2010-05-02 - Isle of Wight Randonnee

cheapest i can find now is 91 for 4 people

how do i reserve a space?

you have to phone the train company. who did you book it with?

Right I'm forming a plan...

I'm thinking to head down on the morning, perhaps tag along with the day trippers, tho that is a terrifyingly early start, and stay sunday night on the island, allowing me to get falling down for celebration and relaxation purposes.

Not sure how or if that will work out for a groupsave, does the group have to return together? or on the same day?

make sure you reverse bike space otherwise you will be in trouble!

You have to reverse the order of the 'v' and the 's'. ;)

I am looking at South West trains and can't even put my railcard discout in. So far I get £87 for a day return for two.....

Try thetrainline.com - they have anytime day returns for £30.80 without railcard & £20.35 with certain railcards.

right:
tika, wools, jaygee et vee = one group discount

i'd like to start another, though i don't have a decent credit card, i'm looking to get on the same train as the first group. anyone?

I'd be in for getting on the 05.02 too, I think the groupsave doesn't have to have the whole group returning on the same train, the National Rail website is telling me £64 for 4 off peak returns.

I don't mind buying so list no. 2:

1. middleofnowhere
   
2. damo
   

I"m quite keen on this... tis my b'day weekend (yep I have a bank holiday weekend, not just a day). Just putting the feelers out, but I'm pretty keen to camp the sunday eve. That way it will mean I haven't just spent 4 days drunk and sleeping.

I'm up for camping Sat and Sun. Hopefully the weather will be agreeable!

I'm into this in some form... Not sure which yet.

Katie, if you only camp Sunday night, what you gonna do with el tento on the ride?

I was thinking early doors train out of london on the sunday. Portsmouth ferry to Fishbourne. Duck to campsite at Wootton. Drop tent off. Do ride. Buy beer. Get drunk. Eat. Passout from happiness.... Monday head back to London? I'm not planning on riding with a bloody tent.

Find someone who has camped the previous night and chuck it in their tent? If anyone else has any stuff they don't want to carry then my tent can be a dumping ground until after the ride.

See?! Taking shape this is... Thanks arducius, there is definitely a beer in it for you.

@Kattiep are you in need of groupsave?

All you camping folks / early morning train folks - I take it you are starting the ride from Cowes?

I'm in Stubbington the night before, so have a choice between a ticket to Ryde and a ferry to Cowes, as apparently you can start the ride at any checkpoint.
Yes you can start the ride at any of the checkpoints, so it's pretty flexible.

As there is a checkpoint at the campsite at Wooton, I'll be starting from there. Wooton is also the closest checkpoint for anyone getting the ferry to Ryde.
For those of us camping there will be scope for a few beers with the daytrippers at either Ryde or Bembridge. I guess it depends on KattieP, birthday privileges mean the choice of pub is not in my hands!

I've booked the following (so go down sat arvo, camp sat and sun, come back monday). So far I've 4 definites, but it looks like there will be more like 15 of us. I just wanted to get it sorted so decided to take care of numero uno and all that.

SATURDAY 1/5/10
Train
Lon Victoria 15:02 - Portsmouth Harbour 17:02
Ferry
18:00 - takes about 40 min. From the Ferry, the campsite is about 1 mile so not far to ride with tent etc.

(Sun should be setting about 20.48 so we can pitch tents in daylight).

SUNDAY
Set off on the 100km loop of the Island. Take it slow and steady. Stop for fish and chips/pints/icecream en route. There won't be any rush. I'm thinking 6 hours?
In the eve have a BBQ and have some cans.

MONDAY 3/5/10
Ferry 15:00
Train 6:29 - gets to Lon Vic 18:53.

COSTS
I paid £56 for the train (4 people rtn)
£63.20 for the ferry (4 people rtn)
so £29.80 for transport + £10 for 2 nights camping.

Bargain!

That sounds like an excellent plan! The only thing you missed was meeting up with the daytrippers, I reckon if we leave about 45 mins before they are planning to set off from Bembridge, then we have plenty of time (it's only 10 miles from Wooton).

I especially approve of the BBQ idea!

I'd be in for getting on the 05.02 too, I think the groupsave doesn't have to have the whole group returning on the same train, the National Rail website is telling me £64 for 4 off peak returns.

I don't mind buying so list no. 2:

1. middleofnowhere
   
2. damo
   
   

cheers for this Matt.
we need two more, who's in?

there's a fuck of a lot of pirate names missing from this years list. what gives?

pirates are last year.
this year it's ninjas.

I've booked the following (so go down sat arvo, camp sat and sun, come back monday). So far I've 4 definites, but it looks like there will be more like 15 of us. I just wanted to get it sorted so decided to take care of numero uno and all that.

SATURDAY 1/5/10
Train
Lon Victoria 15:02 - Portsmouth Harbour 17:02
Ferry
18:00 - takes about 40 min. From the Ferry, the campsite is about 1 mile so not far to ride with tent etc.

(Sun should be setting about 20.48 so we can pitch tents in daylight).

SUNDAY
Set off on the 100km loop of the Island. Take it slow and steady. Stop for fish and chips/pints/icecream en route. There won't be any rush. I'm thinking 6 hours?
In the eve have a BBQ and have some cans.

MONDAY 3/5/10
Ferry 15:00
Train 6:29 - gets to Lon Vic 18:53.

COSTS
I paid £56 for the train (4 people rtn)
£63.20 for the ferry (4 people rtn)
so £29.80 for transport + £10 for 2 nights camping.

Bargain!

count me in katie

Mrs braker and I are hoping to attend in a similar, if not identical manner to this ^

@Damo ninja hoodie here:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VEXED-GENERATION-Ninja-hoody-top-black-size-S-10-12-38_W0QQitemZ230451764335QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxq20100322?IMSfp=TL100322175002r14578
love the way K.P has said "sun should be setting at about 20.48"
sign of a top organiser there.

50 bones. that's alot of money when we could just do the tshirt ninja trick.