The forecast for the day of the ride gradually got better as the time approached to cold with early rain. However David, Sue, Brian, Jonathan, Laurie, Ray, Mick and I met up at the Red Funnel ferry terminal at about 9:00 am and it was not raining but overcast. We bought our tickets, Seniors at £11 day return, and then found out the next ferry was at 10:30 and not 10:00 as expected - the winter timetable was in operation with one every 90 minutes rather than 60 minutes as for the summer, so we had plenty time to get a coffee before boarding at about 10:00.

On the trip across whilst having another coffee we debated where to have lunch. Because to outward ferry was 30 minutes later this would mean reaching Newport at about 12:30 and Shanklin about 2:00 and it did not look feasible to catch the 4:30 return ferry. The talk of a delayed lunch prompted some to get bacon rolls - you know what it is like once, one person comes back with one, some of the others could not resist. Once of the ferry we headed to the chain ferry to cross to West Cowes, only to find it was out of action [apparently since September]. Fortunately there was a pedestrian ferry operating close by and we were able to squeeze all the bikes onto that.

The first part of the ride is through the back streets then onto the Red Squirrel Trail running beside the River Medina all the way to Newport. It was considerably warmer than expected, so as soon as we were on the trail, I took off my tights and jacket. Because we were tight for time we did took the cycle path through the town missing the centre on this occasion. After Newport, the trail still follows the line of an old railway for a bit before turning to rougher tracks and then climbing up over the Downs. Despite the time of year and previous rain these were mostly dry with just the odd puddles.  Although the steepish off-road climb up to the old Appledurcombe Estate was a bit slippier on the wet flints but everyone managed the climb without having to get off, or fall over, as has happened on earlier visits. It was quite warm and the sun even came out, so more layers were shed before continuing. There were cows in the field on the other side of the entrance gates to the estate that had churned the ground up a bit as shown in the group photo. The track continued up for a short section past the cows before swooping down the the road then up to Wroxall village.

Once at the top the route follows another rail trail all the way to Shanklin on a steady slightly downhill gradient. We were making good time but just as we left the trail David had a puncture. Once the tube was swapped we headed into Shanklin town centre looking for a cafe - but almost all were closed so we headed down to the Esplanade. We sat outside on the covered patio with sweeping view along the coast and out to sea. Service was very good and we had a pleasant lunch, some of us opted for the two course special lunch for £9:95 - good food and value.

By the time we got back on the bikes it was about 3:30, so we needed to keep up a good pace if we were going to to make the 6:00pm ferry. The Promenade between Shanklin and Sandown was almost deserted in sharp contrast to our last visit in the summer. At the far end of Sandown promenade, Ray's chain came off as he turned up the hill. We only noticed that he and David were missing at the other end of the High Street where the route turns back towards the station. When they re-joined we noticed that David's tyre had popped off the rim at some point, fortunately without blowing out the tube. Once this was fixed it was through the back street of Sandown to the NCN23. As the light was just starting to fade, we put our lights. We made good time to Newport, by which time it was quite dark.

Once back on the unlit trail beside the Medina, we had our higher power lights on - needed to see the odd dog on the path. The bikes coming the other way, presumably commuters, had impressively bright multiple headlights - OK for them but dazzling to us. However we got back to West Cowes, quickly enough without incident and down to the pedestrian ferry. There was a bit of a queue and thought that we not all get on the same boat, but this time it was a much larger trip boat so no problem. We could see the Red Funnel ferry just docking, so by the time we had got to the loading ramp we thought we might have missed the first loading slot, but we had a bit of a wait whilst various trailers were taken on and off. Once on, we headed up to the bar and relaxed on the crossing. the ferry docked on time and it was only about 10 minutes later that we were back at the cars and the bikes loaded before heading home. At least we had missed most of the rush-hour traffic and were home by 8:00pm. It was a good ride enjoyed by everyone - 35 miles on the island.