I booked two days of work so I’d have to go regardless of the weather or my holiday time would be wasted. I decided to stay on the Island as I’d always have the option to bail if the weather turned really bad and I also decided to stick mainly to roads to see what sort of daily distance I could cover on the loaded bike with one eye on potentially riding to an upcoming event where cars are not permitted
I headed out at 10:00 on Monday morning and immediately noticed how much harder work the bike was with the extra weight. The bike was 49lb with the luggage on and being singlespeed there was no option but to just get used to the effort required to pedal. I’d planned a mini tour of the Island from home in Newport (in the centre of the Island) I headed north to Cowes, caught the chain ferry to East Cowes and then basically followed the coast roads clockwise around the Island. I had kept the route coastal as most of the seaside towns and beach areas have public drinking water taps so I could fill up as I passed them. From East Cowes I passed through Wootton, Ryde, Seaview, St Helens, Bembridge, Sandown, Shanklin, Ventnor, Niton, Chale, Freshawater and out to Alum Bay. I pedalled up to the Needle Old Battery to take in the view then onward through Totland, Yarmouth, Shalfleet, Newtown and Porchfiled before heading south and inland to my chosen bivi site in the centre of the Island. By arrival it was dark and I’d covered 73 miles in a total of 9 hours with 7 hours of riding. Where does the extra time go? I’d not stopped for any length of time but I guess all the short stops for food and water add up. As the Island is only 13 miles North to South and 23 miles East to West you can appreciate that I’d seen most of the coast during the day.
For dinner I had army rations of Pork Curry Nepalese Style. I used to get these rations free from a work colleague. Her son is in the Army Cadet’s but when they went away for the weekends he would avoid eating too much as he had a phobia of having a ‘number two’ in strange toilets. He’d eat the snacks and lunches but the main meals would come home in his bergen and she’d bring them in to work for me. Unfortunately when he went away for a week camping the ‘not going option’ would be a tall order and after 3 days he sent home the text ‘Just had a dump, all is well’ so phobia overcome and no more free rations for me
Warming it up, and the rice that accompanies it, in a 750ml miti mug was a bit of a task requiring turning over at intervals as it wouldn’t all fit in below the water at once. After a long day riding it was an early night for me.During the night I woke up and it was so bright that at first I thought it was the next day, but it turned out to just be the moon. I was also treated to a pair of owls flapping about overhead. My alarm went off at 05:30 and I was up before sunrise to cook breakfast. This was dehydrated fruit muesli I’d had for some time from when I first went camping with the wife (then girlfriend) in Wales. It must have been quite some time ago as these things have quite a long shelf life but the date on the back was best before 2013. I had seen this when I packed but though they were just cautious and it would be fine... opening it let loose a terrible smell of off milk... which didn’t go away when rehydrated and tasted so bad I decided to pass and have a oat bar form my snack collection. Packed up I headed for home the long way round.
I headed north back to the coast road at Shalfleet, then went anticlockwise via Yarmouth (stopping for a bacon bap for breakfast) then Freshwater, Chale, Blackgang, Niton, Ventnor. At Ventnor I’d had enough of riding on the road so headed up the downs road to take in the off road descent on the far side which is steep and washed out so took some concentration with the extra weigh on the bars. It was then downhill to Shanklin, on to Sandown, Bembride (stopping for a toasted cheese and ham sarnie for lunch) then on to Seaview. Then I turned left and headed west off road to Brading then to Adgestone, picking up the Sandown to Newport cycle path, stopping at Peddlers Cafe at Newchurch for Coffee and Cake before the final stretch back to Newport. I reached Newport with 57 miles showing on the garmin so had to ride around the block to get up to 60 before stopping. It was a bit rainy on day 1 but as I got a sunburnt nose on day 2 I can’t complain about the weather. First solo bivi done and already want to get out again. I think I’m going to have to head off the Island next time as I did nearly 2 complete circuits this time so a change of view would be nice. If my aspirations of riding from home to the 'event' are to be fulfilled I'll need to be able to cover 100 miles a day so I'll either need to be fitter, fit gears, ride for longer each day or probably all three!
Some photos of the 2 days
Ventnor Cascades
Former rocket test site at Alum Bay
Newtown Old Town Hall
Dinner
Home for the night
Yarmouth Ferry Terminal
View back towards Freshwater Bay on day 2