Saturday 25 August

This was a long weekend away on the Isle of Wight exploring bridleways and tracks. The trip was arranged by John Maxim over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Those taking part were myself, John, Jeff and Colin. We lucked out with the weather as after weeks of dull cool days it changed just in time to clear blue skies and temperatures up to 25C.

We took a train to Portsmouth and then the car ferry to Fishbourne. At Wootton we were straight on to tracks across to Havenstreet and then more bridleways to Newport. We stopped at a Pub on the edge of Newport doing breakfasts for £1.75 which we had for lunch.

Then a long gradual climb up the Tennyson trail with wide views across the Island and over to the mainland. The trail is similar to the South Downs Way with a good wide graveled trail. Further west we headed down on tracks and backroads to Yarmouth for tea. There are some good tearooms by the Pier. Then on to our Hotel at Freshwater.

Sunday 26 August.

Another sunny warm day. We stoked up with a good breakfast and John supplied us with route sheets for the day. John had delayed handing out the route sheets until this morning to avoid disturbing our sleep.  The reason became clear as we looked at the route sheets.  The route had been downloaded from the Internet from the Extremists Mountainbike Club.  One quote from the introduction is especially relevant “ at over 50 miles, it is designed to be covered by the very fittest of riders in one day or more likely two days for lesser mortals”.  A route nearly all off road is equivalent to twice the distance on road.

Jeff and I were considering taking a shorter route for a more relaxed day.  However we set out together and were soon on tracks through the golf course and a gradual climb up from Freshwater Bay to Compton Down.  There were superb views behind us of the deep blue sea against the white cliffs of Tennyson Down.

After a few ups and downs it was clear that the more relaxed pace being taken by Jeff and I would prevent John and Colin from completing the ride in a reasonable time.  We decided to split up at that point.  Jeff and I used the route sheet and maps to follow part of the route before cutting it short.

We continued along the Tennyson Trail with great views down over the south coast to the blue sea.  We continued on the ridge turning off on to the Worsley Trail.  We descended to Shorwell after getting lost just above the village.  We stopped for lunch in the village at a pleasant pub.  With time getting on we decided to ride as far as Hoys monument on St Catherine's Down before heading back on the road.

After more trails across fields we were heading down a chalk descent when I lost control trying to avoid a thorn branch and fell off.  I escaped with a couple of grazes and numerous bruises.  We continued with a long steep climb to the Monument erected in 1814 to honor a visit by the Tsar of Russia.  We then left the official route to head down to Chale and the road back.  The track down started with a near vertical descent.  The route then took us into a narrow gully with deep mud at the bottom which we were unable to avoid.  After getting through this we saw another gully ahead of us and decided to get under an electric fence into the field to avoid more mud.  We then rode down and had to get over the electric fence again to get back onto the route.  Jeff was okay but while getting over I touched my leg against the fence and got a severe jolt and another one as I jumped back in reaction.  Jeff was a little startled by my screams.

After a few hundred yards we were back on tarmac and we both decided we had had enough of off-road for the day and we returned on the round the Island cycle route.  We had a very pleasant tea stop at Brightstone tearooms.

Mileage for the day was 31.  John and Colin returned a little later at about 7.00 but did very well to complete the full 50 mile route with 4500 feet of climbing.  My experiences provided some good dinnertime conversation along the lines of an electrifying day out.

Monday 27th August

For our return ride we tried out some new trails from Freshwater.  Unfortunately these included some goopy muddy sections before we got to the ridge and headed along the Tennyson Trail to Newport.  We stopped in town for lunch in a pub.  Then a very steep climb on the Bembridge Trail to St Georges Down.  At a junction in the trail Jeff couldn't get his foot out due to a stiff cleat and fell over in front of an audience of about 20 Ramblers.  After treating Jeff's grazes we continued but Jeff decided to return direct to the ferry on the road to avoid further problems with his cleats.  The rest of us continued on some fairly good graveled trails down to Havenstreet and then across to Wootton and the ferry home.

Mileage on the island was 25 and my mileage by the time I returned home was 31.

Edwin

Posted by RideLeader at 12:50 BST

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