Noel impressed us all by cycling from Bovey to meet us at Buckfastleigh this morning, and Warren, who had recently broken one of his fingers, was today sufficiently recovered to meet us at the Totnes pick-up, full of the joys of autumn. Noel had brake problems on the hill out of Totnes, giving us all a rare chance to enjoy the views of Totnes, then his bell fell off on the way down Bow hill!

We had almost forgotten the beauty of the lower reaches of the Dart. Today there was time to admire it as we walked up Corky (collecting chestnuts along the way) and cycled along the delightful lanes to Dittisham. There was a little confusion at Bozomzeal as we tried to find the correct route through the fields. A cleverly-disguised gateway eventually revealed itself, and lunch was enjoyed on the sunny banks of a steep meadow near Hole Copse amid BMX-style cycling antics.

The final section of the track was a bit muddy, and not at all to Noel's liking as he was riding a new bike which he was testing 'on approval'. When we emerged at Old Mill Creek he decided to wash his wheels off, but sadly got stuck in the creek and succeeded only in washing his feet!

Once we had struggled up the hill against an almost unbelievably large crowd of walkers that had suddenly appeared from nowhere, we discovered plenty of action in Dartmouth. There was some sort of boat race or regatta taking place on the quay, commentary about which was being provided over a public address system. To our amusement the commentator seemed to know as little about the event as we did, referring to the winning boats as 'the green thing' and 'the galleon' right up to the winning post! We quickly despaired and retired to a nearby cafe.

The ferry crossing, far from being our last hurdle, heralded the start of a new set of disasters for our happy gang. Luke stopped at the bottom of the hill to fix a slow puncture that had turned somewhat faster during the crossing. Jeremy stopped half-way up with another puncture and the rest of us waited at the top for half an hour for them to catch up. Luke had sadly had a second puncture on the way up, and now everyone was well frozen.

We managed to make good speed though Marldon, Red Post and Staverton despite the darkness and lowering fog, but when Andrew punctured near Riverford at 6pm we decided that it was time to send people homewards. We finally reached Buckfastleigh by 6.30.