A Classic Ride (That No-one Knows About!) 

I’ve ridden that route a couple of times and it’s a beautiful ride.

only recently found your RU-vid channel. Not normally that slow but it took a couple of viewings to realise that the lovely countryside that you ride in is the same countryside that I ride in. Given where you start and finish we are near neighbours. Very informative and interesting programmes. Thanks

Missed the Randonee this year, but have 2 laps of the Island planned for early June. 200km and 2760m of climbing 🙃

Nice one Leonardo. Looked like a cracking ride and somewhat more relaxed than others you’ve shared with us. I guess that’s the joy of a randonnee. Thanks!

What a ride, and with friends! You can't beat that.

I saw the sun at the start and thought, “are you sure you’re on the Isle?” :) Then I saw rain and fog and thought, “that’s the weather I’m familiar with”. I don’t remember much else (was in the 80s) but each pic I have is of us in rain gear every time we went over for three years in a row. That ride looked like fun though. Great shot by Military Hill with the chalk cliffs in the background.

Looking good, my man keep up the good work. I enjoy watching your footage there.

Everyone of you riders deserve the best for slogging through such iffy weather. Kudos.

Hi Leonard, I did the IOW Randonnee this year after watching your video from last time. I know you said it was hilly but I think it should be emphasised how hilly. A lot of 9 to 12% climbs, not long but punchy and one straight after another especially after Bembridge to Ventnor. So if you spend say 4 mins climbing and then 2 mins descending you are straight back into climbing again so fairly tough on the legs time after time. Also some fairly obscure roads in places. Try starting at Yarmouth next year and hitting the Military road after 90km lots of fun but as you say perfectly do-able. Thanks for the inspiration though I was delighted to make it on my first Randonnee!

Enjoyed that. It looks quite a challenge - even further than the CTCT!

A very enjoyable watch. A fine performance, and the IOW looks great for cycling. I've never been there. I need to rectify that soon. Chapeau sir...

Well done once again! Positive mental attitude as always! Roger in Spain 76

I do it for the enamel badge! Great video and the weather this year was tough.

Isle of Wight is an awesome ride. Never done it but looks fun. Countryside is amazing. Nice vertical & mileage

It looks amazing. I did enter, but sadly couldn’t make it this year so returned my entry. Next year!

Well done, again!

Way to go! That didn't look easy, so hearing you say it wasn't as bad as you thought or remembered must mean all of that climbing you've been doing elsewhere is paying off. Alas, it is true: the only way to get better at hills is to do more hills.

What a great day to spend a day.

The randonnee is a tough ride as you say. For me the toughest roads are in Cowes. Couldn't make it for the event this year but I'll do it later in the year.

Nice ride 😊👍🏻👍🏻

I have cycled around the IOW, raced there, as a teenager from Milford on a sea, in the 60s. Ridden the 3 routes on FulGaz as a 78 year-young home rider in Ballarat. It’s ain’t that hard mate.

Nice one Leonard ✌️

Amazed to see the fog! I didn’t have any fog, but did have a smattering of drizzle every now and again. But when I bumped into you at Freshwater, I was nearly finished as I only had to get back to Yarmouth. I can see my bike in your video at Freshwater/Yarmouth stop :-) so I was a bit ahead of you.

Well done! Great video too! First time for us and we did the 55km on our mountain bikes, certainly in the minority compared to the road bikes. Great ride though, really would like to attempt 100km next year. Did you get the 8am ferry? We were on the 7.20 and had no idea what to expect but it was really enjoyable!

strong ride and nice vlog Leonard, captured the day really well - good description of Military Road - its heartbreaking! check out Al and Ant at the summit though :) I was off-road heading to the needles on the trail adjacent to military road - it was grim, couldnt even see the needles with the fog and drizzle so I headed back on the trails :) maybe next year it'll be a sunny Randonnee? - fingers crossed....we are due one!! Aways a great vibe on the island on that day, nice one!

So 7C being 44F, today here was 57F just before 6am. Thermal long shirt, t-shirt, and zip up short shirt worked. Very nice morning ride with nice early sun today. Stayed in 5th gear without a change including for some hills. About the same weather yesterday, except had a run. Been hacking at that again lately. I think I've broken through the bad phase already after having done four. After the 2nd one, my ride the next day was retarded for power and pain. I did that for many years before up to about 13 years ago. Started making sense again being in the 150s instead of the 180s for pounds. Which is funny since I got to 195 at one point by stopping it! So I just need to figure the balance of the one thing versus the other. It feels right. I can't remember ever being on a ferry, excepting once going to that armpit of an island, Viegas Island, in 1984 with my Marine unit. "Climbing or descending". Sounds like where I live for a lot of it. Looked like a fun day there. I think the coolness would of been very advantageous. The views look very nice especially those Dover type cliffs.

I've yet to go over to the island, missus is Pompey born 'n' bred and her brother moved from Portsmouth city to Ventnor a few years ago, last time she was there visiting (after way too many "shants") she fell on one of the steepest streets in Ventnor and literally rolled down it... Never heard of this one, could be an additional reason to pay a visit next year!

Great ride Leonard!

Man I reallly like your spirit, compared to my cycling channel I can tell you doing great man.

Hi Leonard. Enjoyed the video. One question; how busy/ congested is traffic flow? If I remember correctly many routes on the island are a little narrow. How ‘dangerous’ was the ride in terms of interaction with other road users? Cars, lorries, buses etc?

That looked good. How long does the ferry trip take? I could probably google it but thought I’d get a real world answer. Is it often cancelled due to bad weather?

Huge ride! Looks like a fun time with friends!

a lot of people dont realise, the isle of wight is a hard ride !!!!

Hi Leonard. Great ride. You have inspired me to start documenting some of my rides, probably short instagrams / facebook vids. With the Insta360 X4 available now would this be your first camera? I notice the shadows of your camera are a different shape on this ride.

Great ride Leonard. Malta is full of traffic. I've been here for a couple days and have yet to see a cyclist. I will pull out the bike later and see if this is worse than italy. I suspect it will be.

I signed up and... got sick (totally). Next year (maybe)

How do you get 1600 metres of climbing when the official route says 1039 riding clockwise?

Very well done. Good to see you stretching distance and elevation in pursuit of er, happiness … ?