free wheel through it without getting our feet wet. But on arrival we could see it looked a bit deeper, but I thought give it a go, and I built up speed to free wheel through it, only to come to a full stop in the middle, so it was feet down to peddle on through. Giving credit to the rest they all followed me, well all but Dave N. & Graham, it had slipped my mind about Graham on his electric bike, ( which would not have done it much good ) & Dave did not want to get his bottom bracket wet - a new one from wheel bearings. So they had to make there way back to South Brent and take the long way back to Ivybridge.
 An eventful ending to a good ride & good weather, Dave Simpson said he was starting to flag a bit coming out of Dean Prior, but he hasn`t been riding for a couple of months, which does not help. I had 34.5 miles on the clock, time I got home, Andy would have more having ridden in from Plympton.

Trevor