Isle of Wight tour
Following a successful outing the previous weekend, albeit wet and with panniers laden with towels to act as make-shift ballast, we felt we were ready to finally do some full touring on Betty.
We decided to abort the original plan to cycle down to the Isle of Wight, via friends in Havant and instead travelled down to stay over off the island and took a lovely route down the Hayling Island Billy Trail (Link) in order to catch the Southsea to Ryde Wightlink ferry on the Friday.
Initially, we kept the miles fairly short and flat, mainly so that we could get used to the extra weight, hills and relative pace of our friends who were coming along for the few couple of days riding.
Here's an amalgamation of the Strava route profiles for each of our four days, generally following the well-signposted round-island route. The proved to be a fantastic way to experience some of the best-paved roads I've ever cycled on and also the best of the variety in roads on the island. The south side of the island is definitely more lumpy, especially on our third day, following the route from Totland in the west along the Military Road towards Ventnor. Stunning clifftop views and long descents but a 50kg tandem crawling up some of those climbs really put our legs to the test at times!
It goes without saying that Betty performed faultlessly, and the fully loaded setup we took along really didn't seem to strain the frame at all- in fact we felt like it could probably have taken a lot more gear, although that would probably have been to the detriment of our legs. It's fair to say we used all of the Rohloff 14 gears but they are there to be used!
In summary, this was a great little first trip and I'm really pleased that we took some time to explore the island which could be easily cycled in a day if you are so inclined. The roads were generally quiet and the routes signposted well - enough that you could realistically navigate the entire route map or GPS free.
We decided to abort the original plan to cycle down to the Isle of Wight, via friends in Havant and instead travelled down to stay over off the island and took a lovely route down the Hayling Island Billy Trail (Link) in order to catch the Southsea to Ryde Wightlink ferry on the Friday.
Initially, we kept the miles fairly short and flat, mainly so that we could get used to the extra weight, hills and relative pace of our friends who were coming along for the few couple of days riding.
Here's an amalgamation of the Strava route profiles for each of our four days, generally following the well-signposted round-island route. The proved to be a fantastic way to experience some of the best-paved roads I've ever cycled on and also the best of the variety in roads on the island. The south side of the island is definitely more lumpy, especially on our third day, following the route from Totland in the west along the Military Road towards Ventnor. Stunning clifftop views and long descents but a 50kg tandem crawling up some of those climbs really put our legs to the test at times!
Day 1 - Havant-Hayling-Ryde-Bembridge-Cowes
(via Red Squirrel Trail -disused railway line) Link here
Day 2 - Cowes-Newtown-Yarmouth-Freshwater-Totland.
Mainly following anticlockwise round-island route
PDF HERE
Day 3 - East from Totland-Blackgang-Ventnor-Newchurch
1 mile climb up to Blackgang was a fair drag but worth it for the view.
Day 4 - Newchurch-Ryde-ferry-Portsmouth-Havant
In terms of accommodation, Abbie did all the bookings and found use several great places, all of which were happy to take in a 2 metre tandem for the night.
The Caledon Guest House in Cowes https://the-caledon.co.uk/ run by Andrea and Mark was a great first place to start and also meant I could run a few route ideas past them which they were more than happy to help with.
The Rosemary Cottage BnB adjoining the Pedallers Cafe http://pedallerscafe.co.uk/ was also a great place to stay - not least since it was so close to the Pointer Inn in Newchurch https://www.pointernewchurch.co.uk/ which served us a cracking Sunday Roast just when our tanks needed maximum refuelling!
It goes without saying that Betty performed faultlessly, and the fully loaded setup we took along really didn't seem to strain the frame at all- in fact we felt like it could probably have taken a lot more gear, although that would probably have been to the detriment of our legs. It's fair to say we used all of the Rohloff 14 gears but they are there to be used!
In summary, this was a great little first trip and I'm really pleased that we took some time to explore the island which could be easily cycled in a day if you are so inclined. The roads were generally quiet and the routes signposted well - enough that you could realistically navigate the entire route map or GPS free.
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