Isle of Wight CR

[Mike I]

A dozen or so Agreeables (and a selection of WAGs) made the trip to the Isle of Wight for an alternative run round the Island. Highlights - great weather, a proper zig-zag, the group getting split by the Cowes ferry, enormous pies at the Bugle and the ever-reliable Ringwood Forty-niner.

Thanks to Huw for the idea and to Huw and MrPVT for route-planning. I was going to write a more detailed report, but it's taken ages to upload a picture. Maybe later...

[img]http://i21.tinypic.com/311rn1c.jpg[/img]

[Snoop Doug]

Looking forward to hearing about how some of the more civilised members of ACC spent their weekend, jolly good photo, bring on the enormous pie write ups!

[jon avery]

What a good weekend, Had a great ride i let the fast boys go and do their own thing and myself and Mr Green did a more sensible pace Great veiws along the route, though i have now found out Huw comes out of the same mould as Paul T when it comes to telling porkies, thats the last of the hills he told me half way round (yeah right). Gret food in the Bugle washed down with a few pints and some great company. We had VIP treatment on the ferry coming back, got there at the back of the line only to get sent to the front! Over all a good weekend had by all.

[jon avery]

Oh good photo Mike, must say Mr Green and Brian look like brothers!!

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote]enormous pies at the Bugle and the ever-reliable Ringwood Forty-niner.

[Brian Nolan]

great w/end - Lap of the Isle was a real classic - taken at a good pace as well... top marks to Huw for arranging it and for him & Paul for much of the pace making...
I think we all tried to do a bit on the front - Adrian was going well and Cris Kay was storming up the hills & the zig zag ..
I wonder how much quicker he would be without that watch - and all the ketchup in the links !
sadly I cannot comment on said snap as I can't see it in work and my home bb will not be on for another week or so...
thanks again,

brian.

[huw williams]

Initial intentions of following the marked route round the island lasted for all of ten minutes as inevitably Mr Paul Tunnell took the reigns, and blasted out of Yarmouth in the direction of his romantic past at 25mph – “we used to bring the kids down here when they were kids” he reflected ruefully. “Not at this bloody speed you didn’t,” I was thinking as we stormed off in a direction, which achieved little more than delivering us, via a circuitous route to Freshwatwer Bay, where we should have been 15 minutes earlier, with two less hills under our belts.

That set the tone for the day essentially - a series of short hard blasts by the quicker riders and regrouping atop the climbs.

Out of Freshwater the views over the beaches to the sea were amazing – crystal clear blue skies blindingly white cliffs and lush green moor lands reminding us that we weren’t in the surrey lanes any more – everything was ticking along quite nicely ‘til we hit the headwind along the military road and got attacked by a solo local tester intent on dropping our organised group. No way Mrpvt was having any of that so the ears were pinned back and off we went in pursuit. This is a grinding slog at the best of times but fortunately we had a couple of powerhouses up at the front, particularly Chris Kay, able to batter out a relentless pace despite the resistance. That put paid to the group as a whole, which splintered not for the first time in the opening hour

The biggest climb of the day follows straight after this torture – the hair-pinned 10%er of Blackang Chine. I recall from years ago that this was a really hard climb but it seemed like nothing – must be a lot fitter these days, Paul T said the same as he joined us at the top.

Regrouped, we had a quick briefing where I told everyone the climbs were over – which proved to be a lie as MrPVT’s tour of his youth continued along the lines of a magical mystery tour. 25% zig-zag hills down to the sea only to come back up equivalent hills the other side were as nothing and every climb was a chance to attack, split the group and wait for a regroup somewhere further up the road. The rolling coast road between Ventnor and Sandown is a luxury – steady dragging climbs and long, sweeping high-speed descents.

Met the touring group (Amy and John C who had wisely set off an hour in advance to avoid the carnage) at 35miles in Seaview for lunch then Tunnell took us off-roading down a secret coastal path which shortened the route a bit before the high-speed main road thrash to the chain-ferry crossing at East Cowes. There’s a series of long, nagging climbs before the big descent to the ferry crossing and Mark Bayliss pinned his ears back and powered up the first of them, instigating the attack for the final selection. A glance back at the roundabout confirmed that splits were happening, and with the end-of-season devil whispering in my ear, I got on the front and nailed it at my threshold up over the summit and down the other side, pulling Kay, Brian Nolan, Mike Ingram and Adrian away from the group – we descended, caught the awaiting ferry which closed up behind us, and made insulting hand gestures at the remainder of the group stuck on the bank like marooned castaways. – That’ll teach ‘em to miss the break ?

On the other side it was cycling nirvana – a real autumnal feel as the five of us (well we weren’t going to wait having worked that hard to get away ?) swept through rolling hedge-lined lanes in glorious late summer sunshine – 20-25mph all the way back. Major food – a beer or two, the rugby and a highly scientific Watch test in the bar capped off a fine weekend. Let’s make it an annual sojourn.

Thanks to Paul and Ruth T, Mr and Mrs Adrian, Mister & Mrs 44x14, Andrew, Nigel, Jon A, Jon C, Amy, Chris K, Brian Nolan, Paul Dewis, and Mark Bayliss for coming.

PS anyone got any scenic snaps from the top of Freashwater Bay? Post ‘em here if possible

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

and the funniest moment had to be when Chris emerged from the local chandlers with a pair of (borrowed) bolt cutters, to retrieve their bikes, as Mark Bayliss had locked them all together and was nowhere to be seen....

[Andrew G]

A good weekend in good company.

I've been taking a break in October following a fairly heavy year, only been out on the bike once. I'd also driven for 2 and a half hours and had a warm up of wheeling my bike off the ferry.

Those are the reasons / excuses why I found it a tad unagreeable to tear off down the road at 25mph+ on a "steady" ride. I slipped off the back with Jon and we continued at a steady pace and had a chance to enjoy the surrroundings, I can stare at a rear wheel and a bit of tarmac in Croydon. .

We weren't going that slowly though as I don't think the others waited too long at the top of the first re-group. Testosterone patches must have been torn off a few 'nads while they waited as the pace was a bit more reasonable from then .

The ride around the island was very enjoyable on great roads, really nice to just get away somewhere completely different. It would make a great CR with larger numbers and a few different speed groups. I think Amy and John did the signed route with stop offs at a couple of sights and for pics so you don't have to charge around like your backside's a blaze.

Retiring to the bar for some carb re-loading and rugby watching (what a tedious match that was, did anyone see the ball it never left a ruck/maul).

Snoop, the pies. I ordered the chicken pie and a 6 inch square 2 inch deep monster arrived, with side dish of veg that would feed a small family. The pie was not full of filler crap either, a solid brick of chicken that I manfully waded through. It was tough going towards the end but I stuck with it to provide a good base for soaking up the beer.

Mrs I stole the show though with the haddock pie. An A4 sized casserole dish 2 inches deep, basically the one portion would be what you'd cook for a family of 4 Oh and a baguette came with it in case you were still peckish.

Ian and Graham - you'd love the place.

Thanks Huw and Paul for the idea and organisation.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

I do most sincerely apologise if the pace was quick at the start - I guess I just got carried away riding the IOW again as it was such great fun, and the views were great from the front

[jon avery]

I'm suprised you saw any veiws Paul, i thought it would have been a blur at the speed you were doing

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote]I'm suprised you saw any veiws Paul, i thought it would have been a blur at the speed you were doing

[Chris K]

Excellent weekend thanks Huw and all the attendees. It was a weekend of great cycling, good weather, good scenery with great company.

Mike the team shot very good although I am a little disappointed that only my left ear made the final edit!

Hope everyone had a safe journey home and I very much look forward to the next I.O.W tour.

Ps the watch is still ticking - strange thing is though if I put it to my ear I can hear the sea and smell fish pie with brown sauce! How weird is that.

[adrian]

This was a thoroughly decent weekend. Great cycling, a terrific group of people and food, beer and weather to match.

Mrs A and I arrived in Lymington to find that Dastardly and Muttley had got there first and put a fiendish diversion in place. Despite this, we managed to get ourselves on the ferry we'd hoped for (9.15) and so were able to hook up with Jon A, Chris and Brian, and later, foot passenger Nigel. We were, sadly, just too early to catch the pumpkin race, for which a sizeable crowd had gathered quayside.

Getting the ferry this early meant I had ample time to get my act together before the stated 10.30 start - as ever, I needed every second and was lucky that Family Ingram (minus one) were late arrivals. Not that late, however, and at 10.45 we set off.

What followed has already been faithfully and eloquently described by Huw - the weather just couldn't have been better and the riding was superb. I enjoyed the pace and felt comfortable all day, except for the chase-down of the lone tester on the military road, and later as we approached Seaview - I attempted to read a roadsign and found I had blurred vision, a first for me.

The bumpy, windy roads and the intensity of the pace meant that I hadn't been able to eat or drink as much as I normally like to, so the local sausages, chips and beans at the lunch stop never really stood a chance. It was as balsa to a furnace, and stood me in good stead for the resumption.

The afternoon brought hard but satisfying work in the company of and shared by our successful breakaway group - Huw, Mike, Chris and Brian (the latter also reaping the benefit of the sausages, chips and beans) - and before we knew it, we were back in Yarmouth.

A bath and a short nap later, Mrs A and I headed down for dinner to be greeted by a scene resembling the last days of Pompeii - entire carcasses picked clean, toad-in-the-holes whose toads were the size of salamanders and bowls of pasta you'd never make meaningful inroads into even if you took all evening over it, as Amy did. Mrs A and I both had a lamb hotpot populated by what must have been a hefty percentage of this year's new births on the island.

Mike, who's from either Portsmouth or Southampton, - I forget which - and so knows a thing or two about the ales of Hampshire, steered me in the direction of the Ringwood. I stuck to the Best (3.8%) which enabled me to see the evening out without doing anything too foolish - like, say, putting my watch in beer or inviting others to pour vinegar and HP sauce on it

But when the band - who turned out not to be a half-decent rockabilly outfit after all, but a Hawaiian-shirt-wearing hubby 'n' wife covers combo of the same name - moved onto the Led Zep covers, I knew that that was my cue to follow Mrs A's earlier lead and call it a night - after all, I had a huge breakfast the next morning to prepare for.

(This was a real artery-clogger and one of the highlights of the trip, by the way - I haven't had fried bread this side of a Tory government. I do wish people would fry it on just one side, but still...)

All too soon it was time to vacate, pay up (not the high point of the trip ) and say our goodbyes. Mrs A and I stayed on and went for a glorious long walk along the cliffs from Freshwater. All the while I regaled her with fascinating vignettes from the day before - "See, we went up there, then we flew down there, and we went all the way out there..."

Caught the 2.30 ferry back and were home with the kettle on by six - not bad going at all.

Wholeheartedly agree that we should make this a regular event - any sort of decent weather and a great weekend is guaranteed. Thanks to Huw for suggesting and organising, to Paul T (who was unlucky enough to get two punctures) for route-planning and to everyone who came along and made it a memorable trip.

PS Photos to follow later this evening

[Andrew G]

You're wrist is going to smell of fish for ages.