England : Isle of Wight Night Ride Around The Coast 2020 (NEW PROVISIONAL DATE SEPTEMBER 4)

[StuAff]

Just looked to see where the Spinnaker Caff is located and it looks like a sensible choice.

Eaten there a couple of times. It's excellent.

 

[colly]

Timing is everything.

Just an hour ago I texted my daughter-in-law about a few days away with her and the grandkids.................End of August beginning of September.
Of course she might say no.............................

Edit: Booked, confirmed, back on the 5th. Which is good......................but also not good.

Well whoever goes it's a good nights ride. Even if the weather is pants.

 

[Shadow]

Cat service resumes 31 july - revised timetable, one 'sailing' per hour.

 

[StuAff]

At the moment, I am planning on doing Fishbourne-Fishbourne, saving a few miles and a few quid. And some climbing! If we're not eating in Ryde (and I'm still inclined to go for the Spinnaker Cafe) then there's no point taking the cat.

At the moment, ride is full, if all of you who've expressed an interest are able to make it.

 

[lazybloke]

Raising my hand to go on the waiting list, please!

 

[StuAff]

Did the recce last night/this morning. There appeared to be a window of dry weather. There was. Which was nice. Got the 10pm boat, so slightly more traffic than normal for the first part, more humans, more noise…but usual quiet later on, thankfully.

Fishbourne Lane (road to/from the ferry terminal) has been resurfaced. Very nice job it was too. Still sporadic bits of grot en route (after the Sunshine Trail, that stretch is still terrible) but much less than a few years back. Those of you on last year's ride will recall we used the off-road path from Freshwater to Yarmouth. It was OK last year…but that was in the morning light. In darkness…nope, not fun at all. Surface was dreadful in places as well, probably due to recent precipitation. So we'll be using a road for that bit instead. Sunshine Trail was fine, though.

I managed to miss the car park at the top of Blackgang- got to the roundabout and in my confusion headed towards the Chine. Oops. Thought I'd found a new route up for a while! Ended up stopping for half-time food along the Military Road. It was very, very misty in places though, at times visibility was down to a few feet.

Despite the slight navigational errors and a bit of walking (crap surfaces/getting bogged down in the wrong gear/both), I sped round- well, as fast as scrawny old me can manage on lumpy terrain, and was back round at the Fishbourne terminal at 4.35. Less than five hours moving time, 54 minutes of stops. Nevertheless, very marginal chance of making the 4am ferry had gone. I'd tried to book the 6am ferry, it appeared to be unavailable (cancelled? sold out? no foot passengers? I knew not), so booked the 8am sailing instead. Attempting to amend the booking via the website or the phone app got nowhere. But there was a 6am sailing, and nice Wightlink man said there wouldn't be a problem getting on it. He was right, so back home just after seven.

For the actual ride, I'm thinking:
1. Sticking with the midnight ferry rather than the 10pm. Should be less traffic to contend with, and no point getting round too early unless anyone would prefer catching a train to getting breakfast (and nowhere would be open on the Island or in Pompey before eight or so anyway).
2. Fishbourne, still, for the return, rather than Ryde. Cheaper than the cat, there's no time saving going on to Ryde- four extra miles and Quarr Hill take more than the twenty minutes extra sailing time, and is anyone that keen on Wetherspoons in Ryde? I think not.

 

[Flying Dodo]

@StuAff - do you remember 7 years ago, when we did the recce for the first iteration of this ride? Where I wondered about using the back road to avoid using the A3054 from Fishbourne to Ryde, but all we found was a pot holed mess which we agreed wasn't viable? Well, last weekend I was on the Isle of Wight, and went along there, and there's been some money spent, as that's Route 22 all along Quarr Lane/Quarr Road, and it's a delight with a paved surface, lovely ups and downs, a ruined Middle Ages abbey and the Victorian replacement amongst the sights. It then connects onto Ladies Walk which goes down the middle of a golf course, to then end up in Ryde. That last bit is steep though!

Anyway, might be worth considering one year for a change of roads, which would be fun if you also throw in the sea path from Bonchurch to Ventnor!

PS Glad to see I'm not the only one to miss the car park at the top of Blackgang Chine!

 

[StuAff]

@StuAff - do you remember 7 years ago, when we did the recce for the first iteration of this ride? Where I wondered about using the back road to avoid using the A3054 from Fishbourne to Ryde, but all we found was a pot holed mess which we agreed wasn't viable?

Yes, very Paris-Roubaix at the time, wasn't it! Should I switch back to Ryde I'll bear that in mind.

 

[StuAff]

PS: Chain ferry out of service, yet again. Repairs scheduled to finish by now, but they found more problems…

 

[StuAff]

@Shadow
@Low Gear Guy
@Bollo

Still in chaps?

 

[Pale Rider]

Sticking with the midnight ferry rather than the 10pm. Should be less traffic to contend with,

When we did what turned out to be the part-recce now several years ago, I was surprised at the amount of traffic on the midnight boat.

No problem from a ride point of view, but the ferry was verging on busy.

If I recall, you decided we would stop for a few minutes in a handy layby before starting the ride proper.

I suppose Wightlink wouldn't run the midnight service if it wasn't well-used.

A few tales from that ride from my point of view.

I thought the good quality German road light on my Rose ebike would be sufficient for my first overnight ride.

That was before I rode straight into a kerb as we entered Tesco's car park.

The bike crashed over it, and I managed to stay upright, probably because it all happened so quickly.

Were I doing a lot of night riding, and if the budget allowed, I would have one (or two) decent quality accessory front lights in addition to whatever was fitted to the bike.

 

[Low Gear Guy]

@Shadow
@Low Gear Guy
@Bollo

Still in chaps?

I am still in. Do we need to book a ferry space for Saturday morning or shall we just turn up?

 

[StuAff]

I am still in. Do we need to book a ferry space for Saturday morning or shall we just turn up?

How Wightlink are playing it is that bookings are essential for foot passengers. In practice, it's a bit more flexible. For the recce, on Saturday night/Sunday morning, I had the return booked for the 8am sailing. The 6am sailing wasn't an option buying the ticket, or in amending it. Not listed at all, in fact. But I got on the 6am sailing no bother. Would recommend the 8am sailing as the most likely. We might just get the 7am service, but that's going to be a long shot given the likelihood of faffing and mechanicals. The 11am service is already booked up, but we won't be that slow! Give me your email (and phone number, while I think of it) and I'll send you the GPX.

 

[Bollo]

Sorry Stu, after careful consideration I’m going to take a pass. Without going full Personal Matters, I’m probably not in a position to drag my carcass around the island this year. I‘ll miss it but might try a solo run later in the year, after which a collection of very nice bikes might be in the for sale forum.

 

[StuAff]

Sorry Stu, after careful consideration I’m going to take a pass. Without going full Personal Matters, I’m probably not in a position to drag my carcass around the island this year. I‘ll miss it but might try a solo run later in the year, after which a collection of very nice bikes might be in the for sale forum.

Unlike. Hope it works out OK.