2010-05-02 - Isle of Wight Randonnee

That was a fantastic epic day. I'm still grinning.

I set off a little after 7 to roll over Portsdown hill and down into Portsmouth along quiet roads to join the knots of roadies converging on the ferries. I shared a 2for1 ticket with a stranger without realising this would require us to return together. It rained while i was in the ferry terminal but Ryde was dry and i got to Wootton in time to meet up with the kattiep and the other campers.

The route from Wootton to Bembridge rolled gently up through lush woods and then along little lanes stuffed with cyclists while the sky stayed dry. At Bembridge there was a lot of hanging around and re-grouping as people bought tea, mf distributed stickers & badges (thankyou), Dropout and more daytrippers arrived and we sheltered from a shower.

I was still hoping i'd dodge the rain all day. As we got going the wind was light but a pleasant drizzle began that kept us cool through Alverstone and Whitwell. People kept shifting around - I seemed to keep catching up with people i'd thought i'd left behind, or find people i'd thought were ahead catching up with me. The views from high-up on Whitwell road out over the empty cloud-mottled sea were awesome ("is that France?" "We can't be that high.").

Then came the rise up to Blackgang. My reward for reaching the summit was a face full of wind driven rain. I bought and icecream and we regrouped jubilant that Blackgang had been so easy, but the rain was persistant now and through the curtains of cloud i could just make out how far the island stretched ahead of us.

The rain defeated our attempt to stick pifko back together with insulation tape, but a bandanna did the job. Head down into the rain i missed a couple of turnings only to be saved by shouts from behind. A muddy corner nearly took me out and certainly woke me up, but i was feeling pretty empty when the road returned to the coast and (in defiance of the forecast) a howling north-westerly headwind. The first rise along the cliff tops was the grimest bit of the ride. Roadies winched their way up in bottom gear or, defeated, plodded along pushing, while those with fewer gears stamped stubbornly up.

The muddy off-road section from Freshwater to Yarmouth added another element to the suffering, but tea, cake and lots of friendly faces at Yarmouth cheered me back up. I wolfed my food and tried to join the back of the Damotrain as it left but just kept dropping further back. I was resigning myself to slogging on alone into the headwind (northeasterly now) when Cynthia rolled up and kept me company.

Cowes had a seafront complete with will-sapping headwinds and sea spray, and some vicious little climbs, one of which defeated me (but not Cynthia - cue comments from impressed but slightly patronising roadies). We caught up with the Damotrain waiting for the Cowes chainferry, and stuck together after that.

As we climbed out of Cowes, Greasy chased after us, tempting us with beer, but we were thirsty for Victory so pressed on to Wootton. Stamps, certificates, cake, more badges, Woo Hoo! A chat with a slightly baffled hockey team leaving the campsite, and then we off on the main road to Ryde. Beer (thanks Cynthia) and chips (thanks damo) never tasted so good, then a tube-ride along the pier (thanks Soul) and the fastcat back to Portsmouth.

I hung around at the station while the next ferry came in (sorry to hear you didn't make it Dropout) and then the train left. A while later i was sitting in the evening sunshine(!) on top of Portsdown hill, looking back at the isle of hills and rain, feeling full of beer and chips and win. Then i picked up my bike to head home and the chain, slackened by the mud, promply fell off. A few more miles, a long hot bath and an early night.

Thankyou all.