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Garry McGivern’s Spanish bike ride Saturday 30th-April-2011 Portsmouth to Brighstone, Isle of Wight. 26 miles. A huge thank you to Liz for putting me up last night. It made a pleasant change to be staying in somebodies house. And also, thanks for the fry-up she cooked me. It was a bit of a struggle to ride afterwards!

It was a short ride along Portsmouth seafront from Liz’s to the Isle of Wight ferry terminal. And unsurprisingly, I was the first to arrive. But it was long before others started to arrive. I think there may have been around sixty or seventy of us this year, an excellent turnout. And a good few who had never cycled the Isle of Wight before. Soon everybody was on the ferry, and we were on our way to the Isle of Wight. I think the ferry staff hate us with all our bikes. There always seems to be so much chaos.

On the Isle of Wight, it’s a nice short ride to Rookley, where we stop off for lunch. Although I do appreciate that it doesn’t seem short for some. But everybody made it. Trish and John also joined us. They had decided to walk across the island instead of cycling this year.

After a few pints and a huge roast dinner, it was time to leave. There were one or two adjustments to a couple of bikes. Then we were off again. Everybody arrived at the campsite safely, eventually! Some had got lost and needed rescuing. But it’s all part of the Isle of Wight weekend.

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Garry McGivern’s Spanish bike ride Friday 29th-April-2011 Rouen to Le Havre, then Le Havre to Portsmouth by ferry. 81 miles. This morning, I had a fast ride and cycled the seventy miles to Le Havre in record time (for me!), and I was in Le Havre by one o’clock.

I went straight to the ferry terminal in Le Havre and booked the ferry, which didn’t leave for another four hours. There is a faster ferry between Le Havre and Portsmouth, but that doesn’t start until May. With time to kill, I found a bar to sit in. It may have been a little early in the season, as there weren’t many places open.

After a couple of hours, I made my way back to the ferry terminal. And while waiting to board, it started to rain again, and the temperature dropped. Even though I wasn’t out in the rain, the Le Havre terminal has a polytunnel that bikes wait in before boarding. Something Portsmouth doesn’t have. You get wet if it rains in Portsmouth when you’re waiting to board! Anyway, the staff were brilliant and quickly got me on the ferry.

Off The Ferry

The crossing was smooth, and we arrived in Portsmouth just after ten o’clock. I’m not bothering to cycle back to Bognor tonight. It’s hardly worth it as I’m off to the Isle of Wight tomorrow. So I’m staying with Liz, one of my friends. See, I do have friends! I was just about to disembark from the ferry when I received a text from Liz. “I see the bad weather has followed you.” So I asked one of the stevedores if it was raining outside. I’d put my waterproofs on if it was. “non, monsieur, it is not.” So off I cycled.

Two seconds off the ferry, the heavens opened. It was like a monsoon. I got drowned. Luckily I didn’t have too far to go, and I was soon at Liz’s and able to have a nice warming shower.

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