We left St Austell on a bright, but breezy day and headed towards Fowey, which is a charming fishing village with a chain ferry across the water. A challenging hill awaiting us the other side, which definitely justified bottom gear and standing up! Morning brew stop was in Looe, a pretty fishing port, but the chilly wind stopped us pausing for too long.
We made our way towards Plymouth along quiet lanes, described as 'lumpy' by Darren, which meant a lot of up and down! Then caught the Cremyll ferry before lunch. Re-fuelled we navigated our way through the outskirts of Plymouth to pick up a lovely off road cycle path which took us all the way to the bottom of Dartmoor.
We cycled across Dartmoor, a hilly wilderness punctuated by ponies and sheep. There was a strong wind and a lot of tough hills, so the afternoon tea break was welcome. The final leg took us to Moretonhampstead. We stayed in a welcoming B & B, where the friendly host Sally even offered to do our washing! Bert the Border Collie also kept us amused with his enthusiasm for tennis balls! An excellent dinner in the local pub was a fitting end to a tough day. We also celebrated Robin's birthday, who at 71 is one of more senior members of the group!