Cycling 90 Miles Around An Underrated UK Island. Winter Endurance Training Ride.

Hello and welcome back! In this video I am taking advantage of some beautiful weather and heading out for another training ride. This was a very good one by recent standards!

This ride – https://www.strava.com/activities/10648849722

https://www.instagram.com/andyc_ultracycling?igsh=dTg4eWFzODZybWQ0&utm_source=qr

0:00 Intro
3:49 IOW Ferry
4:58 On The Island
9:15 Real Talk
18:42 Real Fun!

That was a fun descent look at that it is such a beautiful day Out Good morning welcome to another Ultra cycling related video on the beautiful south coast of England look at that Sunrise that’s why we get up early if you watched any previous videos thanks for coming back and if this is your first one my name is Andy and I’m an ultra

Cyclist on the south coast of the UK the videos I make are about Ultra cycling training and Adventures so if you have endurance goals of your own subscribe follow along sure there’ll be something in there for you and if not may you teach me something honestly it’s such a good

Sunrise living in Portsmouth can be a little bit limiting in some ways right on the sea front so I’ve got 180° of travel other than that it’s the ocean out to France just riding past the international port in Portsmouth we get the ferry to France and sadly I won’t be needing my passport

Today unfortunately but a bit further up there’s a smaller ferry that goes across to the aisle of white it’s one of the most beautiful and underrated places to ride on the south coast Well it looks like we got some issues with the fery problem with the Hydraulics so I’m going nowhere for now but worst places to have to sit and eat an arm and cross on it could be a lot Worse this Crossing takes about 45 minutes it’s not far at all really it’s definitely worth the trip 20 quid for the ferry 20 quid 20 it’s pretty cheap in about 45 minutes to get over to the island really feels like when you get there you’ve traveled a lot further than

A couple of miles it’s a beautiful Place we are on the island first bit of overseas riding for 2024 just about soon as you get off the ferry it’s a bit hdy wakey wakey so I’ll give you a piece of advice when it comes to that Ferry don’t do what I did when you get

On they put you to the very back to the other end you’re the first off on bikes as you roll off the ramp the ramp has some slots in it that are just big enough for a 28 mil Tire just so after we finished the ride had a really good

Day out coming back into Portsmouth roll down the ramp and my wheel is the one that finds that Gap straight in this lot fly over the handlebars wreck my front wheel really nice carbon DT Swiss wheel and all of the car drivers patiently sat waiting for this huge

Group of cyclists to get out the way get a great show I’m laid on the floor my bottle cage got ripped off as well was on my sl7 so not happy luckily the frame was fine that was painful for my ego my hip my wallet uh I’ll put a picture up if I’ve

Got one but yeah learn from my mistake don’t do that it ain’t fun think the only saving grace in that situation I was the last one off in my group for mates so I didn’t cause a pile up and none of them saw it Thankfully There really not a lot of flat over here and that’s something you just got to come to terms with pretty quick see your front Dera gets just as much of a workout as you do pretty sure as well I’m riding this clockwise because it’s really Exposed on

The south side of the island depending on what way the wind’s blowing makes sense to have a Tailwind over that side that also means quite quickly coming up to place called Black Gang shine and this first really spiteful part of the ride it’s quite a nice climb actually but after that the Military

Road on the south side of the island is absolutely amazing it’s well worth the climbing just then fresh water to deal with bit hilly over It It is such a beautiful day out to be doing a ride like this it’s only about 7 maybe 8° still outward fingerless gloves little bit chilly but plenty warming enough really pushing along blood’s going to my fingers no problems this the first day I think in January it’s been particularly nice went

For a little spin yesterday around Portsmouth and saw loads of bikes out so I’d say that’s a sign weather’s improving a bit days getting a little bit longer it’s time to be out on our bikes again personally I struggle a bit with Seasonal effective

Disorder I say a bit becomes a bit of a slog December January when the days are so short barely any daylight it’s freezing cold can’t do the things I love I don’t get particularly depressed it’s pretty hard work staying motivated man manag to keep turning the

Legs keep getting the workouts in but it ain’t easy sure I’m not the only one who’s struggling with it I was kind of inspired to make these videos cuz I watch a lot of them myself one thing I I know this most people want to keep these cheerful

But it’s not always sunshine and rainbows we’re h human beings they’ll all have bad days bad months and really struggle along you never see that really so I don’t want to bring the tone down depress you but also not scared to talk about mental health I’ve got a history of depression

And anxiety and it’s in the past don’t so much struggle with it anymore for me personally I had some issues to address and deal with in my life and things are much much better but what I’m left with it’s just couple of months of winter blues and for whatever reason this

Winter was particularly bad still I just keep on going keep the legs turning anyway I’m not bringing that up for sympathy or something to talk about or whatever but it’s that time of year and I’m sure some of you watching this probably have the same challenges and the reason it’s on my

Mind today is because I’m feeling bloody great having a really good ride weather’s amazing started yesterday probably just sunny finally no real wind or rain or ice get out my bike comfortably this is like meditation for me it’s a little bit inspired by uh orri bolos as well I’m sure you’ll know who

That is I saw a post from him on Instagram that he’d been quiet for a little while and uh it been the same for him particularly hard this winter for whatever reason probably a coincidence but that really resonated with me I don’t think I’m climbing again now can you

Tell I don’t think you should be afraid to talk about that stuff it’s not cry for help or particularly bad but don’t be afraid either but if of you get the same thing let me know can’t be just me God it’s hly over also on top of that I really

Appreciate some of the feedback I’ve had on the other content that this is real cycling real Channel real cycling it’s exactly what I’m going for I’m not going to address everything up I’m not going to sugar coat everything this is ultra cycling Ultra cycling is really tough not going to make it look

Like I’m off for a trip into Fantasy Land every weekend at the moment the rides are pretty manageable but that’s some real struggles and I’m not going to hide any of that stuff so as we head into the 2024 season now things are starting to look kind of promising now buckle

Up well resuming our standard Transmission not a bad view riding through here always reminds me of the first time I rode around the island and stopped around here e marbar pretty tired at that point there’s a nice old boy I said hello to enjoying the view and said what a beautiful place and

His answer to me was yeah beautiful be more beautiful if it weren’t for all the bloody cyclists I got the message so this is the south side of the ID of white and all the way around is gorgeous picturesque and Rural but this next 230 Mi it’s definitely the Highlight pretty

Grippy but man is it gorgeous I’ve been fighting a bit of a battle with myself the last couple of days on what to do today I went out yesterday to pick up a load of food and drinks with a plan to ride 200 mil today slowly talked sensing to myself

That that ain’t going to help my train in one bit if you watch the Stonehenge video uh if you didn’t go give it a watch it’s a really good route but anyway that ride was much harder than I planned for and really messed up my training just about getting back on

Track now but it’s a re reason why I decided to limit myself to 100 miles on the Sundays so I can get through the workouts in the week and actually build my Base fitness and that 130 Mi after the trains were cancelled really didn’t help me so

I decided last night 200 mil would not make any sense book The F the white instead but got to say I am hankering now for a long ride I haven’t done anything more than that 130 Mi for months so if you’ve been around from the start it’s only actually about 3 months

Ago now this is still pretty new to me but so far this is a Ultra cycling channel the blog does no Ultra cycling but put a change to that pretty soon well glasses are parked in the dock that can only mean one thing climbing this is the climb to Black Gang

Shine and apparently on my my Garin I’ve got about a mile left to the top sorry I today on my own we’re coming through here with mates racing to the Top This HS What a view that is that’s The Black Gang Chine climb dealt with and I think the highest point on the island down there is the Military Road I’ve got that whole ride with a wind got fresh water those White Cliffs in the distance bit of a climb to get over that other than

That this is going to be a lot of Fun Good [Applause] that was a fun descent now more climbing Oh I’m feeling a bit too good today loads of energy in the tank it’s really a battle to not push too hard and get carried away cuz it is too good on this road it’s really odd cuz my has me down in the red at

33% I think I know why I think that’s me tricking the numbers just slightly look at that this place is so good there are similar roads along the South Coast but always far busier than this you can just about see the climb going to get

Over W it’s so nice so don’t know if any of you are using woop I love woop I’ve been using it for about 18 months again no partnership or anything cuz I’m a nobody but really useful and you learn so much about your body how it reacts in terms of recovery

With a whole range of stuff so waking up today in the red at 33% you’d be worried but I know I ate a ton of chocolate ice cream before bed and that’s why [Applause] naughty was really tasty though Now just heading into town called fresh water again really beautiful there’s two decent climbs on this route Black Gang shine and then into fresh waterer apart from that it’s just lumpy all the way around this is the second of the bigger one so let’s get over with Sh We are officially going off pce a little now this route I didn’t mention it’s actually a a designated route for a fairly historic cycling event called the is of white Randon so you might have noticed all the way around those little blue signs you can follow this

Route purely with those signs I just find they uh they can get a little bit scy and point slightly the wrong direction if you taking it really easy you’d be fine but the GPX is online so I just follow the GPX the event itself it bypass is one of the best bits

Of the whole Loop really so place called the needles so I’ve just turned off I think it’s maybe 1 or 2 miles something like that each way and it’s actually a hairpin climb up to a high point and a view of the needles I’ve ridden this

Route a few times Well I say a few maybe 10 or something like that but on my own in a group and also as part of the event the Randon happens in the summer summer time July August something like that I would say if you want to come take it nice and

Gently ride the event if you’re going anything more than casual the roads are utter chaos with people on the wrong side of the road and cyclist everywhere they shouldn’t be so I come other times of the year and ride the route Yeah if you walk all the way to the end down the hill around the corner you can kind of see the needles anyway it’s pretty cool climb up couple of hair pins one of the only places part from Bo Hill where there are actually hair pins it’s quite nice only

A couple but it’s worth adding on the extra few miles right off to the ferry from memory this last section about 2/3 of the way around this last section is uh not that exciting particularly but I got about 2 hours to my FY and about 3 hours to do

It so just get through the miles now but it’s beautiful place it’s a beautiful place to come ride In O He W That was The Floating Bridge and as soon as you leave cows you’d be climbing so that’s a really good time to sneak off anyone’s swam rear the battery if they’ve got one good game That’s pretty much Happ down on the bike right such a good place to Ride 65 70 m 50 am of elevation good cafes if you got time for it why we have fun today anyway that’s pretty much it do it for today have a good week I’ll see you on the next One