A lap of the Isle Of Wight

Hi all,

I'm feeling pretty good. Pretty knackered but pretty good.

One of the rides on my bike bucket list has been the Isle Of Wight. I've cycled down to the south coast near where I live many times and always looked out to the Island wondering what its like over there.

Now, I know.

It's hilly.

I live in Hampshire. It's lovely. It's lovely and mostly flat. It's a bit hilly to the North, but other than that it's fine. What I didn't expect was the scale of the hills over there. It's Devon style hills. Real hills. The north of the island is fairly flat, with rolling, gentle, undulants. As you go clockwise towards the south of the Island, all of a sudden you find the horizon is above you. A long way above you.

I set off with the local CTC group, who are a great bunch of people. the 9 of us set off at a gentle pace had a few laughs and a few breaks. We stopped at a fantastic tea room which you can see in the pictures below. If you are in the area give it a try. We lost a member of the group there as they found it hard going. They headed back North to the ferry. The rest of us carried on.

We got to about half way round (after Black Gang Chine) and we seperated into 2 groups. I tried to keep up with the fast group but I admit that after the hill, I was shot. I had a break and some sweets and waited for the slower group. I'm glad I did as it was great fun. Such a laugh.

I had a couple of issues where I ate too much or drank too little, but nothing major.

One thing that I will remember though. The roads are smooth. It looks like they've just been resurfaced for the most part. Also taking real, proper corners at 35mph on nothing but a small bit of tin is really exciting. I loved every second of downhill.

I won't be doing this ride again until next year as it was pretty tough. I need to do longer rides more regularly to get up to fitness for this sort of thing.

Pictures and Strava below:

Thanks for reading,

Wiggle Spring Sportive 2016

Hi all,

So this year I decided to do my first event. I was fairly nervous to be honest having not done anything like the distance required before but I was certain I could do the distance.

The problem with these events is actually time. If I do this event again I'll keep my average moving speed, but cut my breaks down. Now I've done a few big rides I know what I'm capable of.

The bigger drain on this ride was the wind. It was horrendous. A really strong headwind most of the way round.

I met a friend of mine on the start line, which meant I had a ride buddy. We cleared the first 30 miles quickly, but I really needed him for the last 25 miles. I got huge cramp. Sorry, that's not big enough.

I got HUGE cramp.

Both legs.

It didn't even play nicely. It cramped at extension and reflexion. At one point I had to jump off my bike and lie on the grass for a bit. Eventually it gave way and I could jump back on for a mile or so. It really tested me.

Saying all that, it was good fun. Pretty cool stuff. I met some nice people, I got overtaken by a really old gentleman making a noise like a steam train. I couldn't keep up with him!

I will do the one later this year, but I'll definitely do the spring one next year.

Photos and Strava below:

I don't know who this guy is.