Saturday 9^th April

Today was deemed to be the best weather day of the week so we decided to do the hardest and longest ride of 27 miles centred around Douglas. The sky was a beautiful blue and the sun was blazing.

We drove to a car park above Port Soderick not wishing to start in a busy town.( The official ride starts in Douglas.) It was empty and cars could park for 18 hours free. Next door is a small centre for teaching basic skills to individual motorcyclists and it looked like a really good idea. The teacher was working when we got there and hours later when we arrived back.

What a beautiful spot! We went down the 17% hill to the sea and the port thinking we should be able to go along the coast here. There is a glen and beach but no facilities of any kind except more parking for glen walkers. It was a dead end. We have since learned that the company who bought and developed Land’s End and John o Groats are planning to develop Port Soderick. It is small by comparison and its natural beauty is surely better than some paying attraction. However some nearby toilets might be good idea.

Today we should be climbing 2,700 feet so retracing back up the really steep hill was a bad start. Then we turned right, past the car, and then beside the track for the little steam train up on a bank on our left. An engine passed us as we turned into Marine Drive.

 The sea couldn’t look more inviting and despite the fresh morning temperature coats came off in the sun. The road hugs the cliff side and later is closed to cars because of subsidence. The barriers with their angled gates are fine for solo bikes but Bob had to take the tandem through upright on the back wheel minus the bike carriers.

 

There were power walkers and dog walkers and a few other cyclists on this stretch which was the favourite of the ride today. This must be a great marine animal spotting location. It stretched for about 3 miles with a lot of uphill at first with more down towards Douglas. We came in at South Quay and stopped for a coffee at an ice cream parlour. We would have given it a miss if we had known how long it would take! The ice cream was really popular. We had to avoid tram lines on the main road through the town and then it was a long haul out towards Ramsey. People were boarding the electric train due to leave at 11.40. Our bike wheels are only inches from the tracks with no barriers at all. There is an electric train museum that is open and free on Sundays.

It was past a golf course at Howstrake and past the verdant Groudle Glen, heading out towards Laxey.

We seemed to ride a long way before the train caught us up, just before we had to turn right across the tracks steeply up an almost single track lane, Bibaloe Beg road.

We have been surprised to see more farm animals here than in the C hannel Islands and pheasants seem to be everywhere bar the town. Wild garlic, not smelling yet but just opening out, lines the banks under hedgerow and woodland. Bluebells are coming out but daffodils are still out with the primroses. We notice how few potholes there are here as we walk up a particularly steep bit.

After half a mile we met the main road where we went downhill passing another inviting glen which would have been much nicer to walk with the bike than riding a busy road with busy traffic. We turned right up on to what looked like a fair sized housing and school area where we were heckled by some lads. Surprisingly soon after it became another narrow winding country road.

At the end we turned left onto the main road and we should have gone North of the hospital here but because we wanted to find somewhere to eat Bob took us one road down, south , instead, where he saw a pub marked on the map.

“The cat with no tail” sits in a modern square of small shops. It is surrounded by houses on Governors Hill ,2 miles from Douglas. It is modern with a large screen tv with sky sports, has a Karioke night but serves a good beer, Okells and our lunch of jacket potato was fine. We were surprised to see pictures of church services being held here and it looks to be a real hub of the community.

We must have stayed too long though because when we went back for the bike it was spotting with rain and decidedly colder. As we joined the A6 and then A23 the rain became large flakes of snow. Puddles formed on the bike carriers and melting snow down our necks made us stop to don cape and waterproof trousers. We were really chilled!

After Crosby there was a really long climb which we mostly rode except for the last bit with 2 arrows on the map. At the top is St Runius Chapel and then more up to Garth crossroads where we turned left towards Douglas. A mile further on there was a mini round- about at the Braaid then a climb past the Chibbanah Plantation. Here we were in the clouds and steam was coming off the wood piles. It had stopped snowing and you could see a pale imitation of the sun through the cloud.

We passed a large hotel- leisure complex, Mount Murray. The hotel had a partially burnt out roof and I learnt later that a fire in January 2015 caused its closure with a loss of 30 jobs. What a waste!

Just after this we turned right and down the main road heading out of Douglas, through Newton and then left on the B24, left on the A25 till the Port Soderick sign. By the time we reached the car ( now with 2 others) the sun was out properly again. This ride could have been more cycle friendly if bikes could be taken through the glens. It had been a hard 27 miles!

Back at the Band B after a warm up we decided to not waste the now warm sunshine. We walked to Milners Tower through Bradda Glen along the route that we can see from our bedroom window. It was worth the climb to see the spectacular views- sea from most angles except north. The path was cut in the side of the hill with a fence below to save you falling into the sea. Through a strange metal gate in a high wall we were on Moorish land with mown paths.

 

It was a clamber up to the tower where a photographer with all the trappings-screen and lights- was taking pictures of a girl in a long,  white dress, but no bridegroom was to be seen! She must have been perished as she posed against the tower walls. Her clothes were in a heap nearby and we didn’t like to intrude into their space which meant we couldn’t climb the tower. But then maybe this was just as well as our legs had climbed a lot already today. This part square, part round tower was designed to resemble a key as a thank you to William Milner, a 19^th century Liverpudlian safe maker who was a benefactor of the poor of Port Erin.

People sat eating fish and chips from the town on the picnic tables near the glen. Beyond these is a white building that looked like a closed large café until we noticed there were a few people inside. Recently refurbished it was an opportunity for our evening meal. Though expensive, nearly £17 for my chicken risotto, it was tasty and we welcomed the roast parsnips and green beans that came with it. Maybe miss the farmhouse pie which had little meat in and was augmented by some of my plentiful chicken.

It was around 8 ‘oclock and the sun set was fantastic. We and others stood at the promenade taking photos.