OP
OP
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Well....
We somehow managed to be even slower (in elapsed time at least) than I was on the recce, but it's not exactly a race. I don't think anyone minded too much…
Rewind back to Friday night. Make a whole minute or so at work, that plus a smooth-running commute mean I get home at 10.15 or so. Plenty of time to change, eat and do the final bits of prep before making my way down to the ferry terminal. Local colour thankfully mostly missing- a few no-lights ninjas, a couple of drunks…nothing more. Fifty percent of tonight's peloton (namely @Shadow and @Low Gear Guy ) were already there, shortly to be joined by @Bollo. The midnight sailing to Fishbourne is often busy, but that one was heaving. OK, it's a Bank Holiday weekend, but tourists wouldn't be going over that late…pass. If it had been quiet, I'd have just got us on our way, but there were so many vehicles we waited, for quite a while, before a perfunctory safety talk and we headed off into the quiet. I had discovered on the boat that despite preparing the GPXs and sticking them on this here thread, I'd managed not to load the main one (from Tesco back round to Ryde- I do two files because of the overlap that would otherwise screw up the routing) onto the Garmin, and I didn't have the cable I'd have needed to get it transferred from the phone, it's not usually needed. Oops. This caused a couple of slight detours later on, but most of the route is pretty well lodged in the grey cells (and reasonably obvious much of the time) so no real problem.
First stretch to Tesco was busier with traffic than usual. A couple of yoof were doing doughnuts in the car park, fortunately they left before we did. Also, there was a night bus, going to Shanklin apparently, four or five young persons took it. Whodathunkit? Selection of sandwiches etc was somewhat sparse, but just about enough of a choice. And with that, on our way up to Seaview. As per the last couple of years, the road surface standards remain somewhat confusingly varied. You get potholed grottiness right next to immaculate fresh tarmac, often with seeming lack of rhyme or reason. As I said to Peter on the night, the stretch round Bembridge Harbour is about the flattest stretch of the entire ride. It of course ends with a corkscrewing uphill. Then another one...Round to Sandown, where we were told by a drunken walker it was a 'bit late to be ******* cycling'. I declined to reply "Well, yes, but it's actually really really early, and we have good lights, thank you.."
The Sunshine Trail was thankfully dry, and all of the wildlife decided to have a rest from brake testing nocturnal cyclists, not so much as a single bunny crossed our paths. After the failure of the Undercliff Drive experiment (or, I'm Not Doing A 17 Percent Hairpin Descent In The Dark In Company Followed By An Extra Bonus Climb For Good Measure), back to the tried and tested route via Whitwell to Blackgang, and the sit-and-spin ascent to our halfway stop. Excitingly, OK, not exciting at all, it has some new bins in wooden housings (even by local news standards, that's a bit dull) . Bit early for sunrise, but the dawn chorus had started up.
Then onto the Military Road. Rather better conditions for that stretch than on the recce, but true to form ride leader dropped to (very much) lanterne rouge. Back together, up the couple of nasty grinding climbs round Freshwater Bay, then down into the town of that name. North to Freshwater, and then the one and only mechanical of the ride. I felt a telltale thump from the rear wheel…yup, a fairy visit. Despite the well-spread broken glass we'd not long passed (and there had been a few more bits to avoid before that), it wasn't glass. A shard of metal- not a nail or screw but similar in size and weight- had gone clean through the tyre. A Marathon Plus wouldn't have survived that. An excellent team effort got the tube changed, and yet again that mini-pump of mine did an excellent job. My T-rex arms had the tube inflated in no time, normal floaty smoothness restored.
First aforementioned nav fail followed (mistake quickly rectified) before back NE to Yarmouth. On to Cowes, where second nav fail led to us taking the scenic route to the chain ferry (yes, Farcy McBoatface was in service, and we had been in no danger of being round before seven and taking the passenger launch). Genial staff wondered if we were a bit early for the Randonnee...Across to East Cowes, which is (somehow) twinned with Deauville- an odd couple indeed-and then on to Wootton, past multiple signs for red squirrels without sight of the critters, grinding our way past Fishbourne (lovely descent from 1ish no longer lovely, or a descent), and up that climb (Quarr Hill) that keeps defeating @CharlieB, before getting to Ryde just before nine. Many calories and much caffeine followed before we (mostly) abided by the Ryde Pier speed limit to get the catamaran back to Pompey. The other three had trains home, I had to ride the whole way again
Thanks chaps!
As for the rest of you: You saw this thread. You read this report. Sign up next year. This ride deserves more than a select gathering. Those ferry terminals are a direct train and ninety minutes away from Waterloo. £5 for an advance single from Victoria (over two hours). It's southern England, not Mars...although some of the yokels are a bit alien. Yes, there's rather a lot of climbing, I refuse to pretend otherwise (no-one's going to tell me I didn't mention the hills), and yes, halfway is in a car park, but that's your fault for not signing up.....
Anyway, edition number six will run in 2019. Hopefully with more people joining me!
We somehow managed to be even slower (in elapsed time at least) than I was on the recce, but it's not exactly a race. I don't think anyone minded too much…
Rewind back to Friday night. Make a whole minute or so at work, that plus a smooth-running commute mean I get home at 10.15 or so. Plenty of time to change, eat and do the final bits of prep before making my way down to the ferry terminal. Local colour thankfully mostly missing- a few no-lights ninjas, a couple of drunks…nothing more. Fifty percent of tonight's peloton (namely @Shadow and @Low Gear Guy ) were already there, shortly to be joined by @Bollo. The midnight sailing to Fishbourne is often busy, but that one was heaving. OK, it's a Bank Holiday weekend, but tourists wouldn't be going over that late…pass. If it had been quiet, I'd have just got us on our way, but there were so many vehicles we waited, for quite a while, before a perfunctory safety talk and we headed off into the quiet. I had discovered on the boat that despite preparing the GPXs and sticking them on this here thread, I'd managed not to load the main one (from Tesco back round to Ryde- I do two files because of the overlap that would otherwise screw up the routing) onto the Garmin, and I didn't have the cable I'd have needed to get it transferred from the phone, it's not usually needed. Oops. This caused a couple of slight detours later on, but most of the route is pretty well lodged in the grey cells (and reasonably obvious much of the time) so no real problem.
First stretch to Tesco was busier with traffic than usual. A couple of yoof were doing doughnuts in the car park, fortunately they left before we did. Also, there was a night bus, going to Shanklin apparently, four or five young persons took it. Whodathunkit? Selection of sandwiches etc was somewhat sparse, but just about enough of a choice. And with that, on our way up to Seaview. As per the last couple of years, the road surface standards remain somewhat confusingly varied. You get potholed grottiness right next to immaculate fresh tarmac, often with seeming lack of rhyme or reason. As I said to Peter on the night, the stretch round Bembridge Harbour is about the flattest stretch of the entire ride. It of course ends with a corkscrewing uphill. Then another one...Round to Sandown, where we were told by a drunken walker it was a 'bit late to be ******* cycling'. I declined to reply "Well, yes, but it's actually really really early, and we have good lights, thank you.."
The Sunshine Trail was thankfully dry, and all of the wildlife decided to have a rest from brake testing nocturnal cyclists, not so much as a single bunny crossed our paths. After the failure of the Undercliff Drive experiment (or, I'm Not Doing A 17 Percent Hairpin Descent In The Dark In Company Followed By An Extra Bonus Climb For Good Measure), back to the tried and tested route via Whitwell to Blackgang, and the sit-and-spin ascent to our halfway stop. Excitingly, OK, not exciting at all, it has some new bins in wooden housings (even by local news standards, that's a bit dull) . Bit early for sunrise, but the dawn chorus had started up.
Then onto the Military Road. Rather better conditions for that stretch than on the recce, but true to form ride leader dropped to (very much) lanterne rouge. Back together, up the couple of nasty grinding climbs round Freshwater Bay, then down into the town of that name. North to Freshwater, and then the one and only mechanical of the ride. I felt a telltale thump from the rear wheel…yup, a fairy visit. Despite the well-spread broken glass we'd not long passed (and there had been a few more bits to avoid before that), it wasn't glass. A shard of metal- not a nail or screw but similar in size and weight- had gone clean through the tyre. A Marathon Plus wouldn't have survived that. An excellent team effort got the tube changed, and yet again that mini-pump of mine did an excellent job. My T-rex arms had the tube inflated in no time, normal floaty smoothness restored.
First aforementioned nav fail followed (mistake quickly rectified) before back NE to Yarmouth. On to Cowes, where second nav fail led to us taking the scenic route to the chain ferry (yes, Farcy McBoatface was in service, and we had been in no danger of being round before seven and taking the passenger launch). Genial staff wondered if we were a bit early for the Randonnee...Across to East Cowes, which is (somehow) twinned with Deauville- an odd couple indeed-and then on to Wootton, past multiple signs for red squirrels without sight of the critters, grinding our way past Fishbourne (lovely descent from 1ish no longer lovely, or a descent), and up that climb (Quarr Hill) that keeps defeating @CharlieB, before getting to Ryde just before nine. Many calories and much caffeine followed before we (mostly) abided by the Ryde Pier speed limit to get the catamaran back to Pompey. The other three had trains home, I had to ride the whole way again
Thanks chaps!As for the rest of you: You saw this thread. You read this report. Sign up next year. This ride deserves more than a select gathering. Those ferry terminals are a direct train and ninety minutes away from Waterloo. £5 for an advance single from Victoria (over two hours). It's southern England, not Mars...although some of the yokels are a bit alien. Yes, there's rather a lot of climbing, I refuse to pretend otherwise (no-one's going to tell me I didn't mention the hills), and yes, halfway is in a car park, but that's your fault for not signing up.....
Anyway, edition number six will run in 2019. Hopefully with more people joining me!
