Isle of Wight

Who was it on here recently described the IoW as "where they put all the
hills when they ran out of space on the mainland"?

I can now confirm they were correct! I'd swear there was more uphill than
down hill and nothing flat!

Across on the 9:15 Cat, turn right at the end of the jetty
Round the island (via a number of refreshment stops!) and back to the Cat at
7pm.

Great ride, but bl****y hard work. Tougher day than doing the C2C a few
months ago - more miles and more hills!

pk

p.k. wrote:
Who was it on here recently described the IoW as "where they put all the
hills when they ran out of space on the mainland"?

I can now confirm they were correct! I'd swear there was more uphill than
down hill and nothing flat!

Across on the 9:15 Cat, turn right at the end of the jetty
Round the island (via a number of refreshment stops!) and back to the Cat at
7pm.

They let you take a bike on the Cat! They don't really approve of even
folding bikes whenever I've used it.

Turn left thought is a better option; hill gradients are less and they
are nearly all in the first half of the ride rather than the last half.


Great ride, but bl****y hard work. Tougher day than doing the C2C a few
months ago - more miles and more hills!


Surely not. Round the Island is about 70 miles vs 135 and the hills are
much shorter and less steep on the island, none of which compares with
the climbs up Hartside and out of Garrigill


--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

Tony Raven wrote:
p.k. wrote:

They let you take a bike on the Cat! They don't really approve of
even folding bikes whenever I've used it.

3 bikes, with ropes on the railings ready to hold the bikes steady and
helpful crewman tying a proper knot!


Turn left thought is a better option; hill gradients are less and they
are nearly all in the first half of the ride rather than the last
half.

Yes, we know than now!



Great ride, but bl****y hard work. Tougher day than doing the C2C a
few months ago - more miles and more hills!


Surely not. Round the Island is about 70 miles vs 135 and the hills
are much shorter and less steep on the island, none of which compares
with the climbs up Hartside and out of Garrigill


But the C2C was over 3 days, with a 50/30/50 split. At the end of each C2C
day all of our group felt we could have cycled on. Not so on Saturday. I
think though that the biggest difference was the lack of flat cruising bits.
The Iow was up or down with little time to recover before the next grind up.

Hartside had a reputation that had us fearing it before we did the C2C but
in fact is just a long steady grind - set a lowish gear and twiddle, you get
up eventually, plus it twists and turns so you can't see how far you still
have to go. Some of the IoW hills were long straight and f****** steep! In
fact on the C2C the last day Allenheads to Sunderland was by a long way the
toughest, long and some nasty sharp hills.

I'm not complaining thogh, bloody good day out!

pk

p.k. wrote:
Tony Raven wrote:

p.k. wrote:

They let you take a bike on the Cat! They don't really approve of
even folding bikes whenever I've used it.


3 bikes, with ropes on the railings ready to hold the bikes steady and
helpful crewman tying a proper knot!


That sounds like the car ferry into East Cowes which ties the bikes up
to the railings. The Cats are the RedCat high speed foot passenger only
catamarans going into West Cowes and do not take bikes. There are no
railings on those and there is only an inside to sit in airline style.



--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

snipped

They let you take a bike on the Cat! They don't really approve of
even folding bikes whenever I've used it.


Strange... I've never heard of people having probs..I know of quite a few
peeps who commute everyday with cycles.


Jan - who live on the IW

Jan wrote:
snipped

They let you take a bike on the Cat! They don't really approve of
even folding bikes whenever I've used it.



Strange... I've never heard of people having probs..I know of quite a few
peeps who commute everyday with cycles.



On the Redjet or ferry?

"Q. Can you take cycles on board?
A. Not on the Hi-Speed service. Cycle racks are available at Terminal
2 in Southampton and at West Cowes. Cycles can be carried free of charge
on the vehicle ferry service."
(http://www.redfunnel.co.uk)

Jan - who live on the IW

I have several friends who commute daily on the Redjets and have to have
bicycles at both ends as they cannot take them on board. The ferry is a
different matter but that takes much longer than the Redjets.


--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

Tony Raven wrote:
Jan wrote:
snipped

They let you take a bike on the Cat! They don't really approve of
even folding bikes whenever I've used it.



Strange... I've never heard of people having probs..I know of quite
a few peeps who commute everyday with cycles.



On the Redjet or ferry?

"Q. Can you take cycles on board?
A. Not on the Hi-Speed service. Cycle racks are available at
Terminal 2 in Southampton and at West Cowes. Cycles can be carried
free of charge on the vehicle ferry service."
(http://www.redfunnel.co.uk)

Jan - who live on the IW

I have several friends who commute daily on the Redjets and have to
have bicycles at both ends as they cannot take them on board. The
ferry is a different matter but that takes much longer than the
Redjets.


The OP came over on the "Cat. The "Cat" is operated by Wightlink and does
allow cycles, The "Red Jet" by Red Funnel Ferries and doesn't :-)

Jan

Jan wrote:

The OP came over on the "Cat. The "Cat" is operated by Wightlink and does
allow cycles, The "Red Jet" by Red Funnel Ferries and doesn't :-)


Mea culpa! I'd forgotten about the FastCat service from Portsmouth.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake and I had" Anon

On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 13:41:38 +0100, Tony Raven
wrote:

Jan wrote:

The OP came over on the "Cat. The "Cat" is operated by Wightlink and does
allow cycles, The "Red Jet" by Red Funnel Ferries and doesn't :-)


Mea culpa! I'd forgotten about the FastCat service from Portsmouth.


Dead handy it is too. Get off train, wheel bike along platform, down
ramp to Fast Cat.

Tie bike to railings, cross water, then negotiate the
slippery-when-wet planks on the pier.


Do _not_ leave the station and get the next ferry you see and marvel
at how short the crossing is then realise you're in Gosport.



Tim

Tony Raven wrote:
Jan wrote:


The OP came over on the "Cat. The "Cat" is operated by Wightlink and
does allow cycles, The "Red Jet" by Red Funnel Ferries and doesn't :-)


Mea culpa! I'd forgotten about the FastCat service from Portsmouth.


Just how parochial can you get?