Getting to IOW for round island cycle (and other q's)

[Tumbleweed]

The Southsea hovercraft takes bikes but says its limited to 2 per crossing.
Anyone have any knowledge of the best time to turn up and be relatively
assured of a place?
And any recommendations/websites on doing the round the island ride?
How hilly is it (compared to L2B which is my longest ride) and whats a
reasonable time to expect for a unfit (but getting fitter) not-too-fat
******* to do it in....based on my L2B time which was about 5 hours if I
factor out the queues.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks for email address

 

[JohnB]

Tumbleweed wrote:
>
> The Southsea hovercraft takes bikes but says its limited to 2 per crossing.
> Anyone have any knowledge of the best time to turn up and be relatively
> assured of a place?

from Portsmouth I would travel by Wightlink on their Fastcat, where
there is always ample space - just turn up. If you have a Network card
you also get a discount (they don't advertise this concession much)
OK, its a few minutes longer (15 mins against 9 by hovercraft) and you
have to do the length of Ryde Pier on the island, but its also cheaper.

> And any recommendations/websites on doing the round the island ride?

There's a lot of info on:
http://www.cyclewight.org.uk/

....and the Round the Island ride (which this year was on May 2nd) is at:
http://www.cycleisland.co.uk/

> How hilly is it (compared to L2B which is my longest ride) and whats a
> reasonable time to expect for a unfit (but getting fitter) not-too-fat
> ******* to do it in....based on my L2B time which was about 5 hours if I
> factor out the queues.

Its quite hilly.
I'd say its quite a bit harder than the L2B and certainly doesn't have
the associated crowds - far from it. You can start and finish at any of
the checkpoints which are open from 9am to 6pm, and for much of the ride
you won't see anyone else. The hardest parts are around the south of the
island and out of Freshwater if doing the route anti-clockwise.

I would take all day over it, stopping for tea cakes and beers as wont dictates.
If you did L2B in 5 hours I don't think youwoud have much trouble with
the Round the Island.

John B

 

[Tumbleweed]

"JohnB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Tumbleweed wrote:
> >
> > The Southsea hovercraft takes bikes but says its limited to 2 per
crossing.
> > Anyone have any knowledge of the best time to turn up and be relatively
> > assured of a place?
>
> from Portsmouth I would travel by Wightlink on their Fastcat, where
> there is always ample space - just turn up. If you have a Network card
> you also get a discount (they don't advertise this concession much)
> OK, its a few minutes longer (15 mins against 9 by hovercraft) and you
> have to do the length of Ryde Pier on the island, but its also cheaper.

Cheers I wasnt aware of that service will do that sounds much better.

>
> > And any recommendations/websites on doing the round the island ride?
>
> There's a lot of info on:
> http://www.cyclewight.org.uk/

I can find a map at
http://www.cyclewight.org.uk/cycling.htm

is there a higher quality version of that available on the web do you know?

I have got an OS map of the IOW somewhere will see if I can xfer it to that.

>
> ...and the Round the Island ride (which this year was on May 2nd) is at:
> http://www.cycleisland.co.uk/
>
> > How hilly is it (compared to L2B which is my longest ride) and whats a
> > reasonable time to expect for a unfit (but getting fitter) not-too-fat
> > ******* to do it in....based on my L2B time which was about 5 hours if I
> > factor out the queues.
>
> Its quite hilly.
> I'd say its quite a bit harder than the L2B and certainly doesn't have
> the associated crowds - far from it. You can start and finish at any of
> the checkpoints which are open from 9am to 6pm, and for much of the ride
> you won't see anyone else. The hardest parts are around the south of the
> island and out of Freshwater if doing the route anti-clockwise.

I take it these checkpoints are for an official 'mass' ride?
I plan to do it solo sometime this summer have had enough of mass events!

BTW, which is the easiest direction to cycle around the island?

>
> I would take all day over it, stopping for tea cakes and beers as wont
dictates.
> If you did L2B in 5 hours I don't think youwoud have much trouble with
> the Round the Island.

Well I actually did it in a bit under 7...but 2 of those were in queues at
least 1 of which was in queues whilst being torrentially rained on with hail
and freezing rain :-(
At least I had a waterproof which worked really well.

>
> John B

Thanks

--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks for email address

 

[JohnB]

Tumbleweed wrote:

> is there a higher quality version of that available on the web do you know?

Not that I know, but the whole route is _very well_ signposted in both directions.
You don't really need a map at all. You can't get lost. Its a blue or a
white IOW logo, depending on direction.
example at:
http://www.vcventa.org.uk/iowpictures.html

However there is a leaflet on the route which you could pick up at any
of the tourist offices.

> I take it these checkpoints are for an official 'mass' ride?

Yes.

> I plan to do it solo sometime this summer have had enough of mass events!
> BTW, which is the easiest direction to cycle around the island?

Most riders seem to reckon that the anti-clockwise route is the easiest,
although if the SW wind is blowing, the coast stretch can be very hard
with the wind straight off the sea.
I prefer personally the clockwise direction.

> Thanks

You're welcome. Enjoy the ride.

John B

 

[MartinM]

"Tumbleweed" <[email protected]> wrote in message

> Cheers I wasnt aware of that service will do that sounds much better.

The pier is however a nightmare with narrow road wheels, although your
bike goes free on the train (included in ticket price)

had enough of mass events!

IOW is not like a mass event, you will be riding alone or with a
couple of other riders at most, the multiple start points ensure this.
The controls are also uncrowded and friendly.

> BTW, which is the easiest direction to cycle around the island?

I did last and this year's Randonee and thought clockwise was easier.
BTW it is fairly hard to find the route from Ryde, but easy from
Fishbourne which IMHO is the best crossing of all if you are even less
bothered about time (it takes 30 mins but has a cafe/bar and a proper
deck you can sit on)

 

[[Not Responding]]

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 10:54:21 +0100, "Tumbleweed"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>The Southsea hovercraft takes bikes but says its limited to 2 per crossing.
>Anyone have any knowledge of the best time to turn up and be relatively
>assured of a place?
>And any recommendations/websites on doing the round the island ride?
>How hilly is it (compared to L2B which is my longest ride) and whats a
>reasonable time to expect for a unfit (but getting fitter) not-too-fat
>******* to do it in....based on my L2B time which was about 5 hours if I
>factor out the queues.

Wightlink car ferry from Portsmouth Harbour. No limit to bikes which
also travel free.

Hilly depends on what you're used to; us coastal plain dwellers think
it's an absolute bugger.

Top tip; go anti-clockwise would be my advice.

 

[Simonb]

[Not Responding] wrote:

> Top tip; go anti-clockwise would be my advice.

Why's that? Prevailing winds?

 

[[Not Responding]]

On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 19:47:58 +0100, "Simonb"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>[Not Responding] wrote:
>
>> Top tip; go anti-clockwise would be my advice.
>
>Why's that? Prevailing winds?
>

Bugger, I meant clockwise.

The hills seem slightly less ghastly that way round IMO. I realise
that as it's a circular route, you'll be facing the same amount of
gravity whatever direction. It just seemed easier when I did it
clockwise.

 

[Simonb]

[Not Responding] wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 19:47:58 +0100, "Simonb"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> [Not Responding] wrote:
>>
>>> Top tip; go anti-clockwise would be my advice.
>>
>> Why's that? Prevailing winds?
>>
>
> Bugger, I meant clockwise.
>
> The hills seem slightly less ghastly that way round IMO. I realise
> that as it's a circular route, you'll be facing the same amount of
> gravity whatever direction. It just seemed easier when I did it
> clockwise.

ps, I'm going round the Island on Saturday. Not on a bike though. Looks
like strong winds -- but we are a long way off.

 

[MartinM]

"Simonb" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> [Not Responding] wrote:
>
> > Top tip; go anti-clockwise would be my advice.
>
> Why's that? Prevailing winds?

I preferred it clockwise. The climb above Blackgang is a work of Stan.
And you get to see Freshwater Bay cliffs.

 

[Aloysius]

"[Not Responding]" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>
> Bugger, I meant clockwise.
>
> The hills seem slightly less ghastly that way round IMO. I realise
> that as it's a circular route, you'll be facing the same amount of
> gravity whatever direction. It just seemed easier when I did it
> clockwise.

I'd agree with that. I'm sure that the road from Freshwater going
east is much steeper than the road on the other side of the hill.

 

[JohnB]

Aloysius wrote:
>
> "[Not Responding]" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> >
> > Bugger, I meant clockwise.
> >
> > The hills seem slightly less ghastly that way round IMO. I realise
> > that as it's a circular route, you'll be facing the same amount of
> > gravity whatever direction. It just seemed easier when I did it
> > clockwise.
>
> I'd agree with that. I'm sure that the road from Freshwater going
> east is much steeper than the road on the other side of the hill.

I reckon that must be the steepest climb. I recall winching the tandem
trike up it once with two children and camping gear on the back at about
half a mph.

John B