Summary

I can sum up The Isle of Wight with the following: Dog walkers Churches Expensive Island prices (especially in the west of the island) Dinosaurs Tourism Friendly people Runners Cyclists Walkers Public toilets I would highly recommend doing the Coastal Path - you don't have to stick to the official route religiously if you don't want to. Just allow enough time to complete the walk, get a map (ideally in a book), pack your bag beforehand and go for a practice walk with it, plan where you are going to go and bring waterproof clothes that are actually waterproof (none of which me and Tom really did properly). Navigation was very straight forward 90% of the time but would still recommend a compass just incase and a map is crucial. On a personal level I had a great time and enjoyed the challenge. It was of course harder than I thought it would be (no thanks to the weather) and my bag not being the most comfortable. It was a shame Chris wasn't there (although he was at the end of the phone for a significant portion of our time on the island). Both the camp spots we chose were good so I wouldn't worry about having to find a campsite. It was a great way to spend my easter weekend and I look forward to doing the Irish Coast to Coast with Tom and Chris later this year.

Day 4 - Bembridge to Cowes before cycling from Southampton to Reading

I was up at 5.15 as planned and ate my baguette before packing everything up. Tom had slept better and was up at about 5.45. We successfully left by 6.30am. It was a lovely start to the day, and only a short walk into the town, where I made use of the public toilets. We then saw a Tesco Express that was open so went in for water. I just needed water as was full from my big baguette I had eaten earlier and didn't want to have to carry anything extra - Tom was seduced by a couple of pastries. After filling our water bottles up we pushed on. Tom tried to give me one of his pastries but I explained to him again that I didn't want to eat now or carry anything for later. He ended up eating them both despite only really wanting one. We were back on the official Coastal Path and soon came to a really nice bay/marina area. We took a few photos before pushing on. The path took us through some fields and grassy areas before getting back onto the road. We then got to Seaview where it was now Tom's turn to make use of the public toilets. I sat overlooking the lovely beach (we were now on the north-east coast of the island). I could see Portsmouth in the distance - it was like the end was in sight. When Tom was done we carried along the Coastal Path to Ryde. There was a bit of up-and-down walking here before getting back onto the seafront. This was a really nice long path next to the sea and there were more dog-walkers than ever along with a fair few runners. Ideally we would have stopped a bit further on than Ryde but my Sealskinz socks were starting to feel uncomfortably tight inside my Salomon shoes so I had to stop to change socks. We had maybe covered 8 miles with 10 or so to go, and sat on a bench by the pier (which strangely had a train running along it). Tom took his boots off and I took my shoes and socks off for a bit of relief. I ate the last remaining melted jaffa cakes from my running belt before I put my still wet (I had tucked some socks I had worn yesterday under a bungee on the outside of my bag hoping they would dry in the open air) thinner socks on. We then put our shoes back on and left. I realised after a few minutes that I had left my watch on the bench so quickly popped back for this. There was a bit more up-and-down and walking along paths before we were back on the road. At one point we walked past some older dog-walkers and they mentioned that it might rain later. Tom said we would be on the ferry by then - they found this amusing. The road would lead us the rest of the way to Cowes. This last section was rapid with Tom setting a quick pace. There wasn't really any talking - it was a case of head down and see off the remaining miles. The fact that we didn't need to navigate and were walking on the pavement/decent grass meant that we reached Cowes before 12.30. We had to cross the estuary via the free 'Floating Bridge' which is a boat that gets pulled across the estuary via chains. It was a relief to get the bags off and sit down for a few minutes. When we were across to West Cowes we had a short 20-minute walk to the ferry. It was a really nice walk through the lovely town. There was a shop with a bargain bin of various clothing items outside. I went over and had a rummage. Tom was on the phone to Chris again and was laughing at me. After some deliberation I bought a £3 man bag that would come in useful for future trips. We got to the ferry just before 1 with the queue starting. We had maybe a 10 minute wait before boarding the ferry. Tom sat down on the floor whilst waiting. It was really nice to sit down on the comfortable ferry seats for the 30 minute crossing with Tom dozing off at one point. I took off my shoes again for the duration of the crossing. When we got to Southampton neither of us wanted to get up. We got off the ferry and went the most direct route back to the hotel. It was a hot sunny day now. We walked down the high street looking like tramps before reaching the hotel. They kindly gave us a much-needed jug of water to drink and we got the bikes out of the garage. After about 30 minutes, a good sit-down in the reception area and me turning the just-purchased man bag into a handlebar bag we set off. 10 minutes later I realised I had left my headtorch behind so left my bag with Tom by the side of the road before going back to fetch it. I was back with Tom having got the headtorch back within 15 minutes and we pushed on. The cycling was much easier than the walking and it wasn't too taxing to maintain a steady pace. At the top of the hill out of Southampton it soon became apparent that I had taken a wrong turn. We asked a guy for directions and thankfully we weren't too far off course. After a few miles we came to a petrol station, so I went in to ask the guy working there to conform where we were and looked at a map. We just had to pop up the road before getting back on track. Me and Tom shared a Lion bar for a quick energy boost before pushing on. We asked someone else at a junction and they confirmed that Otterbourne was just ahead. Surely enough we got to Otterbourne quickly and started heading back towards Winchester. It was nice to be back on familiar roads and it was easy to retrace our route from Friday. We got to Winchester and passed this in reasonable time. Next was the long road to Maidenhead. This was a seemingly neverending road and we stopped foir a much-needed quick drink at one point. As we approached Maidenhead it started to rain. When we got into the town it got a bit heavier before suddenly pouring down. We took shelter under a road bridge hoping that the rain would stop - I didn't know what the forecast was so had no idea how long this would last. I got my towel out of my bag to dry off and got my second jacket out to keep warm. About 20 minutes later it was still heavy and I was very tempted to sack off the bike ride and get the train back to Reading. We didn't have suitable clothes for cycling in these conditions, but had an idea of tying some large green bags (that I had found on the island this morning) around our waists that would keep our upper legs dry. We tried this out - it wasn't good but was better than nothing. Thankfully the rain had eased off a fair bit so we got going. We immediately got lost. I had had enough by this point and just wanted to get back home. Frustratingly we had to back-track a bit before seeing a signpost to Reading. From here on we were OK, getting back on to the road we were familiar with fairly soon. I was getting quite low on energy and was very tempted to stop at a petrol station for a quick snack, but knew that momentum was key and thanks to the rain delay would be pushed for time to get back before dark/get to the carvery on time. As we got back onto the main 2-lane stretch of the A33 the rain got heavier again. We were cycling at a decent pace now as thankfully it was downhill. Eventually I saw the welcome sight of traffic lights ahead and I knew we were approaching Reading. We got off the A33 and started making our way back to the house, glancing across to the carvery which still looked busy enough. A bit further along I had a quick look to see if my car was still there which it was (there was some confusion with Admiral as to when they would be recovering it). We got back to an empty house between 7.30 and 7.45pm. The first thing I did was put my phone on charge before having a quick shower and ringing up the carvery to see what time they closed. We had until 9pm to get there which didn't leave us much time. Tom then had a quick shower, I had a couple of phonecalls - one with Tyler (our mate who was keen for the carvery when we mentioned it to him last week). As we had got back later than intended him and our other mate Joe had got a KFC instead. I then had a phonecall with my dad about the car situation. He said I had to get all the stuff from the car as it was being recovered tomorrow. I was tired and not up for dealing with this so I kept the conversation to a minimum. After each showering and changing and me grabbing a bag and my car keys we power-walked our way to the carvery. We got there and ordered our meals with about 15 minutes to spare, before sitting down to a very well earned feast. Mission complete.

Day 3 - Freshwater Bay to Bembridge

I successfully woke up at about 5.15am but it was a struggle. I had slept pretty well in my Blue Kazoo sleeping bag and fold-up sleeping mat (I had bought the fold up sleeping mat from Sports Direct the previous week for £10 and had not slept on it before). Thankfully it wasn't raining outside (rain had been forecast for today) but it was pretty cold so I was keen to get going to warm up. Tom got up a bit later at maybe 5.45. He hadn't slept as well and was pretty tired. After digesting a bit more of the starchy spaghetti (Tom threw his away) I had a quick wash-up in the toilets before packing up. We left at around 6.45am which wasn't too bad. We looked at the map and there was now a road that ran along the rest of the entire length of the south west coast of the island as well as the coastal path. We stayed on the coastal path for the early morning, enjoying some great cliff and beach views along the way. There were more dog walkers about including one guy who was sitting in his car smoking whilst the dogs ran about - he pointed us in the right direction at one point. Soon after this the rain started. It began with a light shower but within maybe 30 minutes had progressed into a proper downpour. After walking along the coastal path in the rain for a while we started to get cold (I didn't have waterproof trousers and Tom's battered old Pac-lite jacket was no longer waterproof, so we decided to switch to the road. The reason being the road would get us to the next town of Blackgang (which was still many miles away) quicker than the path. We had to maintain a decent, steady pace to keep warm enough. The road was very long and monotonous and talk began of what we would have for lunch when we got to Blackgang (which we kept getting confused with Blacksail which was a hostel from the Coast to Coast walk). Our energy levels were running low, so we put a High-5 electrolyte tablet into one of my small running belt bottles of water (normally I put half a tablet per bottle but we needed something strong). We shared this as this was the only water we had left between us - it helped a bit. Along the road we saw a couple of caravan sites and a duck swimming in a puddle, before a cyclist came along. We were looking at the map and he asked if we needed any help. We asked him how far it was to Blackgang - he looked on his phone and reckoned about 3 miles, which were happy about. His name was Shazad, he was very friendly and told us he was cycling around the island over the weekend. After a 10 minute chat he headed off slowly ahead of us with his laden mountain bike into the rain (which thankfully had eased off significantly for the last 30-45 minutes). We pushed on. Shortly we reached the village of Chale that was just before Blackgang. There was a nice-looking pub serving food we could see a short distance down a path. I asked Tom about stopping here but he wanted to make it to Blackgang and have lunch there. So we pushed on the last few miles to Blackgang into the rain (that had started to get heavier again). At one point we took a footpath that was more direct than the road - this was quite a steep uphill. We came out at the top of the hill and saw Shazad pushing his bike up the road hill. We were virtually at Blackgang so said we would all have lunch together when we got there. About 5 minutes later we arrived and made a beeline for the cafe. We got there between 11am and 11.30 so were doing well for time. Unsurprisingly there wasn't really anyone else around in this atrocious weather so we had the cafe to ourselves. The cafe staff smiled as we came in and didn't care that we hung all our wet stuff on chairs in front of the radiators and charged the devices, taking over one end of the place. I had taken most of my clothes off and was sat in my sleeping bag in my pants in the corner. This was always going to be a long break. The menu gave us a good choice of warm food - I was last to order due to faffing around getting undressed and hanging everything in front of the radiator. I went for jacket potatoes with chilli with beans and cheese on the side. Tom had burger and chips. Shazad was very talkative and was really interested in our previous trips. He had a marketing job in London, and doing this was his first cycling trip. He was very laid-back and was like us intending to get to Sandown by the end of the day. We exchanged phone numbers saying that we could potentially share a B&B there later. Eventually the food came. It was decent quality and portion sizes were reasonable so I was happy. Tom and Shazad were also satisfied with their food. After about an hour we started getting ready to go - this took probably 10 minutes with me getting dressed and slagging everything back in the bag. Tom was intending to pay for lunch but the card machine didn't work so I had to settle up with cash. I went over to pay and was seduced by some caramel flapjacks behind the counter so I got us one of these each. Altogether it came to just under £20 for the 2 of us, so pricey but well worth it. We did a quick video and photos with Shazad before leaving. The rain was still coming down but we were in better spirits. We now got back on the footpath (it wasn't clear whether or not this was the coastal path) but it didn't matter because we were going in the right general direction. There was a bit up-and-down initially but mostly we were high up on a hill overlooking houses below with the sea now in the distance. The rain became heavier again but the temperature felt warmer and I certainly wasn't as cold as I was in the morning downpour. Chris had phoned Tom and they had a very lengthy chat about what each other were doing at the time. After maybe an hour and a half we approached the next town of Ventnor. We were now starting to get cold so would have to stop here to warm up again. As we were walking down the slope into town we saw Shazad yet again coming from behind us. He had been delayed by some road closures or something hence why we got here at the same time. This time we only had a quick word with him reiterating about potentially sharing a B&B in Sandown later before he rode off. We went into town in search of somewhere warm to go. I was also on the lookout for a charity shop that I would be able to buy some cheap clothes to change into. As it was Sunday the charity shops were shut as were the cafe's. The only option was the pub. So we trapsed into the pub with the locals laughing at how wet we were. We claimed a table in the corner, I got undressed again/sat in my sleeping bag. Tom got me a hot chocolate, and coffee for himself. We again hung all our wet stuff over the backs of chairs. They had wifi so I checked the weather for the rest of the day. In a couple of hours the rain was due to stop so we decided to relax in the pub for a while before powering the remaining miles. We also looked on Google maps and saw that we really needed to go further than Sandown today as this would still leave us 22 miles tomorrow before having to ferry and cycle back to Reading. We agreed to stop in Bembridge (the town after Sandown), which would leave us 17 or 18 miles to cover tomorrow which would be hard but realistic. The pub was warm but there weren't any radiators so although my core temperature was more-or-less beck to normal my clothes remained wet. After maybe an hour and a half of sitting in the pub the rain had stopped and the sun came out so we packed up and got walking again. I saw a Premier supermarket just after leaving the pub so we picked up a couple of pies each for dinner, baguettes for breakfast and jaffa cakes for snacking. After this I set the pace knowing we had a very limited time to get to Bembridge before dark. After half an hour I had to remove one of my jackets as was getting hot and got the music out for the first time today which helped keep the pace up. Tom had another lengthy phonecall with Chris. The south-east coast of the island was far more built up than the west of the island with regular larger towns and houses everywhere. We passed through Shanklin which like Ventnor was a nice little town before reaching Sandown. At Sandown we walked down to the seafront - this was the first time we had seen the sea for a good few hours. It had the standard beachfront hotels and restaurants as well as a zoo. It was a nice long beach to walk down. It was now around 6.30pm so we had an hour and a half to cover maybe 5 miles to Bembridge. At the end of the beach we followed the road inland towards Bembridge. It was now countryside again and we enjoyed a really nice evening walk alongside the rabbits in the fields. Tom had another phonecall with Chris. We got to the Bembridge sign at 7.30pm. There was an isolated restaurant garden and an airfield in the distance. I was tempted with camping by the airfield but decided it would be best to push on as we still had some daylight left and was keen to get to the main bit in Bembridge. There was then a footpath signposted for 'Bembridge Town' so we followed this. It was through a wooded area which was quite muddy and involved a long uphill section. At the top of this hill there was a National Trust windmill with a small well-kept grass area around it. I said we should stop here. Tom was a little more reluctant as there was a house nearby and was worried we would be asked to leave. It didn't look like there was anyone in the house so I convinced him to camp here. I don't know exactly how far we had covered today as my Garmin watch had run out of battery, but I reckon we covered at least 28 miles. We jumped over the gate and found a flat, sheltered spot by a bush. We had set everything up and were eating our pies by 8.30pm (not having to cook anything saved a lot of time and effort), before going to sleep at 9, with the alarm set for 5.15am again tomorrow morning.

Day 2 - Cowes to Freshwater Bay (approx. 25 miles)

We succesfully woke up, got ready and got down for the start of breakfast by 7.30. The hotel staff were still bringing the food out when we got down there (they were running slightly late. Breakfast was very good as we had a buffet selection of cereals, juices, jams and toast to choose from as well as getting an English Breakfast with a choice of how we would like our eggs. I immediately got stuck into the cereal and juice whilst Tom still feeling a bit full from all the spaghetti last night waited for the cooked breakfast. After I finished my bowl of cereal it arrived. It consisted of a poached egg, sausage, beans, tomato, fried bread and bacon. Halfway through the breakfast it dawned on me that I should probably save some of this for later and fill myself up on the buffet cereal. I ate the sausage, beans and tomato and made a couple of egg and bacon sandwiches for later. One of the staff saw me wrapping the sandwiches in tissues so gave me a bag for them which was nice. I wasn't keen on the very greasy fried bread. After some more cereal and juice we finally made a move of what must have been a good 45 minute breakfast session. Feeling happily full we paid and left. Tom knew his way through Southampton so it was hassle free getting to the ferry (it was probably a 20-25 minute walk). There were a couple of ferries that went to The Isle of Wight - The Red Funnel and The Red Jet. We wanted The Red Jet as it was the quicker passenger ferry. We got our tickets after Tom dug out his wallet that was buried at the bottom of his bag and went over to the boarding bit. We timed it well (complete fluke) as as we got there the ferry had just come in and people were getting off. after everyone was off we were allowed on. We managed to get seats at the front. There were promotional videos and I had picked up some leaflets before so we spent the crossing assessing the walk and anything we could do along the way. Tom also got a coffee as wasn't keen on the hotel coffee. The crossing was less than 30 minutes, and we arrived at around 10am. It was later than we would have liked to arrive but knew if we kept up a good pace we should still be able to cover our 25-mile target before dark. We went into a newsagents straight away to try and get a coastal path map. All they had was a big fold-out OS map of the entire island. It had the coastal path marked on so we went for it. After the map we started the walk. We had arrived in West Cowes so decided to walk anti-clockwise around the island. It was a really nice day and the start of the walk took us along a path next to the sea before going onto the beach. There were a few groups of dog walkers about and we randomly got a photo with one of the dogs. Then as we approached the end of the beach a local guy told us that the coastal path had been fenced off ahead with an alternative route signposted. He reckoned that we would be alright climbing over the fence and going on the original path so we did. It turned out fine - there was one bit that had eroded slightly onto a beach so we climbed/stepped carefully down and back up. Tom got the first of what would be many phonecalls from Chris around this time. We then reached a caravan site and after Tom bought some overpriced lucozade from the shop (he wanted water but they didn't have any) we ended up walking around unsure of where to go. Thankfully an old man pointed us in the right direction. We followed where he said but were unsure if this was correct as we were now away from the sea and had lost our bearings somewhat. I got the compass out and we were heading south, corresponding with where was marked on the map. I then got a phonecall from Admiral about my car insurance as we bumped into some other coastal pathers going the other way around the island. They advised Tom on what lay ahead whilst I sorted out my insurance ballache. We continued inland and got onto a proper road after maybe 20 minutes of grassy/muddy path. The music came out when we got to the road (initially playing songs from Arctic to Africa via the 'red nose' speaker) and we were both in very good spirits. The road lasted a while before heading back onto fields and paths. The coastal path was very well signposted virtually all of the time so minimal navigating was required. At one point we came to a dirt road/track. We had an option of going straight on up a hill which would be a bit shorter than turning right and going the more indirect official route . We went for the quick route as wanted to get back to the sea as quickly as possible. When we reached the end of this track I saw the coastal path sign pointing to the right so followed this. After about 15 minutes we'd got to the sea and it became clear that we should have turned left at the end of the track. We backtracked and surely enough there was another coastal path sign pointing left - we had probably lost any time we would have gained by taking the shortcut. We were back following the sea which was a relief. We were starting to get a bit low on energy so I got out my hotel sandwiches from earlier and we ate these on the go. Discussing where to stop for lunch began as our heavy bags were taking their toll on our backs and we needed refuelling properly. The next town was Yarmouth - Tom wanted a good 45 minute break here. This next section of walking was particularly good with the odd secluded beach and sections of woodland to walk through. Eventually we reached Yarmouth very eager so find a nice cafe. There was one on the waterfront which we walked passed knowing it would be expensive. Another one didn't have enough choice for Tom so we went for the third (and probably last) option in the very small town which was tucked down an alley. It had free chairs outside and was busy enough to suggest that the food would be good - this would do. I went inside and got a couple of large homemade flapjacks from a fairly limited menu. They were expensive but very nice. I gave one to Tom before he went in and got a coffee. The woman who worked there came out and took to clear the table and Tom ordered another round of flapjacks. Meanwhile I popped to Costcutter to get energy drinks, water and a couple of Creme eggs. Costcutter too was expensive - the island prices seemed to be higher then in the UK mainland. Anyway shortly after I returned the woman came out with the flapjacks and proceeded to fuss over which flapjack was for who. We didn't really care and just went along with where she put them. After rehydrating as much as possible and filling our water bottles with the water from the 5 litre bottle that I bought/polishing off the flapjacks we reluctantly put the big bags back on our backs and pushed on. The plan was to get comfortably past The Needles and get a reasonable distance along the south west coast before finding somewhere to camp. It was still a really nice day and we had maybe 4-5 hours of daylight left. This section between Yarmouth and The Needles was very tough, with the path quite literally taking us around the houses as well as up and down lots of hills and steps - it seemed like whoever came up with the coastal path was doing this for a laugh. We were very keen to see The Needles and it took what seemed like forever to get there. En route there was this weird wooded area with various wood carvings dotted about and random plaques with information on the solar system. Eventually we reached the cliff looking over The Needles before doing a quick video/photo session and heading down towards the beach. It was now getting late and it would have been an unnecessary mission to go right down to the beach, so we had a quick break at the top of the stairs leading down to the beach with a nice view of The Needles. I remember faffing around with my bottle of water that I had filled up with water back in Yarmouth and fashioned a cable tie loop that I could put through my chest strap so I didn't have to carry the water in my hand whilst walking. After the break we headed back to the coastal path and made our way up to the top of the cliff overlooking The Needles. The music was on again as we passed a number of dog walkers and hikers who were heading back down. There was a cottage at the top - we didn't bother to get a close-up view of The Needles - we simply followed the coastal path round the back of the cottage and continued along what was now the island's south-west coast. This section was far, far easier as it simply consisted of flat not-too-bumpy grassy land that carried on for ages. About halfway along this we reached a spectacular viewing point (the highest point for miles) giving us great panoramic views of the end of the island with sea on both sides, the UK mainland in the distance, and a lot of the rest of the island. There was a memorial marking the spot along with an a marble plaque with arrows pointing in all directions towards various cities/places around the world with how many miles they were away. After some more photos we pushed on. We could now see a small town in the distance so made a beeline to get there before dark. There were small bits of chalk littering the grass as we walked along - we talked about how it could have got there before picking up a couple of big bits to keep as souvenirs. We eventually got to the small town at about 8.30 leaving us very limited time to find somewhere to camp and put up the tents before dark. The limited light along with having walked over 25 miles throughout the day meant we didn't really care where we camped as long as it was a decent patch of grass, hence we ended up pitching up next to a public footpath by some public toilets. This is where bringing the pop-up tent was a real advantage as I was set up and organised in about 10 minutes whereas Tom was taking longer. I got the camp stove out in the middle of the tent and boiled some water ready for the first batch of the thin spaghetti (very quick to cook so ideal). Tom had joined me in my tent by the time the water had started to boil and I threw in the first batch. With the 2 of us in there space was tight but we managed. Once the spaghetti had cooked Tom drained out the water into a tin outside ready for the next batch before we poured some Dolmio in and mixed it up. This turned out to be fairly decent. We ran out of water so Tom went to get some more from the toilet tap. For the second batch Tom was getting impatient so thought it would save time to cram an entire pack of spaghetti into the saucepan in one go rather than cook a few more batches. This resulted in a horrible starchy mess with overccoked stuff at the bottom of the pan and lumpy half-cooked stuff at the top. The crammed mass of spaghetti had absorbed all of the water so it didn't need draining. We were laughing hysterically at the fact that we were eating this crap - it reminded of us of a similar situation doing Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk last year when us and Chris were huddled around a camp stove in the dark/cold of the Lake District mashing out-of-date pies into some sauce after failing to cook some pasta. Anyway after digesting as much starchy spaghetti as we could take we left the saucepan etc outside to be cleaned in the morning before a quick teeth-brush, and went to sleep at probably about 11pm with the alarm set for 5.15am so we could be walking by 6.30.

Day 1 (18/04/14) - Cycling to Southampton

It had been an eventful day before the cycle even started with me crashing my car/having to sort out the insurance stuff in the morning and squeezing in an 18-mile marathon training run in the early afternoon. Tom was also busy with his website design stuff (juicywebs.co.uk). Our plan at the start of the day was to leave early afternoon but after the car crash there was no way this was going to happen. I got back from my training run (which went really well, possibly to do with the adrenalin still in my system after the crash) a bit after 3pm so we agreed that leaving at 4pm would be achievable. Of course this didn't happen. I didn't start packing until about 3.40 and despite the list I had made/pile of stuff I had left on my floor it took ages. I ended up swapping bags from my smaller waterproof to by bigger waterproof bag, with it dawning on me that I would not be able to squeeze everything into the small one. I was now rushing which didn't help matters. After squeezing it all in came the faffing with trying to bungee my sleeping mat and circular pop-up tent to the outside of the bag. The circular shape of the tent made things awkward but eventually I came up with a reasonable arrangement. Tom was as bad as me - asking to borrow one of my other bags at the last minute before also realising that he wouldn't fit everything in and resorting to using his pannier bags. After all of this I had to send a few emails and write down how to get to the hotel via google maps with a pen and paper. Just before leaving I called the hotel letting them know that we wouldn't be there until maybe 10pm - they said it was alright as long as we got there by 11pm. Eventually we left at about 6.15 at a slow pace with the bag feeling horrendously heavy. I wanted to get this ride over with as quickly as possible so planned the quickest, easiest to navigate/most direct route possible. This took us down the A33 towards Basingstoke. It was a dual carriageway but not very busy by this time - it reminded me of cycling down the E4 in Sweden when we did Arctic to Africa last year. We were both in good spirits (this was helping me take my mind off the car crash and it gave Tom the chance to escape 'the pit'(Chris's bedroom/the Juicywebs office which usually stinks of Chris's damp dirty clothes, is never clean or tidy and the curtain is normally closed with no natural light getting in). After a while we got to the dual carriageway bit and the A33 turned into a single-lane road before shortly reaching Basingstoke. After a bit of confusion with directions we followed the ring road around the town centre and got on the road to Winchester. Time was now getting on/the daylight was running out so we stopped briefly at a junction to turn our lights on/pee in the bushes/check directions. We carried on to Winchester, which we eventually got to in the dark and struggling to see clearly on the unlit roads. I wasn't sure where exactly to go from here so we went to a petrol station and asked. Tom went in and said to the guy 'which way to Southampton mate?'. After Tom explaining that we wanted an easy-to-navigate route he explained where to go but said it was well over 20 miles away but also said that he walked there in an hour once. We guessed that it was more like 10-15 miles after remembering what it looked like on google maps earlier. Meanwhile I was with the bikes outside hungrilly eating a load of spaghetti that I had cooked before we left earlier. When Tom came out I went in to buy a couple of jars of bolognaise sauce that we could cook whilst camping. When I came out Tom had eaten the majority of his spaghetti. It was now gone 9.30pm so we were eager to get going. After squeezing the bolognaise jars into Tom's pannier bag we headed off. Within about 5 minutes we weren't sure where to go. Tom asked someone who pointed us in the right direction. My rushed tent/sleeping mat arrangement was starting to slag about so Tom had to realign it a few times. It was now properly dark - thankfully the roads were generally well lit. We were keen to see how far away we were from Southampton as the 20-something miles the guy in the petrol station said would not give us enough time to get there by 11pm. Thankfully a sign soon appeared saying it was 8 miles away. We headed through Otterbourne and to the end of this road. Thankfully my gut feeling of going with the road to the right of the motorway rather then the road to the left of the motorway paid off and it wasn't too long before we started to recognise the approach Southampton. Tom and I had both been there before, with Tom living there for a bit during his uni days. Then it was a lovely long coast downhill towards the town before easily finding the hotel. We got there at 10.30 and explained us leaving later than intended to the owner. He didn't mind and led us around to put our bikes in the garage. It was a relief to finally get there and even more of a relief knowing that I wouldn't have to put on my backpack on again until tomorrow. Breakfast was served at 7.30am so we agreed that we would be packed up and down by 7.30 sharp so we could get away at a reasonable time in the morning. We were given our key and wifi codes before making our way upstairs to out room. The room was very nice indeed and the beds were incredible. The shower was great too and came with complimentary soap/shower gel. I made a point of putting a toilet roll with my stuff incase I needed a wild in the middle of nowhere on the island in the next few days. I had a brief ipad wifi session before explaining to Tom (who was watching TV) that we neeeded to go to bed. He agreed and we went to sleep at about midnight.

Introduction

Me (Ashley Middlewick), Chris Thomas and Tom Smith are a group of friends who recently moved in together and have done some big trips over the last 5 years. Just over a week before Easter we decided we should do something over the Easter weekend to tide us over until our Irish Coast to Coast walk in October. I came up with this (our mission was to cycle to the Isle of Wight on Friday before walking around the entire coastal path Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning before cycling back to our house in Reading and going for a carvery) which Chris and Tom agreed would be good. This led to me and Tom going back to our parent's to pick up our camping stuff the weekend before setting off, with Chris saying he would do it the day before. I booked our hotel in Southampton for Friday evening (we would have preferred to have stayed in one on the Island but we left it too late booking and all the cheap ones were fully booked). Our criteria for the hotel was that it should be cheap and most importantly have somewhere we could leave our bikes over the weekend. Over the course of the week I had made lists of stuff to take and had started dumping this in a pile on the floor of my room. Chris ended up going back to his mum's house in Chelmsford on Wednesday like he said he would but dissapointingly decided to sack off the trip right at the last minute to spend a bit more time at home. We had done no training whatsoever in the build up to this.