I.O.W club run - 20/10/2007

[huw williams]

In celebration of a great ACC year here is the plan for the ACC end-of-season awayday club run.


[size=150]Tour of the Isle of Wight: Saturday 20th October
[/size]
Provisional plan:
The ride will leave Yarmouth harbour at 11am which will give everyone time to get there by whichever means they prefer.

Leave yourself 2.5 hours driving time to get to the ferry at Lymington, 45 mins crossing time – so to be on the safe side you’re looking at leaving the Croydon area at 6.30am if driving

If your staying on the IOW on saturday night, book a B&B in Yarmouth and give yourself enough time to find it and drop any bags etc off there before the ride. Obviously you need to clear this with the b&b in advance.

Travel options are - park a car at Lymington ferry port and go over as a foot passenger for about £14 return. Overnight secure car-park for those staying down.

Book the car onto the ferry - costs about £40 for a car + 4 people but you need to book in advance

Train from Clapham to Lymington (or Brockenhurst and a 20 minute ride throuh the New Forest to Lymington) If you're going by train, check availability of bike space, you need.

Lift share: Keep posting here if you are likely to have spaces available. Let’s not take 10 cars with only one person in each ?

B&Bs - there's plenty in Yarmouth and in October they shouldn't be full. As an alternative, Freshwater is about 4 miles away and the ride will go past there but try Yarmouth first as its where the ride will start and finish so easier for ferry access, dropping bags off etc and it woud be good if all those staying were on the same town. There's also good resteraunts and pubs serving food for after the ride - If we get a fairly accurate idea of numbers before the day I'll book somewhere to eat in advance.

The Ride. It’s a small island and you can't get lost as the ride is permanently signposted all the way round like this

[img]http://i18.tinypic.com/6gkju5i.gif[/img]


As a safety plan – if you get to the coast – always turn left and eventually you’ll get back to square 1 ?There's only a couple of proper hills but some of the coastal roads can be taxing as they're very long and draggy. The scenery is spectacular and its a great ride in the region of 65 miles.

There’s a map here:
http://www.iow.gov.uk/living_here/envir ... s/RTI1.pdf
I’ll take a slight deviation by staying on the coast road on the south of the island as the views over the sea are better, We’ll ride anti-clockwise from Yarmouth and use a small ferry to cross the estuary at Cowes later in the ride.

Saturday evening dinner and drinks in Yarmouth – or return for those wanting to do the BEC hillclimb on Sunday.
Sunday morning - return in time for lunch.

SO – A brief checklist
Decide on Driving or Train and arrange a lift/train ticket
Book a B&B in Yarmouth and check you can leave your bags there.
Get there and be ready to ride at 11.00am
Easy!!!

Any questions/suggestions – post here and we’ll amend as nescessary

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote]only a couple of proper hills

[huw williams]

Not on this route though - If you avoid dropping into the coast towns you miss the steep climbs

Blackgang is a good one though and used to feature in the Surrey League stage race

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Freshwater

I am soooooooo looking forward to this

[Andrew G]

I'm definately in.

Was going to do the Bec, but that'll be every year so will probably stay over instead now and enjoy the IOW hospitality.

Who's thinking of going by train? I'd prefer this to save a longish drive but not on me tod.

If not I could drive and would have space for 1 other, but wuold really prefer to get the train.

[Maria David]

Sounds good !

If I am not racing elsewhere that w/e I will do this, and return the same day in time for the hill climbs. Will let you know soon.

Maria
http://www.2wheelchick.blogspot.com/

[Andrew G]

Train is Waterloo to Lymingtin Pier with a change at Brockenhurst. Leaves Waterloo at 06:30 and costs £37.40.

Problem is that it's a replacement bus service between Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier so it sort of goes out the window as an option.

Paul D - Still want a lift? Not coming back 'til Sunday now though.

[huw williams]

"Problem is that it's a replacement bus service between Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier so it sort of goes out the window as an option."

Not nescessarily - that's a very pleasent 20 minute ride through the New Forest

[Andrew G]

[quote="huw williams"]Not nescessarily - that's a very pleasent 20 minute ride through the New Forest

[Paul on the Pearson]

Thanks Andrew, I'll definately be up for that lift, especially if the trains are up the creek. The hill climb will just have to wait till next year!

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote]up the creek

[SimonJOsborne]

I love the idea and plan to do this ride. Staying overnight would uncomplicate things and make for a nice weekend.

Is anyone going along who I could possibly catch a lift with? And has anyone booked any accomodation so we can maybe try to get a few people in the same BB or at least nearby.

[Andrew G]

Check out the Trips & Sportives section Simon. I think we're all booked up now, most of us seem to be in the Bugle Inn.

[Paul on the Pearson]

Can you keep your bike with you as a foot passenger on the ferry or do they get stored down in the hold? Just checking as I'll be picking up my commuting/training bike from Pearsons in a couple of weeks so may take that instead. Also will you need your passport?

[Andrew G]

What did you get for your training/winter bike Paul?

I'll be taking my winter bike as I'll have a rack and pannier (Probably mudguards too ), much easier and more comfortable to take stuff with me than a backpack even for just the short distances we'll have bags with us.

Don't know what the IOW ferry is like but going to France you rode your bike in to the hold. You leant it against the side and it was held secure by bungee cords attached to the side of the ferry.

BTW Paul will aim for the 09:15 ferry and I think it's about 2 hours drive so leave about 7. Would you be able to get to Croydon to pick you up as it'll make it much quicker to get out to the motorway.