The Isle of ‘That can’t be right’ …. another puncture ?!
The highs and lows of another Gravel adventure.

By James Hibbert

I’ll get the apologies out of the way up front;

I am acutely aware that this is a Triathlon Club and our four day adventure did not include any swimming or running.

I am very conscious that our trip across the Isle of Wight does not compare to months and months travelling over foreign soils, and there were no bears to fend off.

I completely recognise that we set out from the port in the comfort and safety of a passenger ferry, and not rubbing goose fat on our bodies to keep warm and fearing the hours ahead before we would reach the other side.

Nor did our ride allow us to get that elusive Iron Man title or GB club kit. Nope, we didn’t even pick up a now-frowned-upon wooden medal. 

Nope, all of the above are truly life changing challenges that make a person, the gravity of which needs not be underestimated. Epic in the commitment, will power, dedication and physical and mental strength required to get you through the dark times.

So, after the challenging four days of King Alfreds Way that Chris and I tackled in 2023, what was the plan for this year to be? Well, simples … none of the above … the brief;  reduced riding routes and unashamedly selfish days just enjoying the bikes with proper stops with proper food and a bit of a chin wag. This was James and Chris Cycling/ Food Tour of the Isle of Wight … at least that was the plan !!

On paper the 4 days of (just) 68km – 85km – 90km and 68km didn’t look too challenging on first inspection, however when you dig in to the details I guess the signs this might not be as easy/relaxed as we thought it might were there; the (heavy) off road bikes we were riding, the off road surfaces to contend, the elevations that off road riding takes you over (have you ever noticed they tend to build roads through hills – well tracks and trails are usually as the crow flies, and elevation doesn’t tend to scare the crows), the time taken to check the route directions and any mechanicals you may have to deal with … and the biggest element you underestimate – human complacency.

Complacency is the devil on your shoulder – you look at the route distance and it’s all too easy to forget the other elements (above) which can turn ‘an easy relaxing day’ in to ‘an all day epic’.

Its all too easy to sit at the first coffee stop for that bit too long, or stop every few minutes to take photographs and soak up the scenery … however, be warned, the time will come that you’ll be looking at your watch which tells you its 2pm (already) and you are mentally calculating your average speed (low off road) and realising it’ll be another 5pm finish (after leaving at 9am every day).

Looking at the distances above just doesn’t tell the story of how much riding they translated in to;

Day 1: 4 hours saddle time ; Day 2: 5 hours saddle time; Day 3: 6 hours saddle time; Day 4: 4 hours saddle time. 19 hours saddle time in 4 days … now, that tells the story of The Isle of Wight much better than just listing distances. No bears, no goose fat, no endless gulping of gels, but actually a blooming lot of riding (and fixing punctures) as it turns out.

Day 1: We left ‘The Beeches’ early with the bikes strapped to the back of ‘the van’ and drove down to Portsmouth to catch the passenger ferry to IoW. Parked up, removed the bikes, loaded them up with our bags packed for 4 days, and rode to the Ferry. Twenty minutes on the ferry and we were shortly cycling on to what felt like foreign soil, routes known, but challenges not.

Off the ferry and up the first climb that saw my gears going down and heart rate going up equally as rapidly, and the first curve ball was just a few kilometres away. In the (soon to be dismissed) spirit of trip, the plan had been to stop at the first focal point on route and fuel up for the day. We rolled into the stunning Quarr Abbey, jumped off the bikes, worked out how we could safely use the relatively limited locks we had (typically locking the bikes to something and together) and strolled over to the rather impressive looking cafe. We queued with menu in hand deciding on which ‘not so much fuel but more indulgent’ breakfast we would have before sensing that something was wrong. The card machine wasn’t working – cash only!! Cash was one thing we hadn’t packed, and so it starts – do we give it 10 minutes to see if they fix it, or do we move on?! .. We moved on. Another lesson you learn gravel riding is to be aware that riding away from the roads also means riding away from the shops, cafes, etc, that you usually take for granted. The risk of passing a food stop is not knowing when you might see another, so the decision to move on isn’t as automatic/comfortable as you might imagine.

Thankfully, it turned out to be the right choice. Not too much further along the route we had a few roads to cross and we came across a breakfast Bistro where we fuelled up. Clinging on to the Chris/James Food Tour ideology I enjoyed my hot drink and Chimichurri spiced poached eggs on Sourdough bread …. ah, this is the life (choosing to ignore the fact we’d only ridden about 5km so far) !!

Breakfast done, and we hit the trails with our fully loaded bikes, The weather was warming up nicely, although the disparity in temperatures from climbing in full sun and descending in the shade, meant that we were regularly too hot one minute and too cold the next. This remained for the first two days, with the 3rd and 4th days losing that cold chill in the air.

The next curve ball was to haunt us for 3 of the 4 days, and this was punctures. A large proportion of the trails were actually farm tracks, some mud and dirt, some broken up brick and rubble and an awful lot hedge rowed where you could see the hedges had been cut recently, the result – Punctures !! Some punctures were easy to fix, although as time went on we spent more and more time obsessively checking the tyres were clean and clear of whatever had caused the punctures, at times removing the tyres completely ensure a clean bed for the tubes, and other punctures were far less easy to repair. We broke two valves on the trip, repaired tubes as we went (as we ran out of fresh tubes), found one of our new tubes was faulty and I got a crash course on what to do with tubeless tyres from plugging them to putting a tube in them as a last resort. At one point I rode quite a long way with a huge twig hanging out my front tyre, even cutting it down so that it remains in place as a makeshift tyre plug. Ultimately it wasn’t until we diverted off to a bike shop to stock up on new tubes that the punctures started subsiding.

Curve ball three – Road closures … With the Island being so small, there were a few routes and roads that we used time and time again to get away from where we were staying, and over to a different part of the Island. Upon approaching a ‘Road Closed’ sign we did what any cyclist would do, and prompted rode …* coughs *  … around the signs ….. and along a lovely traffic free section of road. Now, 99% of the time, the road might be closed, but you can walk around the obstruction .. but not in this case, and the workmen were not prepared to let us walk through the site. Our only option at this time seemed to be a path that stretched across the fields and led us back on to our route. Simples … except it was barely rideable, we had to carry our bikes over a stile and nearly got electrocuted by an electric fence. However, when we happened to approach the road from a different angle a few days later, we knew exactly what to do … Ignore the signs again, ride up to the roadworks and pray (being a Sunday) that the workmen weren’t there. They weren’t. However, I can completely see why the workmen didn’t want to let us through as we tip-toed over a single brick wide section of a bridge that one slip would have seen us (and the bikes) falling to near certain breaks.

So, back to Day one; wow what an eye opener of how beautiful the Isle of Wight is, one minute you are riding through scenery that could convince you are in the lush green of Ireland, the next you are cycling along a coastline looking out to sea the best Greek Islands couldn’t better, before winding yourself through some French crop fields to a village as pretty as any Southern European country can offer. Contrasts are everywhere, from glorious old houses to glass fronted modern properties some of which surely must have featured on Grand Designs.There are also numerous cycleways that can only be old railway lines, generally quite flat, relatively straight and away from the passing traffic.

We stopped at ‘Pedallers cafe’ surrounded by cycling memorabilia eating what could be the Worlds best cream tea before heading to Seaview where our house was positioned, stopping at the Village community-run shop to stock up on basics for breakfast, one evening meal (we would eat out the other two) and a few little treats. Trundled to the house, showered and cleaned up, unpacked and headed along the sea front to the pub for some (not so light) rehydration and fuelling before walking back in what was a very very cool evening. Day one done.

Our second day was to be a bigger day, although predictably even knowing this (85km route across the width of the Island and back) complacency slipped in very early.

‘Today will be a breeze as we can leave the bags – the bikes will feel so much lighter .. today is going to be a joy’ ….. Many hours later to be replaced with (admittedly for comic affect), a lot of words that I can’t publish on here and Chris commenting ‘James, I am not sure I have heard you swear like this before’ … The bikes may have been lighter than the day before, but they are still far from lightweight and the riding surfaces challenging. However, the reward for all this climbing was epic epic views, some over the hills in the distance and some of the famous white cliffs and far reaching sea views. Cycling through fields, stopping regularly to open and close gates, along a few stretches of deserted roads, and up and over golf courses. A picture is worth a thousand words, so please take a moment to look at the photos here.

After yet another day of punctures we amended the route and hot stepped it to yet another bike shop (our second of the day (on an Island of about 3 bikes shops it would appear) for tubes before heading home, cleaning ourselves up and set about making our dinner and downing a bottle of wine whilst pawing over the route and options for tomorrow. The routes were planned, the stops not always.

Day two’s unexpected high was unquestionably the lunch stop. As we rode towards the intended stop Chris noticed a converted railway station cafe/restaurant with attached bike hire and shop. Desperate for sealant for his (not to remain) ‘tubeless’ tyres we stopped. Boy, was this the best decision of the day. Curiosity took over and before we knew it I was sitting down to enjoy a bitter lemon and ‘railway themed’ burger and fries, Chris with an equally intriguing hot lunch, both sat outside in the sun looking out to un-interrupted views of the hills, and not a car in sight. Bliss.

Day three will be the day I will remember for a long long time … a long long ride .. a lot of climbing … but certainly one of the best days I can remember on a bike. Each day started the same, which was a short ride along the seafront to Ryde (what an amazing way to start a day) and today from here we headed across the Island and down to Ventnor – destination .. The Crab Shed!!  Six hours in the saddle today, and 1400+ meters of climbing.

Initially off and across some familiar tracks, but soon on to unchartered territory again. The first stop was planned as Carisbrooke Castle, however in true Gravel curve ball style, we weren’t allowed to use the cafe without paying some extortionate fee to enter the castle itself, so we gave that a miss and moved on.

If there is a top 10 of things that can hinder your progress on a gravel ride, I think at number 5 it would be cows … today was yet another day of punctures (number 1 ‘hinder progress’er’) … confusing signposts and directions (number 2 ‘hinder’) and hills (number 3 ‘hinder progress’). Interestingly it’s the downhills you start to fear, as when climbing there is only so high you can go .. but when descending, every minute you are descending you are looking down the barrel of 3-4-5-10 minutes of impending climbing. 

Ventnor was stunning, we relaxed (complacently) perched on the sea wall, eating Mackerel ciabatta’s and slipping cold drinks looking out to sea in the sunshine, you could be anywhere .. Cornwall, or even Sicily or Sardinia – stunning, before heading off home and up (according to Strava) my biggest climb recorded. However, yet again the climbing paid dividends with the views it afforded you. I said it up front, and I’ll say it again, but today was one of the best days on the bike I can remember – certainly top 5 !!!  Home and out to a riverside restaurant for some seafood and fermented refuelling and hydration. 

Last day: If the previous day was in the top 5 days I can remember on the bike, then this day must be in the top 6. Weighted down with the bags again and with 15 hours in the legs from the last 3 days, I won’t lie that it was a challenging day, but we headed up and over to Cowes, and yet again soaking up more stunning scenery. Stopping at an impressively cosmopolitan cafe along the way, and later an unexpectedly intriguing ‘Garlic farm’ (that had been on our radar the whole trip) where we could try in the region of 50 different sorts of garlic tinged chutneys, sauces, condiments, and other garlic enhanced jarred items, before we sat down to our late lunch in the grounds. The climbs out of here were long and slow, and thankfully the taste of garlic didn’t last long enough for me to regret trying at least 30 of the 50 jars. We were actually ahead of schedule for once, and we got an early ferry back to the ‘van’ and we trundled home listening to the last knockings of some golfers knocking their balls around with their ‘clubs’.

Another 4 day Gravel adventure – DONE.

Conclusion;

The Isle of Wight is a Spinal Tap 11 out of 10 on the effort to reward chart, it’s the £10 note in an old piece of clothing, it’s whatever the complete opposite of the Alanis Morissette song ‘Ironic’ is … the diversity and beauty of the scenery would take you weeks to get around if you went to mainline Europe, and yet it’s so easy to get to, the language and road signs are (largely) the same as ours, and you could even visit the Island for a day, although I would strongly urge you to do at least 2-3 days as a minimum.

I can not recommend the Isle of Wight enough. The 4 days were actually far more challenging than I imagined they might be, but it’s been proven that you can’t reach the real highs in life unless you push and challenge yourself. There were some moments of having to dig really deep, and there may have been a few hills that caused naughty words to come out of my mouth, but **** .. sorry .. I mean crumbs, did the Isle delight in return. This just leaves us with one massive massive problem … 2025 has a lot to live up to.