It was take two for todays ride as I had to cancel the Sunday ride because of the bad forecast-which turned out to be a nice sunny day-you can`t win them all. There was 4 of us at the start, Myself, Graham B, Andy & Dave Oatway, Dave Newman had the start of flue, Larry was having his flue jab that afternoon.
 We set off towards Bittaford & turned left under the railway arches for a nice climb to shake the cobwebs out, Andy & I struggled up after the other two on their e-bikes, Andy dreaming of when his bike would be electrified & hoping to get his kit by the end of the week. Passing Moorhaven village we turned left again & headed for Owley, the lanes were knee deep in autumn leaves, at times it was a job to make out the tarmac, this proved a problem for the whole ride. Arriving in Aish we headed for Shipley Bridge & found we where to early for the tea wagon, so it was on to Bloody Pool Cross and the back lanes to Buckfastleigh. On these lanes coming down the long hill towards Deancombe there was a loud pop from my rear wheel and I had a puncture. Stripping down my wheel to repair the puncture with the thoughts of running my fingers around the tyre to find the offending thorn, my inner tube seemed stuck in & I found the offending object of my puncture, a metal pin like a nail about 3- 4 inches long through my tyre and innertube.
 Back on the road again we passed through Buckfastleigh, Pridhamsleigh & headed for Landscove and our first coffee stop to find it closed on Mondays till the 22 March, dam!!. This place used to be closed all winter, but the last time Graham & Myself were here they said it would now be opened all winter, not mentioning that it would be closed Mondays. So it was plan 2, & we headed off for Ben`s farm shop at Staverton. On arrival with the sun out and blue sky`s we sat outside to enjoy our refreshments.
 Fully refreshed & our stomachs recharged, it was on the road again to skirt Rattery & on to South Brent, as the afternoon progressed we started to get a couple of drizzly showers to dampen us down a bit, but these soon passed. Coming into South Brent we decided to stop again at the converted pub come cafe for more refreshments, tucking in to Beer & Cider, with Andy abstaining for a cup of tea. After a nice stop and reflecting back on our teenage years around a table with our alcohol, it was then the final leg back to the Station carpark and our farewells for another week after a nice ride with good company and 36.8 miles covered.

Trevor

   The temperature had risen slightly of late as Larry and I headed towards Callington for the start of today's ride. We were greeted by Trevor, Graham, John O'Rourke, Andy and Steve. {Dave O and Yolande sent their apologies that they were feeling the effects of recent activities}. I was particularly pleased to see that Andy had shaken off a nasty chest infection in order to join us in what promised to be a pleasant ride. We were soon climbing the col between Kit Hill and Hingston Down and then the rapid descent (250m in 1.25 miles) into the small village of Luckett. There was barely time to change down the gears before ascending again before another steep drop to Horsebridge and, of course, into Devon. The lanes through Sydenham Damerel were pleasant as they gradually took us up to the B3362 and the 200m contour! We headed towards Milton Abbot and I hardly had time to apologise to Trevor before we turned north past the delightful village school and up another 120m onto the ridge which runs roughly parallel to the main road. both the surface and views were superb.(we even encountered a small group of cyclists coming the opposite way), especially the steep descent to the ancient Greystone Bridge. As coffee was beckoning I opted for the most direct route which involved another mile or so on the 'B' road. Our coffee stop was Tesco in Launceston which was quite an event. Steve came to the rescue with the NHS app but the bubble containing Larry and myself were told off by an elderly couple for being too loud!

   After refreshments Larry led us down by the edge of the town and into the lane which leads to the start of the steam railway. We saw the shiny locomotive which, apparently, hails from the slate quarries of North Wales. Our tiny westward lane followed the same valley (River Kensey) and we saw the massive disused quarry from which the railway once transported building stone. We left this particular valley just before Egloskerry and headed south to wards Pipers Pool and Trewen. The latter was especially attractive with it's cluster of neat cottages and small church. The road down to the River Inny was steep and once we crossed the bridge we encountered our first real mud of the ride as we headed up onto the ridge took us along to Polyphant and the "cows on't green". After the usual photo opportunity we negotiated the tricky crossing of the A30 dual carriageway before climbing up to Lewannick. We once sheltered here in Archer's Arms and found it most accommodating so we thought that we would give it another go! We enjoyed the experience so much so that I got over excited and knocked my drink over! The final leg of circuit was fairly uneventful on the B3257 through Congdon's Shop and Coads Green and then the lanes through Linkinhorne, South Hill and Maders arriving back in Callington by the fire station. With hindsight I wish that I had opted for the tiny lanes through the hamlets of Newtown and Lanoy instead of the faster route. It would not have added much distance but would have prolonged the day for another half an hour.

Thanks everyone - it was most enjoyable. Only 36 miles but a fair few hills! 

​David

 Myself, Dave Newman, Trevor Bradshaw, Dave Oatway, John O'Rourke, Yolande Beriot, Larry Clark.

Driving to Brent Tor the start of the ride the weather did not look good with the cold and the rain but on arrival the rain had stopped and generally we had a sunny day though with some threatening clouds and light rain.
The first stop was the cafe at Roadford after taking the route that passed Sydenham House over the river Lyd, at the cafe a vacant table was found with a view of the Lake and with sailing boats looking for the wind.
After a pleasant stop we rode up the Holsworthy road a left turn was taken which took us towards Broadwoodwidger, a small place with the big name! and then lanes heading north leading to Ashmill, back on the main road. On the route earlier a stampeding herd of long horn highland cattle were coming down the road, so we used our good sense and a place of safety was found. Continuing on the lanes put us on the opposite side of the Lake from the cafe and now being near to the lake a picnic area was found for lunch with a table and views. 
After lunch and heading south going under the A30 then we went along a ridge with good views of the north moors before dropping down through wooded lanes to Lydford.
The Castle Inn at Lydford was the final stop where we enjoyed beer and crisps in rustic surroundings and with thanks, John footed the bill and was rewarded with a kiss on the top of his head from Trevor. 
The last leg of the journey was back to the car park at Brent Tor with over forty miles distance covered and a bright setting sun and I think it was a good finish to a good ride.

Graham
​

  As I arrived at  Certini`s car park on a gloriously sunny day, I noticed quite a gathering which was most unexpected. Soon after my arrival Dave turned up, now there were six of us. Trevor, Graham, Yolande, Dave & John. John now out on his second consecutive ride with the group, having cycled down from Callington. He was going to clock up some serious mileage today. No sign of anybody else turning up so off we went towards Hatt, along Trevor's favourite motorway. Through Hatt with the long downhill run before climbing to the turning left. Now on very narrow lanes up & down all the way to Blunts. Yolande was out for the second time after a long break from serious cycling. So she had to watch herself today as there was some serious hills & mileage to be covered. After Blunts the usual route to Liskeard via Doddycross was taken, with John showing us all a shorter safer route into town. Well done John. Here we took refreshments in Wetherspoons, with stricter distancing measures in place. 

Now refreshed we headed towards the local British Columbia area with its tall conifers, stream & steep-sided valley as John so famously calls it. I must admit it is a lovely area in contrast to the farmer's fields on the way to Liskeard. Shortly after we started the seriously long climb towards Colliford Lake, & I was pleasantly surprised how dry the lanes were. Trevor was enjoying the start of the climb because of plenty of grass up the middle of the lanes. So after what seemed a long time of uphill climbing we arrived alongside Colliford Lake. Trevor remarked how low the water level was, not that there hadn't been much rain of late. Now going along nicely on a fairly level road, with views of the Lake & moorland sprinkled with herds of cattle here & there. I spotted a never seen before, group of standing stones, which Yolande may have taken a picture of? This is not an area to be out in when the weather changes (Bodmin Moor). Soon after Dozmary Pool to our right, we turned right looking forward to a short steep descent to the road alongside the River Fowey. A nice few miles of steady downhill saw us arrive at the Golitha Falls, cafe.

Now fully refreshed & on our way we were soon to take in Dave's pleasant alternative route to Pensilva. On arrival Yolande, Graham & John took refreshments in the Village shop. So Trevor, Dave & myself carried on through the usual places to Saltash. Here we bade farewell to Trevor, & carried on home, with 50 miles on the clock. 

​Larry

  Start today was Bovey Tracey cricket club car park & we had a total of 8 riders, Dave Newman text to say he was having trouble with his new car -Flat Battery- and hoped to join us later. We were over the limit for gatherings so had to adopt the social distancing rules. The riders were- Myself & wife Sue, Graham B, John O`Rourke, Dave Oatway, Les Prior, Larry, Yolande.
  With no sign of Dave N. we set off riding through the park to join the old railway line & cycle path, had a call on my phone Dave had arrived, so leaving the others to wait I set off back to pick up Dave.
​  Now all together and now totaling 9 riders, we carried on heading for Lustleigh, coming to the end of cycle path to join the short section of road to the top end of Lustleigh. Here we joined the new cycle path to take us up towards Moretonhamstead, at the start of this we met 3 cyclist counting us through, are we going to be reported to Boris for breaking the 6 number rule ? Arriving at Moretonhamstead we skirted this to join the cycle route up to Chagford along some nice country lanes.
 Coming into Chagford we were reminded that this was a market town, and had to wait while a herd of cattle was being driven down the main street. Looking around for a suitable cafe, they all looked to small to accommodate our group, so we retired to The Three Crowns pub instead. This had a nice area out the back so we picked our social distance tables to have coffee, well Les had a beer, and enjoyed the sunshine.
  Up till now I had led the group into a false sense of security giving them nice flat terrain, now was wake up time. We rejoined the lanes for the long climb up to the reservoirs, mind they were nice lanes, & when we reached the high levels  we were rewarded with some great views of the surrounding countryside. The first Reservoir we reached was the "Kennick" & two more followed, The "Tottiford" & the "Trenchford" we stopped for another break at the last one, for some to enjoy their cakes they had purchased at a roadside stall on the way up.
  It was now on the homeward leg back down to Bovey Tracey, the last bit a steep downhill section, where Dave N. thought his rims were going to catch fire with all the braking. In Bovey we called in to the cycle cafe where a few of the riders had never been before, to be rewarded with all the cycling memorabilia from way back.
  It had been a nice warm & sunny day & although we only covered 28mile, with an extra mile thrown in for me having to ride back to pick up Dave, it seemed longer due to the second section. But I think everyone enjoyed it, and good company.

​Trevor

   David Newman Andy Prideaux and myself

There was only three of us at Torpoint, the start where we met a young cyclist with his child in baby seat on the back of the bike. He followed us to Tregantle Fort, where he turned left to make his way to Whitsands Bay and we made our way to the cafe at Seaton and meeting John from Callington with the Liskeard club.
After a pleasant stop, Andy left us to make his way back and now the two of us continued on to sea front at Looe where we watched the holiday makers being mugged by the sea gulls. On the return journey we followed the Looe valley train line to Trewidland and then turning right through to Widegates and Hessenford. Here turning left up the steep narrow lane to Trerulefoot, where David said his good byes and return to Saltash. I then made my way through St Germans back to the start after covering forty miles on a sunny day with good company.

​Graham

     At  Plymco the start of my ride there were the usual four being , i.e. myself, Trevor, Graham and Dave. 
This week's ride would take us to Peter Tavy returning via Tavistock and the Drake's Trail leading to Yelverton
The coffee stop would be at Long Ash, Yelverton where we enjoyed  coffee sat outside in the pleasant morning sun.
Moving on and replenished once more, we headed to Horrabridge and the back road to Tavistock. At Grenofen we took a right  turn which brought us out to Plasterdown and the usual entertainment of model planes weaving through the air, was a pleasure to watch as we swept by.
At the junction of  Moorshop we crossed the road heading for Peter Tavy through narrow lanes. On arriving at our destination we parked our bikes and sat outside in the beer garden enjoying liquid refreshments in  the mid-day sun.
Suitably refreshed it was onwards and upwards  following route 27 to Tavistock on the disused railway track.
At Tavistock we joined Drake's Trail leading to Yelverton where we joined the cycle track to Clearbrook and bade our farewell to Trevor who was heading to Cadover Bridge for a well earned ice cream.
The rest of us rejoined the trail through Plym-woods and Coypool terminating at the Ridgeway for Graham and Dave. A pleasant day with 44 miles showing on the computer and good company.

​Andy

   Well soon after arrival at the Golitha Falls car park I had quite a good group assembled, including Paul & Steve.,Trevor, Dave, Les, Graham & myself made up a good group of 7 riders. It looked like the weather was going to be the odd shower with sunny intervals. Les was going to stay with Paul as long as his battery allowed. So soon we found ourselves passing through Minions with the highest pub in Cornwall. Then taking the lane first left after Minions to hug the edge of this part of Bodmin Moor, with outcrops of granite towering above us to our left. Soon after, a very scenic & quiet lane, we arrived to go along the motorway, sorry Trevor, road towards our turning left for North Hill. We had got to the hills by this point. Not that it was going to be a very hilly route today anyway. Soon we passed through some lovely countryside & arrived at Plusha & the first watering hole (Subway). Here we had a chat over coffee etc, whilst observing strict distancing rules in place.

Now back in the saddle, we headed along the more or less level lane to Alternun, & along the way said good morning to the horse riders out. Soon going under the A30 & down through Alternun & crossing the bridge over Penpont Water. Then to climb turning left to go along a very narrow lane in parts were eventually Trevor could show us how to cross a very dodgy Ford. I chickened out as I sport narrow tyres, but I managed to see Les going across. Paul declined the offer even though he had quite wide tyres on. Shortly after we found ourselves heading across Davidstow Moor into a yes you guessed it a strong headwind. Well, at least it wasn`t raining as well. With the cheese factory to our right, we turned left & into the shelter Davidstow wood, & then almost level going across proper Bodmin Moor. With wide-open areas, & plenty of granite boulders to slow any walkers, horse riders, sheep & ponies. I narrowly missed being taken out by a Border collie dog shooting straight out across the lane in front of me followed by its lady owner on horseback. Soon at Churchtown, St Brewards we all congregated in a small area outside the 11th century, Old Inn, pub. Here over pints & half-pints, we had the presence of a young chap going end to end in nine days. Yes, & with camping gear + solar panels on his panniers, Ah!! I wish I was twenty-something again. That would be a feat stopping at B&Bs/Youth hostels. After wishing him the best of luck it was time to get on with the final leg of our day's ride.

On leaving Churchtown Dave took on the mantle as he was more familiar with the route to Temple, & just before the bridge over the A30 to Temple, I managed to slow down a cyclist coming towards us. It turned out that Dave knew him from Callington cycles, bike shop. With reassurances that it was only a 500 metre of rough stuff section to cross after Temple. So after downing our rain jackets we carried on through Temple then arrived at the rough stuff section were E-bikes because of there weight, makes it heavy going during lifting over the two stiles we encountered. Mind you I did clean my shoes off in the long grass. It was decided to go along the A30 & come off at Bolventor, of Jamaica Inn fame. This was soon over, then going downhill alongside the River Fowey we arrived at the starting point, & I had 45miles on the cyclometer.

​Larry
​

    Arrived at station car park on take 2 of Sunday`s ride, cancelled the ride on Sunday due to a bad forecast, (as it turned out it was a nice day) for a promised sunny day on Tuesday. To be greeted by Graham B. & Dave on a dull day with promise of rain, seems Larry chickened out & Andy was having his garage rewired. Standing by Graham`s car the heavens opened up with torrential rain, so we took shelter in the back of Graham`s car watching it bouncing off the tarmac. When it finally stopped we took stock & Dave decided to hit it on the head, was worried about the slippy conditions with his narrow tyres and recent falls & return home. Myself & Graham with more sensible bikes & with the hint of blue in the sky, decided to give it a go & headed for South Brent. We made our way there via Aish & Lutton then up to Bloodypool Cross, then the back lanes to Buckfastleigh.
​           I was hoping to make our first coffee stop at Salmons Leap cafe, but on arrival found it closed. So it was plan `B` and headed for the garden centre at Landscove via Pridhamsleigh. Been meaning to stop here on other occasions but have always passed it on winter months when it was closed. It turned out to be a lovely and welcoming cafe with lots of cake on offer,( Larry you don`t know what you missed ) Graham and I thought it rude not to partake, and where given two huge portions of Apple & Ginger cake. We decided to sit inside because we noticed a black cloud looming, a good decision because the heavens opened up again.
From Ivybridge we had had a dry ride with the occasional sunny periods making it quite pleasant. We had an extended stay in the cafe waiting for the rain to stop before setting off again heading for Ben`s farm shop, passing a road cyclist thoroughly soaked.
        Arriving at Ben`s farm shop we thought it to soon to stop again having not digested the cake from the last stop & carried on towards Rattery. We bypassed this on some quieter lanes having only so far caught  only the odd shower and nothing to heavy, and headed for South Brent. Here we stopped at the new cafe for our second stop for refreshments, relaxing inside on some comfortable arm chairs surrounded by Railway memorabilia. Graham noticed they had washable face masks for sale, but at £15 each, we decided not to bother.
        Then it was the final leg back to the station car park after a very pleasant ride, having missed the heavy rain, first in Grahams car, then in the cafe at Landscove. There was 33.8 miles on my machine when I got back home.

​Trevor

  I arrived at Brent Tor car park, the start for five riders, ( Trevor, Dave, Andy P. & John Durham )  I was the first there after driving through early morning mist though I was confident that it would be wall to wall blue skies later. We set off towards Chillaton but before that we passed a impressive historic house at Sydenham by the river Lyd and I have always thought it looked as if it was straight out of a novel.
The route took us passed Dingles a Fairground Museum, then on to the cafe at Roadford Reservoir where it was lucky to find a vacant table outside because it was already busy.
 After the stop we headed in a northerly direction on the road to Holsworthy but before then at Sandymoor cross we turned right on to narrow lanes that made Trevor happy after some straight roads. The journey then took through some small hamlets including Stowford with its impressive thatched cottage then on, crossing a bridge on the east side of the reservoir then under the A30. From there it was a scenic route,   
I must have to admit- accents, it must have been a bit challenging but with a wonderful view of the moors, going down this time passng over the river Lew then a steep incline near Beechcombe Farm.
Lydford was the last stop of the ride where we enjoyed a well-deserved refreshment in the pub garden at the Castle Inn, then the last leg of the journey back to car park at Brent Tor

It was a good sunny day on which I hope everybody enjoyed despite the tired legs
Trip distance 38 miles

​Graham