After a good night 's sleep we pulled the curtains to see the sun ,something we hadn't seen the previous day. We enjoyed a very healthy breakfast which I didn't think was included in the Premier Inn price but no one seemed to want to take our money. The restaurant seemed to be full of families with school children which we assume we're being housed in the Premier Inn as it's the cheapest B&B around. We were probably mistaken for one of these families!
We optimistically put on the sun cream and sunglasses and left just after 9 am in search of cycle route 246 . Cycling through housing estates we eventually found the cycle route and optimistically looking forward to an easier day on the saddle. The sun soon disappeared and the wind was much lighter so a pleasant day cycling, Graham had promised not many hills! The first few miles we travelled along easy roads through beautiful Hampshire villages with quintessential thatched cottages with roses round the door. The next10 miles looked to be easy along a traffic free route alongside the River Test. However this cycle route may have been ideal for a 20 year old on a mountain bike but two oldies on a fully laden tandem no. Some years ago I decided that off road biking was not my idea of fun, so you can imagine my delight as we bumped along a muddy track with no control, Graham trying to avoid mud and potholes. After a few miles Graham was finding it very hard work so found a road option which of course involved hills. We eventually joined route 24 which joined route 23 and we made reasonable progress into Southampton. All we had to was to follow route 23 which would take us all the way across the Isle of Wight , easy!
We learnt today that the National Cycle Network signs are very erratic . In some places every lamp post has a route sign and then when you most need them they disappear. Well we completely got lost in Southampton, we couldn't even find obvious signs to the docks. I regretted not buying Graham the cycle GPS he had asked for his birthday , but at a £150 it seemed like an extravagant toy rather than a necessity. Eventually we found our way to the docks. The Queen Mary 2 seemed more exciting option than the Isle of Wight ferry but we found our way on to the ferry just made in time for the 2 O'clock sailing. No one bothered to check whether we had a ticket perhaps because we weren't a foot passenger or a car driver so we seemed to slip through the checking in net.
Anyway we made it to The Isle of Wight and all we needed to do was find the infamous route 23 .Cowes to Newport was a relatively easy track along the river, but from then on the track was not so easy. We had have frequent dismounts to get through staggered gates and it all took a lot longer than we had hoped. We opted for "sunshine route" which we thought was going to be a short cut but not only was there no sunshine it was uneven and bumpy and by that time there wear certain parts of my body which were very sore!
We eventually got on to proper roads but found them quite busy, route 23 took us on hilly detour off the main road where a lady on a horse shouted at us to stop as her horse had never seen a tandem before and it might get upset!
Ventnor appeared and wow the downhills of Ventnor were amazing, unfortunately to get out of Ventnor it's all uphill. Our accommodation is lovely a small flat in a lovely Victorian villa . We had made it ,but it was a lot harder work than anticipated .
Distance 53 miles
37 miles to Southampton
16 miles Cowes to Ventnor