Veloviewer Challenge Day 4

 Just to be clear: this is not an offical thing. It's just me keeping myself amused on a bike over the Christmas holidays. 

Today was a roadride, and the sun came out in style. A lovely day and I set off North out of the village (I ALWAYS go north... it seems that my automatic action is to try to do an anti-clockwise circuit of the island... no idea why... but it always backloads the day with climbs. As I'm about to find out). 

St. Helens, Nettlestone, Bullen Corner, Smallbrook, Firestone copse and Wooton all disappear in a blur. Then its onto getting some new squares through Staplers and down into Newport where I stop for a brief moment to get a picture next to the Quay Arts gallery. 

Quay Arts Centre

Then north on the very nice and well tarmacked Red Squirrel trail towards Cowes. It's a lovely trail, but got a little boring after a while. 

Red Squirrel Trail

Then some squiggles around and about to get some tiles, a main road, and a quiet road that got me to Parkhurst forest. Some of these trails are VERY squidgy, and some of them are pretty solid. How to tell the difference? Well, I looked on the Open Cycle map and took a punt that the trails that were marked as "cycle trails" would be more solid than not. 

The bikeable bit of Parkhurst

And it turned out ok. Glad I wasn't on anything less than 32's though. It was a bit lumpy and bumpy, but very do-able. Out of the forest and past a couple of bemused mountain bikers- and a last down a decent road towards the main road out of Newport... and a turn West along the main road out towards Ningwood and Cranmore. 

Cranmore roads

Cranmore! My word, what a place. Well... certainly a place where my average speed took a bit of a nose dive. A short bimble around the "roads" of Cranmore to get some more tiles, and a quick photo, and then a blast back to Ningwood, a right and some lovely quiet and well tarmacked roads that took me windingly back to Carisbrooke. 

At Carisbrooke there was a bit of a faff around the trading estate- not because I needed to visit Argos, but because there was a tile that was needed that one of the roads just glinted the edge of. 

On the way to Bowcombe

Then a plunge out of Carisbrooke and over to Bowcombe- grab another tile, and then a sneaky blat across a chalky double track across the fields to Gatcombe. Not the best terrain for the Secan in road mode, but it coped admirably. 

Oh yeah. This is why we have road tyres on...

Chalky. It's ok if you pretend you have grip.

Gatcombe, and Snowdrop lane- and a MASSIVE buzzard flying down the road, and then south through Chillingham and Billingham- (expecting the next place to be Allingham- I was sorely disappointed that it was actually Kingstone). Turning West and out to Brighstone in order to turn onto the Military road and TT my way Eastwards with as much of a tailwind as possible to get another 2 tiles, before doglegging into and out of Chale- same reason- before the climb to Niton. 

Where, of *course* there was an icecream van, doing a roaring trade! 

Niton- and then down to the Undercliff, where I haven't been in a lot of years- and I wasn't sure if I could get through after the 2014 landslip. 

Good news... yes you can on a bike, and the road is lovely and smooth (at the time of writing). It's quiet and is certainly worth a look. 

The bit on the Undercliff where there was a landslip

Through St.Lawrence, Ventnor and down into Bonchurch where the back loading of the climbs REALLY makes things apparent. I was down to chain eating Tangfastics by this stage on the brutal climbs back up to the main road, and then across, above Luccombe and into Shanklin and Sandown where, on a whim, I decided to see what was going on along the seafront. LOTS of people. That's what. Average speed took another massive hit as I chilled out and wove my way through the Boxing day revellers. The cafes were making a killing, that's for sure. 

Then a final dash for home through Yaverland and Bembridge. Beautiful weather throughout. 

Home!

 

On uploading the ride, hoping that it was all done and dusted.... what do you know. A SINGLE flipping square- just by Bowcombe and Gatcombe. Flipping Garstons Down. 

Dammit!

That Square......