Ride the Isle of Wight, they said; be at the Portsmouth to Fishbourne ferry by 7.30am; it’ll be great. Yikes, various voices protested, that means getting up at 5.30am. Yes, said the ride leader, it’ll be great! So there we were, eight of us on a bright if blustery morning, propped up with coffee, prepped with crunch bars, and planning a circular route. What some of us lacked, however, was any understanding of the Isle of Wight Monocline and the Alpine Orogeny from millions of years ago. Plate tectonics, you see, squished the isle into a land that is, well, quite hilly. Not particularly long hills, or particularly steep ones. Just regular ups and downs to keep your quads tested.
Our leader had chosen wisely and we rode in an anticlockwise direction, slipping through Cowes, along the seafront to Gurnard, heading west past Newtown to Yarmouth in the west, where we paused briefly at a cafe near the seafront. Some say life on the Isle of Wight is stuck in the 1950s, and the coffee here tasted like it; but at least it came with a free biscuit. Thus fortified we headed south and then east up onto chalk cliffs overlooking the English Channel. The sun was dancing on the waves as far as the eye could see and the steep coasts were spectacular – as was the descent that followed, with a crosswind whipping at the wheels.
The south of the island seemed much emptier and quieter than the north, with fewer amenities. Fear not: handily placed for any circumnavigating cyclist is The Wight Mouse Inn at Chale, which was a little over halfway into our ride. It’s a friendly pub with a large garden and a decent range of food for refuelling empty legs. On a sunny day one could easily while away the afternoon there with a pint or two, admiring the view. Tempting, but our leader had other plans. Immediately after the pub we were straight into a climb up Blackgang Chine – a name that makes the climb sound worse than it is. While it’s longer than most other climbs, the gradient is relatively kind. It was further on around Ventnor that we encountered a few cheeky steep sections, but all of them short.
The road surfaces were often smooth – at least compared to the moonscapes of some of the Hampshire lanes – and the traffic mostly light. On some sections heading back to Fishbourne we could swoop along quiet roads through fields and woods seeing few drivers.
By 3.30pm, after 108 kilometres and 1,320 metres of climbing, we were back at the ferry. We hadn’t pushed the pace, but nor had we stopped much. The day had, after all, lived up to the billing and been a great ride. Most of us sank back feeling pleased with ourselves.
Then as we waited for the ferry back to Portsmouth, one of our group produced a plastic bag containing pasta, which had apparently been cooking in the sweaty heat of his rear pocket during the ride. He tucked in. He was refueling again: having ridden round the island, he was now going to ride all the way back to Alton as well. Kudos! And thanks to Alton Cycling Club for a great day out.
Thanks to Guy and Richard for the photos!
