Part 4 of Nikki and Lorraine's Isle Of Wight adventure (featuring Mark2 Electric Bikes!)

In July 2022, friends Nikki and Lorraine set off to tour around the Isle of Wight on their Mark2 ebikes. The following blog is part 4 of a series of blogs that details the exciting story of their summer adventure, as told by Nikki.

Day Three: Swimming in Sandown and getting lost in Newport - 18.27 miles (1h 59m)

A day of two halves!

After a fantastic breakfast (apparently the hotel chef modelled his breakfast menu on the one showcased at The Ivy – think poached eggs, smoked salmon, avocado…) we said goodbye to the lovely staff at The Wellington and once the duty photo call had been done we set off with our fully-charged batteries ready for another day’s cycling.  

We had been unable to find any suitable accommodation in Cowes (our original destination) so had adjusted our route slightly, to head inland to Newport after a beach stop at Sandown.  

As usual, our Mark2 bikes performed faultlessly and by now I had even learnt to change gear without looking down.  

After a quick pit-stop at a Tesco to get a picnic lunch (baguette and brie today, plus the cutest mini-bottles of Prosecco which just happened to be on special offer), we had a great ride into Sandown.  

We were able to chain our bikes up right on the beach promenade, and treated ourselves to a couple of sun loungers, a parasol and a windbreak.  The sun continued to shine, the picnic was perfect and – once you were in – the water was lovely!

Then it was back on the bikes (the black saddles were a bit hot after sitting in the sun for a few hours!), along the lovely ‘Red Squirrel Trail’. 

We stopped en-route for our compulsory daily ice cream at ‘Pedaller’s, which was a great cycling-friendly café where you could check your tyre pressure – so we did! 

Then on into Newport, where it all went a little bit wrong.  After I was left behind some red traffic lights in the busy town centre, Lorraine had blissfully carried on and disappeared into the traffic.  My phone had run out of data, and Lorraine’s phone had an issue with the battery – which meant I couldn’t find the pub we had booked into for the night, and Lorraine didn’t have much power left to call me with.  

Panic set in briefly, but we eventually managed to meet up and it was with great relief that we checked into The Waverley Inn. The lovely Paige made sure our bikes were safe (locked in the Pool room!) and our room had a direct view of Carisbrooke Castle which looked glorious in the evening sunshine.  

We handed in our ice-pack, plugged in our bike batteries and felt that we had really got the hang of this touring cycling thing – and we loved it!  A quick shower and a change, and then back out to a nearby Italian restaurant for a really lovely posh dinner - with pudding.  There was live music back at the hotel, but we were ready for bed and slept like babies.

Another fantastic day!

Please click here to read the final part of this series. 

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