Round the Island Cycle Route

A beautiful ride using the official route in a clockwise direction. I started at Bembridge and this ride takes you through some amazing places on the island.

Catching an early morning ferry to Yarmouth, the plan was to cycle around the island before the winds picked up. I had already learnt that the weather on this island can be surprising, as only a few days ago, another episode of flash flooding occurred in the eastern side of the Island. Evidence was seen throughout the day, with sandbags protecting vulnerable properties. Throughout the day, quiet country lanes were punctuated with busier sections of road, full of holiday traffic and local people too. Hill after hill, we pushed our legs to continue on, with the wind picking up and becoming more blustery. When we reached the south coast, an amazing panorama over the ocean lay before us, but the wind was at it’s strongest (the ferryman later told us it was Force 10). In any other situation we would not have been cycling, but we had to press on to reach our ferry home. The Needles would have to wait for another day.. we reached the terminal and were able to make it onto an earlier crossing home. Strangely my Strava only recorded 4639 feet of climbing, whereas three of my friends had over 5000ft.. I’m sticking with their figures!