Saturday May 7

This was the BB's first awayday!

Despite the early morning thunderstorms we carried on with our plans to spend the day in Isle of Wight.

Our route....we sailed from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, where we cycled to Newport, north to Cowes for tea and cakes then back to Fishbourne for lunch and then to Ryde for ice cream and caught the Catarmaran back to Portsmouth to catch the 1612 train to Chichester. Arriving back home at 5pm. 

We had a great day and plan another trip to IOW for our 1st Anniversary ride on

Sunday, August 21!

Thanks to all Belles who made the trip such fun.

Arriving in Fishbourne

From Fisbourne we cycled to Newport then on to Cowes......

 Cowes

Arriving in Cowes we had to stop for a tea and cake break and found the excellent Tiffins tea shop which is just opposite the Anchor Inn. They had a wonderful selection of cakes for us......

IOW is certainly a cyclist friend island, all the cycle routes were well signposted and  most had a tarmac surface.

The rain held off except for a short shower after lunch otherwise the day was cloudy with some sunshine. We were all glad we made the trip.

On our way to Ryde from Fishbourne

At the Cowes Chain Ferry.

We cycled towards Osbourne House, but couldn't get quite near enough to see the whole house.

From Osborne House we carried on cycling towards Ryde, we cut along one of the Coastal Paths and came acrosss a Poetry Gate plus a few slabs with some interesting prose engraved. It was fairly hilly in this area.

At Ryde we all stopped for an ice cream and spent a few minutes on the sea front enjoying the views.

IOW Belles....Elise, Caroline, Angela, Gillian and Mercy

We left Ryde on the 3pm Catarmaran back to Portsmouth. and must have cycled approximately 23 miles. A great day.



Sunday, May 1

Our meeting point was at the end of Quarry Lane close to the footbridge which goes over the A27. A windy day, but it was dry and sunny at times. From Quarry Lane we cycled over the bridge down Peckhams Copse Lane, and joined the Pagham Harbour cycle route passing though North Mundham, South Mundham, Sidlesham and ending in Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve, where we had a cup of tea. 

On the way back we decided to cycle along the same track until South Mundham where we turned right and made our way to Runcton for tea and cakes at the garden centre there.

However, along the way back Angela took a tumble, thankfully she was unhurt.....

We all helped her up, after I had taken a photo of course and we went on our way to the tea shop. From Runcton after tea we cut through Marsh Lane and diverted along the Bridleway which brought us out on the A259 cycle route.

Pagham Nature Reserve

From here Elise, Leyla and myself went off towards Tangmere and Bognor while Ellie, Angela and Jill cycled back towards Chichester. It was good to see you all.

It was fun to cycle a new route, the distance was approximately 20 miles on level ground.

The next ride is our day out to Isle of Wight next Saturday, May 7.