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Cycling the Isle of Wight

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  • July 15, 2019 at 9:31 am #29896
    kil0ran

    Wow.

    That place is amazing.

    It’s been three or four years since I last cycled over there and I’m amazed by the quality of the roads in the west of the island now. Military Road has been resurfaced, but so have the back lanes just off it. Beautiful tarmac worthy of Majorca. Not a single close pass in a week of riding. Really challenging rolling terrain, and Ventnor must have some of the steepest short sections of road in the country (western exit to the prom in particular). Strongly recommend heading one road inland from the Military Road because it’s better protected from the wind and much more engaging to ride – constant gradient changes.

    Has the Tour of Britain ever visited? You could build a fantastic stage over there, and being September the massed hordes would have left. Possibly not enough miles available without disrupting the whole island I guess.

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  • July 15, 2019 at 7:30 pm #946075
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    kil0ran
    kookenhaken wrote:
    The climb up to the top of Down Lane from the Esplanade in Ventnor is great fun!  I had a similar experience to the joys of the Island in May on a family holiday and have been planning a return (solo) trip ever since.  

    Likewise – going to try and get a cheeky weekender bikepacking and do the whole island.

    July 15, 2019 at 5:01 pm #946073
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    mike the bike
    kookenhaken wrote:
    The climb up to the top of Down Lane from the Esplanade in Ventnor is great fun! …….  

     

    You are so right Mr K, that is the toughest 2.5 km I’ve ridden on the island. But there are some supermen who laugh at it and one of them is Tim Wiggins (no relation) who repeated it thirty-eight times in a day for charity.  And also to pick up his ‘Everesting’ award, which he bloody deserved.

    July 15, 2019 at 1:33 pm #946071
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    kookenhaken

    The climb up to the top of

    The climb up to the top of Down Lane from the Esplanade in Ventnor is great fun!  I had a similar experience to the joys of the Island in May on a family holiday and have been planning a return (solo) trip ever since.  

    July 15, 2019 at 1:16 pm #946069
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    kil0ran

    I was surprised. Did a fair

    I was surprised. Did a fair bit of driving too, necessarily pootly with three bikes on the back (Atera Strada DL – whatarack laugh) and just seemed to be far less rubbish driving. The roads were teeming with cyclists at the weekends and people seemed to be fairly relaxed about getting around them. Heading up Niton Down I couldn’t overtake a singled-out group for probably half a mile or so, no honking of horns or revving of engines or the like. There was a bloke in club kit doing the round the island on a Brompton  who was leaving people on expensive pro bikes for dead. Also saw my first Fairlight Strael in the wild, nice as a Faran owner.

    July 15, 2019 at 11:05 am #946067
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    CXR94Di2

    I did enjoy my one time

    I did enjoy my one time cycling around the whole island.  I and few mates did the loop in a day- fish and chips, the needle etc.  Shame for us there were a few close passes.  

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