Past Ride
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Sat Sep 10th 2011
| 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 clockwise from Yarmouth Harbour. Distance is 105 km (65 miles).We will catch the 08:45 ferry from Lymington Pier. We will travel as day return foot passengers (£12.30, tickets bought before sailing), bikes are carried free of charge. The crossing takes 30 minutes. There is a pay and display car park at the ferry terminal (£5.90 for 8-16hrs). Bring enough change for the machines. You must arrive at least 30mins before the ferry to allow time for parking, buying tickets and boarding. We will car share as much as possible. We can have breakfast and refreshments on the ferry. Lunch stop will be at the CTC Affiliated Toll Gate Café near Bembridge. We'll aim to stop for afternoon tea/ice cream or we will take refreshments on the return ferry (probably the 17:15 or 17:55). The route is undulating with a couple of climbs but is very scenic. Last year we did the route anticlockwise. Please let me know beforehand if you are coming on the ride so I can tick you off at Lymington. |
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Riders:Adrian WestAndy Cowan Andy Newell Chris Walters Claire Newell Jenny Williamson John Talbot Ken Pelton Paul Jarvis Riders = 9 Report:Our 2nd annual(?) trip to the Isle of Wight. Despite high winds forecast I decided we should try for a clockwise circuit of the island knowing that the SW corner is very exposed if the wind got bad.Nine of us arrived in plenty of time to catch the 8:45am ferry which was quiet despite the Bestival taking place on the island this weekend. The Sun came out as we approached Yarmouth and it was a sultry 20ºC when we arrived. The first section to Cowes is undulating but with the wind at our backs we made good time and had a nice break at the beach at Gurnard for ice cream. We didn't want to get to Bembridge too early for lunch! The route takes a rather bizarre choice of climbing up and over West Cowes avoiding the town centre entirely, seems utterly pointless, there must be a way of getting to the chain ferry without involving any hills! Unfortunately we timed our arrival in East Cowes with the unloading of a ferry from Southampton and this being the only main road of the route it was very busy. We took refuge in an entrance until the traffic eased. Then begins the rhythm breaking relentless up and down section through Wootton Bridge, the outskirts of Ryde to Bembridge. We had a good lunch break able to sit outside in the Sun next to the harbour. Andy N rather conveniently decided to have the only mechanical of the day just as we arrived. Suffering a puncture yards from the café! He could repair at leisure as Claire (welcome on her first ride with the club) ordered his lunch. Just as we set off from lunch it started raining. Waterproofs were donned as we assumed this was the forecast rain for the afternoon. However it only lasted about 10 minutes and we were hurriedly removing waterproofs and layers soon afterwards as we threatened to get cooked in the humid conditions. A missing sign saw us take a wrong turning down into Sandown. Although this added a few km to our total for the day, we got a chance to see the zoo and the beach! We picked up the signed route near the roman remains at Brading. The section towards Ventnor is possibly the toughest of the whole day. Constant up and down and a few started to flag a little. We kept together though and waited at turns. The long climb to Blackgang Chine is much more manageable as it's a constant gradient and is followed by a good descent even if interrupted by a roundabout! After this the route is pretty flat to Brook Bay where we had a comfort break and a look at the coast before tackling the last two hills of the day to Freshwater Bay. Again these are steady gradients so a good rhythm can be achieved. The threatened gales never materialised and although there was a gusty sidewind on the descent into Freshwater it wasn't too bad. We needed to push on to get back to Yarmouth for the 5.55pm ferry so we decided not to stop and took the last few km at a good speed, even on the gravelly ex-railway track section. The ferry was just unloading as we arrived, but with loading not sceheduled for another 15mins we had time for one last delicious ice cream at Minghella's. The leisurely crossing back to the mainland gave us time to relax and discuss the day's adventures over a coffee. Well done everyone, you've completed one of the classic British cycle rides! Very similar moving average speed as last year at 12.8mph (20.7kph) so good job and thanks for supporting the ride, great company and group riding  | ||
Distance:111.19 km (69.09 mi) | Ride Details:http://ridewithgps.com/trips/386867 | |
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| Proposed Route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/500570" | ||
Comment on this ride | ||
1
Written by : Steve Swanton Posted on : September 18, 2011 at 8:20 PM |
Great video, of what looked like a wonderful ride. Hope to come next year.... Steve |
2
Written by : Glen S Posted on : September 22, 2011 at 9:11 PM |
Wow!...That's ace John...A wonderful ride and a smashing video. The theme music works really well. I recognise those coastal roads from childhood holidays...:0 |
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