Isle of White

12th Sept we hooked up with Paul, James and John  local riders on the Isle of Wight for a tour round some of their favourite trails. Great company, great weather and  great trails topped off with beer and fish-n-chips on the seafront as we watched the setting sun.

We left Brighton station at 7-30 very bleary eyed but looking forward to the what the day had in store. Another contingent were on a train from Horsham while more made their way by car and met us for the crossing. We bought CAT tickets and 20 minutes after getting off the train we were drinking coffee on Ryde pier. Effortless. Paul, James & John arrived and the usual bike chat got underway as we faffed with hot drinks and pre-ride grub.

As we were at sea level the only way was up. After a climb through Ryde we arrived at the first section of singletrack, a mixture of twisty trail, jutting trees and plenty of roots, it looked tasty as we rode up it! The first descent of the day was down a flight of wooden steps and straight into a narrow rooty off camber section, carnage ensued as Paul ended up in the brambles and the rest of us who were far too close almost went over him as we all left the trail in exactly the same place. More climbing followed including a steep, rutted and stepped section that only Pete, Dez and Alex cleaned (so you know how bad it was)  until we arrived at the crest of a big hill with some radio masts on top. The view over the ocean was impressive and after all the climbing we were due a reward. A sneaky chalk trail led us to a mega fast descent that started on grass then swoopy chalk track and finally down through a steep sided valley, I think it was called ‘terminus hill’. This was fast, really really fast, Paul the ride leader clocked 45 mph on his GPS. Every region seems to its own ‘steps of doom’ and IofW is no different, we all chickened out of the first set as they looked an invitation to suicide, John rode the second set by using his elbow on the rocks as a support and emerging at the bottom fairly well blooded, respect.

A couple more descents and we were at the beach, another brutal climb and we were in Ventnor sitting outside the ‘Spyglass’ pub drinking beer. The food service was slow so we decided to leave it, a wise decision as the climb out of Ventnor was steep and long. From the top of the hill the views across the ocean and cliffs were impressive but we had a tasty descent coming up that occupied our minds. It began with a steep drop through a field, then into a narrow nettle lined trail before ending with a short climb that was no problem as we carried as much speed as possible from the descent. More singletrack descents followed that put huge grins on all faces. Due to time constraints we decided to head straight back to Ryde. A few more climbs one of which only Pete made and we arrived at the top of the very first singletrack section that we had come up at the beginning of the ride. Going down was a blast and we blatted along it as fast as we dared. No organised ride is complete without the usual punctures and mechanicals and there were plenty, true to form the ‘tube or tubless’ debate reared its head more than once.

A great day out in good company, 40 miles of cracking trails, no wind and warm sunshine. The post ride beer turned into 3 or 4 pints and we got on the train back to Brighton at about 8-30 pm.

As the beer flowed there was much talk of an IofW contingent coming to Brighton to ride on our patch; hopefully this can be arranged while we still have bone dry trails and warm sunshine. Many thanks to Paul, James and John who gave up their day to show us round – really appreciated.

Check the photo update link for all pics.