Isle of Wight Holiday - Of Towers and Ferries and Sandy Promenades (Day 8)

Welcome to new readers! I have been posting a photo-diary of our cycling holiday last August on the Isle of Wight -- in serial / instalment form.  This one covers our last day, before catching a ferry back to the mainland. 

If you wish to 'catch up', here are links to previous instalments: 

Days 1-2 (Arrival)

Day 3 (St Catherine's Point)

Day 4 (The Needles)

Day 5 (Roman Villa, Aeroplanes & Windmills)

Day 6 (Beaches, Blossoms & Birds)

Day 7 (Shipwrecks)

The Sunshine Trail - sign outside Shanklin train station

Our 'goal' for today was simply to pack up and get ourselves back to Ryde to catch the ferry to Portsmouth and from there get a train home. We cycled to Shanklin and caught the island train to Ryde, arriving with loads of time to wander around and have a proper look at Ryde before departure.

Isle of Wight Holiday - Of Shipwrecks and The Sunshine Trail (Day 7)

Welcome to new readers! 

Over the past couple of months, I have been posting a photo-diary of our cycling holiday last August on the Isle of Wight -- in serial/instalment form.  Today's post covers Day 7 and is the next to last in the series. 

If you wish to 'catch up', here are links to previous instalments: 

Isle of Wight Holiday - Of Beaches, Blossoms and Birds (Day 6)

-- More adventures on the Isle of Wight in August --

On the Thursday, we decided to have another local "rest" day, this time without even taking our bikes. 

We walked down the steep hill to Bonchurch. 

Cuttings through rock: one for the street, one for the old footpath. 

Isle of Wight Holiday - Of Roman Villas, Aeroplanes and Windmills (Day 5)

-- More adventures on the Isle of Wight in August --

Day 5 dawned clear and sunny (again) with the promise of being a bit of a scorcher. We prepared to leave the house for another glorious day on our bikes. While wheeling my bike from the living room to the front door, I noticed the front brake block rubbing on the wheel.... turns out my little clipless moment had buckled the wheel! (As well as damaging the rear mech - something I didn't discover until a few days later when I really needed that 34x36 gear!)

Thankfully, Adam was able to re-true the wheel. The alternative would have been to take the bike to a bike shop by car.

We set off through Shanklin and Lake, where we turned off and picked up part of the Round the Isle route as far as Brading. Our destination: the Roman Villa.

Isle of Wight Holiday - The Needles (Day 4)

Back to the series of posts about our cycling holiday -

On the Tuesday (27 August to clarify - a lifetime ago now!), we put the bikes away and set off in Liam's car to see the famous Needles at the far western tip of the Isle.

Thatched house - not at all unusual on the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight Holiday - The Light to the South (Day 3)

My first visit to the Isle of Wight was over the May Bank Holiday Weekend of 2011. I arrived on the Friday (the day of the Royal Wedding - in fact, I nearly missed my train in my delay turning off the television - well, I had to see the dress, didn't I?) and left on Monday. On the Sunday, I attempted the Round the Isle Randonnee, but I bailed due to (a) being tired from my cycling wanderings the day before, and (b) fear in the face of "mountains".

The wanderings the day before the Randonnee had led to my "discovery" of St Catherine's Point. It was so beautiful, it was high on my list of places to see again on our summer holiday this year. 

So after settling in on the Sunday, on Monday we set off from Bonchurch headed south. Whizzing high above Ventnor and through the forests until we broke out into the sunshine: 

St Catherine's Lighthouse

Isle of Wight Holiday - Arrival and Settling In (Days 1-2)

We enjoyed our weekend on the Isle of Wight in May so much that we decided to go back again for our summer holiday. We booked a house for one week, in Bonchurch near Ventnor. Adam and I travelled down by bicycle and train, while Adam's adult daughter Amiiee and her boyfriend Liam came down by car - with the bulk of our luggage!

We arrived mid-afternoon on Saturday and set about settling in.

The (Not Round The) Isle of Wight Randonnee

The annual Isle of Wight Randonnee is 100km of unrelenting hills - yes, lots of lovely descents but boy do you earn them.  The delay in the arrival of spring this year meant I was nowhere near fit enough for that, so we decided to ride the 55k route instead. This takes in the main route from Cowes to Alverstone but then instead of heading south to Whitwell, goes inland to Newport via National Cycle Route 23, then follows the River Medina north to Cowes.

The black line shows the 100k route, the white line the 55k route.