Temperature: very warm. Sunny.
O.S. Explorer Map No.
Distance cycled: 13.5 miles
The final ride of the journey. Sarah, the lead nurse from the primary care trust respiratory team, accompanies me on a coast to coast route starting from Cowes. The track is the southern end of the NCR 23 which runs all the way to Reading.
Here it runs south-east to Newport, alongside the river Medina; which we can see in glimpses to the left.
There are occasional industrial sites to the right of the track, and at the Newport end, oxygen cylinders.
We take a shortcut through the town, away from the fumes. It's been four miles so far.
The trail to Sandown is a disused railway track, running downhill to the town.
The track runs through a nature reserve. There are intermittent chainsaw carvings, some functional and some just sitting within the landscape.
We ride hell for leather along this last section; there's a welcoming party waiting at Sandown and they are hungry. The final stage through Sandown to the seafront is uphill.
Both of us are sweaty, exhausted but happy. We have done the twelve miles in two and a half hours which, for me, is amazing. Many thanks to Sarah for arranging this ride, which is the last I will do on the Island, for now at least. I will calculate my total mileage, from Hastings to here at Sandown, and post it later.
