Isle of Wight Wander 10

Will be 3 days on the Isle of Wight at a Blues Festival and never having cycled here, seemed a bit of a plan to bring one of the bikes with me.  With the wheels off, it fitted in the car OK so once we had been fed and watered and settled in to our rooms it was time to check out some of the island.

The Needles

A iconic rock structure sticking out to the west of the island, it took some decent climbing to actually get there from the Norton Grange Holiday Resort just outside of Yarmouth.  This was made even harder when the front derailleur on the bike played up and it was difficult to select the small chain ring.  There is quite a little industry grown up around this natural feature with cable cars, boat rides and a 4D cinema all thrown in.

Gnome City

Cycling up to the viewing point, passed this little cottage with this front garden display of all things cartoony.  Donations are requested in aid of the RNLI (Lifeboats) and the inevitable wishing well.

Alum Bay

Climbed to just 400 feet and approaching the viewing area, the view opened out to show some stunning views.  This is the beach and cliffs at Alum Rock.

Made it.

Had to carry the bike down some steps to get to this viewing point.  First time I have seen them, very impressive.  They are guarded by the red and white lighthouse you can see at the end.  At one point, there was a large 120' needle shaped rock amongst these survivors but that fell down in 1764.  It is this rock, long since washed away, that gave this formation their name.

10 quite hard miles today.