cyclingsheep
Active Member
- Location
- Twickenham
Was given a pass today as wife was looking after our 8 month old daughter. Decided to use it to get some miles in so plotted a course from Twickenham to Rookley on the Isle of Wight. A route planner had the distance at 95miles avoiding the A3. Setting off at 7am I headed out for Kingston and Esher on a route I know well heading towards Boxhill but turning off before it for Leatherhead. Saw the sunrise on my way and discarded the cheap torch I'd taped to the handle bars because I couldn't locate my front Exposure Toro. From Leatherhead to Guildford where I rode through the town a bit before finding my next road sign to Godalming and into the Surrey hills proper. The road surface into Haslemere was a but rubbish under the trees but from there to Liphook was a real treat, rolling roads and smooth tarmac through woods and fields as the sun started to come through the clouds made for a very pleasant morning. From Petersfield I turned away from the A3 again taking B roads to Havant. Thought I was ticking along ok then hit a nasty climb just out of Petersfield which took more out of my legs than I thought. I wasn't 100% sure of where I was but caught up with another cyclist doing his regular 35mile loop. He was very helpful and let me tail him for a while till I recovered a little (and if you're on here thanks again) and took me along his route and when we parted ways he directed me to Portsmouth again avoiding major A roads. Annoyingly I had to wait for 45mins for the Wight Link Cat to Ryde but at £11 for the crossing I didn't think it was too bad with bike racks on board to stow my precious steed for the crossing. Heading inland from Ryde towards Arreton I threw in an extra couple of miles of extra punishment to add in another hill. All in all a lovely ride all be it a little chilly out but I was suitably dressed so no issues. Total distance 95miles in just under 6 hours in the saddle but that does include riding aimlessly through a couple of villages looking in vain for road signs to my next destination before eventually having to ask someone whether I was in fact on the right road (which I usually was) so not too bad a time but definitely room for improvement.
