Past Ride
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Sat Sep 11th 2010
| Round the Isle of Wight | 3* |
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Leader:John Talbot |
Start Time:8:00 am |
Start Location:Lymington Pier |
Description:We will be following the Round the Island Cycle Route anti-clockwise from Yarmouth Harbour. Distance is 105 km (65 miles).Catching the ferry from Lymington Pier. We will travel as day return foot passengers, bikes are carried free of charge. The crossing takes 30 minutes. We will take refreshments on the ferry (and late morning if required). Lunch stop will be near Bembridge. We'll aim to stop for afternoon tea at Cowes and/or we will take refreshments on the return ferry. The route is undulating with a couple of climbs but is very scenic. John did the route in August 2009 (http://www.gps-sport.net/trainings/cycling_159388 and took about 6.5hrs. We've got all day so we'll take it at a leisurely touring pace. |
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Report:Five of us drove through heavy rain on the A34 with trepidation at what lay in wait for us on the Isle of Wight. Luckily when we all arrived in good time for the ferry it was dull and damp but not raining.The ferry journey was all on time and we arrived in Yarmouth to set off following the white island on blue signs leading us anticlockwise around the island. After a brief offroad section on the old railway line from Yarmouth to Freshwater the first long climb started on the old military road which is close to the cliff edge (and over the cliff edge at one point). The route turns inland on extremely quiet lanes with sea views to our right. In fact there was barely a call of "Car Up" or "Car Down" all day on the lanes as they are virtually unused by vehicles. When we rejoined the military road at Chale, David B picked up a flint the size of a small axe in his front tyre which gave us a bit of time for a breather before the longest and biggest climb of the day at Blackgang Chine. This was rather exciting as we ascended into the clouds and it was full lights on as visibility dropped dramatically. A sweeping descent followed and we cycled parallel to the sea above the landslip coastline of Ventnor. A really tough up and down section followed and tummies were rumbling as we got to Bembridge for lunch at the CTC friendly Toll Gate Café. After filling up (and drinking coffee that threatened to keep us awake for days) we continued our journey. The next section past Ryde and through Wootton Bridge is easily the busiest and least interesting section of the route. It's best just to get clear of the traffic as quickly as possible and push on to Cowes. Which was made easier by the heavy rain shower we suffered shortly after lunch, it was heads down and pedal. The traffic makes it easy to miss a turning near Ryde and I did it for the 2nd year running unfortunately, but we only had a short return back. The sun came out as we took the chain ferry over the River Medina (free for cyclists). It took us close to the town but bizarrely the route makes you climb uphill away from it to drop down to the esplanade on the other side. Maybe pushing bikes through the pedestrian area might be more interesting. We realised we weren't going to get back to Yarmouth for the 17:15 ferry so we took a 15 minute breather on the beach for a teabreak and/or ice cream/cake. One final steep section at Gurnard and one more up and down and we had the quick rural run back to Yarmouth in time for the 17:55 ferry. Ursula had a second wind which left most of us panting at the back to keep up! It's a real good route but it is a tough 65 miles with over 4000ft of climbing and there aren't many flat sections. It's easy to see why it's used as a charity challenge route. Well done to everyone for achieving a full circuit of the island in an average speed in excess of 12mph. And thanks for supporting the ride and for your great company! | ||
Distance:107.33 km (66.69 mi) | Ride Details:http://ridewithgps.com/trips/103460 | |
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| Proposed Route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/112425" | ||
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