Isle of Wight - Catching The Crabs Tour - 37 Miles.

This is an all-day ride of approximately 37 miles and 2250ft of climbing using off-road and on-road trails. You will need to be of a certain level of fitness as well as being a competent off-road cyclist to participate. Road bikes will not cope with the terrain.

About the Ride:
Squint, and the IOW is a bit like rural France or at least what England was like 50 years ago: fewer cars and fewer people and great cycling! The ride starts at Fishbourne and travels south along the Medina river to Newport where we stop for coffee. We then head towards Carisbrooke Castle where we hook up with the Tennyson Trail. The Tennyson Trail is perhaps the best cycle route for mountain bikes on the Isle of Wight. It offers scorching views and takes us high on the downs to the Brightstone Forest where we exit the trail to follow the road to Steephill Cove and stop for lunch at the Crab Shed where locally caught crabs and fish become part of the menu. After lunch we return to Fishbourne via a road and cycle trails. If we have time before the ferry departs we may finish the day with a pint at The Fishbourne Pub near the ferry terminal.

For our ferry journey to the IOW we meet at the car park adjacent to the Wightlink Gunwharf Terminal (see map below). The postcode of the car park is PO1 2LA, payable on RinGo car park code 22280. All day parking is £11. You may see signs for Portsmouth's Clean Air Zone when entering the city, fortunately this relates to HGVs not cars so please ignore. This year we're starting slightly earlier than usual so as to get a full day on the island. You will need to purchase Ferry tickets well in advance for the 8.40 sailing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne return. Please be at the port 8.15 am latest and don't forget to have your printed-out tickets in hand for boarding. Please note that Wightlink have restricted foot passenger sailings due to a change in freight regulations. All foot passengers must book in advance on these sailings. The ferry journey takes 45 min and we start the ride immediately on arrival at Fishbourne around 9.25am. I shall be taking two riders in my vehicle so please aim to be with me in Twickenham around 6.15 am.

We return provisionally on the 18.20 ferry but as we're cyclists Wight Link are pretty flexible each side of the booked time. As there is a fair amount of off-road cycling MTBs or Gravel bikes would be best and, as the Island is quite hilly, make sure your bike is in tip-top condition before you go.

The fee for this ride is £4 payable on the day

CYCLING CAN BE DANGEROUS SO YOU CYCLE AT YOUR OWN RISK