StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
EDIT: Ride date is 14 March (OK, 15th by the time we've got the ferry over). Start point will be Fishbourne terminal after the midnight car ferry from Pompey. People using other services to the Island (hovercraft/catamaran/into Yarmouth or East Cowes), or from the Island of course, are very welcome (may involve a bit of a wait) but please make sure you're at Fishbourne in time to meet that ferry- quarter to one or so. Please PM or email to get your name on the list. Full & affiliate CTC members only to start with please (as per FNRttCs, for insurance purposes).
RECCE: Provisionally 28 February. Self, FD & velovoice at the moment.
Just testing the waters for this, seeing if there's any interest as this one will require quite a bit of prep, recces, perhaps dropping the local CTC group a line...Hence no date etc, yet.
Not a typo. A ride around the coast. Specifically, a ride around the coast of the Isle of Wight. There is, as many of you well know, an official round-the-Island cycle route, as used by the IOW Randonnee. Which is a good day out, despite the presence of rather too many numpty riders (close passing, stopping without warning, etc). So, how about a night ride? Lots of the official round-Island route is perfectly OK, some of it's very nice, but unfortunately large parts of it, particularly on the south side, are unremittingly awful in terms of gravel, potholes, and both. Not what you want on a night ride. But, on a night ride, and particularly one in such a quiet neck of the woods, the busier roads become an option too.
Rather than the detours into 'rustic lanes' the cycle route takes, I propose to use more of the A-roads, and see more of the actual coastline to boot. Logistics RE food stops etc are somewhat complicated by the fact that all the larger towns are on the northern side. That also makes the choice of direction rather more favourable for clockwise than anti-clockwise. Unless there's a cafe somewhere on the south side prepared to open (and unless there's a sizeable number of people to make it worth their while, of course), this would be one for the more hardy self-sufficient types, a case of bring-your-own-food (or buy it at the 24-hour opening branch of Tesco in Ryde), there's a great picnic spot at Blackgang. The aforementioned CTC group (the Wayfarers, who organise the Randonnee) might well be able to help, of course, so if there's enough interest on here I'd drop them a line.
So, rough outline: Meet point Portsmouth Harbour station and/or the car ferry terminal round the corner. Midnight sailing to Fishbourne. Clockwise to Ryde Tesco for food etc. On to Bembridge, then Sandown, Shanklin, Ventnor (so hugging the coastline rather more than the round-island cycle route). Alfresco picnic stop at Blackgang. Coastal road all the way along to the Needles and Alum Bay (never ridden down there, and we're not going to be pressed for time). Up to Yarmouth and back to Ryde either via Cowes & East Cowes (chain ferry starts at 5am, but that way is lumpy), or Newport. Breakfast in Ryde. Then back west to Fishbourne for ferry home. Distance will be about the same as the regular Randonnee- 60-65 miles or so. And be warned, lumpy. Hopefully a bit less lumpy than the Randonnee, but in no way flattish.
Any takers?
RECCE: Provisionally 28 February. Self, FD & velovoice at the moment.
Just testing the waters for this, seeing if there's any interest as this one will require quite a bit of prep, recces, perhaps dropping the local CTC group a line..
Not a typo. A ride around the coast. Specifically, a ride around the coast of the Isle of Wight. There is, as many of you well know, an official round-the-Island cycle route, as used by the IOW Randonnee. Which is a good day out, despite the presence of rather too many numpty riders (close passing, stopping without warning, etc). So, how about a night ride? Lots of the official round-Island route is perfectly OK, some of it's very nice, but unfortunately large parts of it, particularly on the south side, are unremittingly awful in terms of gravel, potholes, and both. Not what you want on a night ride. But, on a night ride, and particularly one in such a quiet neck of the woods, the busier roads become an option too.
Rather than the detours into 'rustic lanes' the cycle route takes, I propose to use more of the A-roads, and see more of the actual coastline to boot. Logistics RE food stops etc are somewhat complicated by the fact that all the larger towns are on the northern side. That also makes the choice of direction rather more favourable for clockwise than anti-clockwise. Unless there's a cafe somewhere on the south side prepared to open (and unless there's a sizeable number of people to make it worth their while, of course), this would be one for the more hardy self-sufficient types, a case of bring-your-own-food (or buy it at the 24-hour opening branch of Tesco in Ryde), there's a great picnic spot at Blackgang. The aforementioned CTC group (the Wayfarers, who organise the Randonnee) might well be able to help, of course, so if there's enough interest on here I'd drop them a line.
So, rough outline: Meet point Portsmouth Harbour station and/or the car ferry terminal round the corner. Midnight sailing to Fishbourne. Clockwise to Ryde Tesco for food etc. On to Bembridge, then Sandown, Shanklin, Ventnor (so hugging the coastline rather more than the round-island cycle route). Alfresco picnic stop at Blackgang. Coastal road all the way along to the Needles and Alum Bay (never ridden down there, and we're not going to be pressed for time). Up to Yarmouth and back to Ryde either via Cowes & East Cowes (chain ferry starts at 5am, but that way is lumpy), or Newport. Breakfast in Ryde. Then back west to Fishbourne for ferry home. Distance will be about the same as the regular Randonnee- 60-65 miles or so. And be warned, lumpy. Hopefully a bit less lumpy than the Randonnee, but in no way flattish.
Any takers?
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