Isle of Wight Ryde-Bembridge-Newport circuit

My first trip to the Isle of Wight covered mainly the West, and my second the South. This time I covered the East. My GPS track is on this map, shown in orange. I have added it to the same map as the track for my previous excursions (in blue and maroon), so that over time all my rides on the island will be included on one map.

[For a walk along the coast and beaches from Shanklin to Ryde, see this post on my companion walking blog.]

It was a bright but chilly morning (it is technically early Autumn after all) as I once again caught an early ferry from Portsmouth to Ryde Pier Head, then followed the coast as closely as possible from Ryde round to Bembridge. I made an excursion on the road up to the summit of Culver Down to take in the 360 view, before descending to follow the sea front from Sandown to Shanklin.

I had dawdled rather, admiring the scenery, sea views and the many cafes along the way, and by then it was around 4 in the afternoon. I toyed with getting the train back to Ryde (as last time), but the weather continued fine, so I went for it and cycled all the way back on inland routes. From Shanklin station, I followed the Red Squirrel trail to Newport, before branching off East of the Medina to follow Route 22 back to Ryde. (Since I used Route 22 for my Six Ferries Ride, the surface past Quarr Abbey has been tarmacced and the Ladies Walk footpath across Ryde Golf Course has been officially opened to cycling and made part of the Route- great improvements.)

It was 41 miles of very enjoyable cycling, mainly traffic free. The only busy road was the mile and a half on the B3395 into Sandown (this is the only available alternative to the coastal path, which is all footpath along this stretch). Also, Route 22 from Newport uses the pavement beside the busy A3054 for a short way. But otherwise, the cycling is along sea wall, coastal roads, coastal path, quiet residential back roads, sea front promenade, bridleways and disused railway. One word of warning: there are many tempting eateries along the way: you may end up heavier than when you started, despite that climb up Culver Down!