I did this ride in 2017 and it's one of my favourites. 100km round the Isle of Wight starting from any of 6 controls, free to enter. This year I am joined by Paul. It's an important ride, 30 years ago Paul gave up cycling after attempting to cycle round the IOW so I'm hoping this ride doesn't have the same effect.
We stay overnight at the UK sailing centre in Cowes. A beautiful sunny day for the ride, no arm warmers required. We start early to get ahead of the cyclists arriving on the Cowes ferry. As we arrive at the first control we join riders from the Fishbourne ferry. They have all registered on the ferry so do not need to stop at Wooton. In the confusion we initially ride past the control but realise our error and back track to the wooton sports hall to get our cards stamped.
We keep to a fairly easy pace going round remembering to top up water supplies and enjoy the homemade cakes at each control. The old military road on the south west coast is tough going but the views at the top are spectacular and we pull over for a photo stop. Later there is time for an ice cream and more cake before we do the final leg back to Cowes via New Town. We queue to board the new floating bridge and the staff cram on as many cyclists as they can.
Glucose control: good for first couple of hours then generally high (lots of cake was eaten!!) I over corrected at the end so by the time we were back in Southampton for the drive home I gone too low.
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