Route

The route we intend to take is based on the Isle of Wight Council's Round the Island route. We've made a few alterations to make it a bit more convenient for us travelling to and from the Totland YHA on the first day. Also, there are some just plain nicer places to go!

This route is loaded at Google Maps, for all you simple internet users. This can give you an idea of what we intend to do, albeit this online map is a little limited (and chops our route up!).

The main route is in red and alternatives in blue.

If you don't use Google Earth, can I recommend it! It is free and from this download spot. It allows a vast amount of useful geographical analysis (and fun!).

If you have Google Earth, you can download* the Google Earth Map (in KML) to see our route and play about with it (showing 3D mapping images, terrain data, elevation charts, etc) or simply download* our Google Earth Flyover to fly over our route in 5 minutes, something that will take us 2 days of cycling!

Some stills taken from touring. An overall viewpoint.


The Yarmouth Ferry Port.


Compton Down, the first big uphill with the east end of the island in the distance.



Cowes Floating Bridge. Or as most of England calls it, a boat.



* Downloading is simple. If you have Google Earth set, clicking on these links should allow you to just open them in the software. After that it's all automatic, noting that it takes a few seconds to load and run the documents. Alternatively, you can save each document on your computer and open it from your saved location.

Charity Logos

Kat's video of reconnaissance mission, 22.01.2011

A youtube video of the reconnaissance mission. Lots of random scenery and commentary of a van trip to plan the adventure!

Reconnaissance mission part 2

Bikes and waterproofs on board, Kat and Sue headed off southwards from London early yesterday.
Pausing only for a truly revolting breakfast at Fleet Services en route, we were dead on time to check in thirty minutes ahead of the 11.45 ferry sailing. Enlivened by the caffeinated energy drink she had unwisely ingested to wash down the Foul English, Kat spent the crossing on the "sun" deck shooting some video... We'll upload it when edited. Here's the first important thing we discovered about our ride: it's going to be COLD. Long legwear, at least two thin fleeces and an impermeable top layer are going to be essential, as are good gloves and lipsalve.

Our excitement mounted as the boat approached Yarmouth Castle and we eagerly got back into the van and drove onto The Island. Our route planning began immediately as we identified the best place to transfer from minibus to bike. Our first task was to work out the best cycle route from the ferry to our base and (sustained by chocolate) we investigated the coastal path and found it very suitable for cycling.

We had a good look at the Youth Hostel from the outside - we hadn't been able to raise the manager on the phone; and as there was obviously a group staying there we felt we couldn't ask to be admitted even if the manager had been at home. However we did seize the opportunity to look in through all the windows when we realised that the people staying there were out for the day - and were very pleased to see a fireplace in the dining room. We can look forward to some cosy evenings when the day's riding is done.

We're hoping to use the official "round the Island" cycle route for most of the ride, but as it doesn't cover the south western tip where we'll be staying, we had to do some fairly detailed exploring. In fact the bikes stayed in the van and we ended up checking most of the off-road routes on foot, grateful for our thermoses of hot soup and tea.

We also discovered that at the point we intended to join the official route it runs for several kilometres along a pretty vicious main road, so we plotted an alternative using the Tennyson Trail. This is an unsurfaced track so we may have to think again if it's very wet when we do the ride.

Back on the official Round the Island trail we were able to follow the blue and white signposts although Kat backed this up by marking our route on the OS 1:25. We worked our way round as far as Wroxall on the East side, pausing to research what turned out to be an excellent chip shop in Ventnor.

Unfortunately at this point we ran out of daylight and decided to head home, but we felt we'd had a very useful day. There certainly won't be any nasty surprises on the first half of the route. If we can't fit in another day there before February 21st, it shouldn't be too difficult for one of our support team to check out the rest of the route whilst the riders are tackling the first leg.

watch this space for Kat's video diary of our trip!

Support from our local bike shop

A big thank you to Mark at Stratton Cycles, East Hill, London SW18 2QB.
He's offering a free pre-ride service to all our participants' bikes and a discount on any equipment they might need for the ride.
Proof if it were needed of the benefits of making friends with your local bike shop!

Recconnaissance expedition

Kat and Sue are off to The Island tomorrow to check out the facilities and finalise our route plan. We will take some photos and report back after the weekend!

Goal

We are a group of young teenagers who enjoy being outdoors and on bikes. In February 2011 we are going to cycle all the way round the Isle of Wight!

We are doing this to raise £4,000 for First Touch www.first-touch.org.uk, the charity which supports the work of the neonatal unit at St George's Hospital. We know at first hand what fantastic work the unit does because one of us has a beautiful baby sister who is now well and happy despite being born nearly three months early.

We found out that the unit is being refurbished and the hospital can't afford to fit automatic doors to the three new intensive care nurseries. The doors would really make a difference to the staff and the babies by making the nurseries safer, quieter (loud noise distresses the babies) and better for infection control.

So we decided to try to raise enough money to buy at least one set of doors. You can SPONSOR US RIGHT HERE!

As the event gets nearer you'll be able to follow our blog on these pages. We'll be putting up useful stuff, like diaries of our actions, video logs of our thoughts and feelings along the way, photos from the trip and some videos of cycling on the island itself.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe - JustGiving will never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to First Touch and make sure gift aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. It’s the most efficient way to donate: we raise more, while saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Who Are We?

We are a group of young teenagers who enjoy being outdoors and on bikes. We got concerned over the refurbishment plans at our local hospital and thought we could combine both to raise money by doing something we enjoy.

We are Katie Broderick (top left), Frank Nicholls (top right), Vita Lerche (bottom left) and Kat Robinson (bottom right), aided by our adult friends Sue Brearley, Amanda Randall, Rad Wagon and Tom Robinson.

Where Are We Going?

For those of you resident in the UK, the Isle of Wight is probably familiar. For those you from far-flung countries around the world it may not be as well known.

So, here's a map of (most of) England and Wales. The little island at the bottom is the Isle of Wight.


Looking at the island itself, it's about 20 miles wide and 12 miles north to south. This means our ride will be around 60 miles in total (100km).

Donating from Outside the UK

For anyone from outside the UK, the JustGiving website uses Paypal so can easily handle other currencies than just our GB Pound.

Remember you can SPONSOR US RIGHT HERE!