Day 10 - Jersey Cycle 60 kms - " Oh I do like to be beside the seaside " !

I think we are certainly glad that our time spent in Jersey is  limited to only 3 days not because of any absence of scenery etc but because we are starting to get used to the daily waitress served breakfast that comes with a full English breakfast and multiple serves of toast !

We felt mostly reinvigorated (Noel still oohing and aahing !) after our rest day and with a substantive breakfast scoffed we set our way out from our hotel to circumnavigate the island with Harro on a promise, not his normal one but one where said circumnavigation would come complete with a stop at the shop claiming to serve the worlds best Cornish pasty !

Bouncing along the St Heliere waterfront we were soon snapped out of our holiday mode when a steep climb of near 20% took us out of St Aubrin for enough of a distance to find out that we were going the wrong way ! Back to St Aubrin we picked up our missed joining point a sandy rail trail, on a much less severe gradient taking us through lovely forested areas to St Corbiere on the west coast of Jersey.

Beachfront at St Heliere !

Getting there may have been a little tougher than expected (soft soil) but the views when we emerged on the coast made up for it - craggy rocks, a 19th C lighthouse and an enormous WW2 German observation tower now made into overnight apartment accommodation (unusual !)

German Observation Tower

We left behind the coachloads of tourists taking a delightful 5 mile beach front cycle powered by a strong tailwind before another steep climb out this time on to a plateau.

Here our real joy started as we followed the clearly marked island cycle route through a series of magic small lanes so typical of an English countryside

At Greve de Lecq we dropped down to a cafe on the beach taking lunch trying to ignore the hordes of tourists (mainly oldies) being dropped off to enjoy the views and temperate conditions.

Here we took a few seaside shots with Mr & Mrs Rick Wolstencroft voted as the "couple most likely" ! While Mr and Mrs Kevin Litchfield were runners up in the same category they did score an honourable mention as "the most endearing couple" !

Out of Greve we climbed a bum busting 20% on a narrow laneway that had us all cycling at near world record slow speeds and gasping for the clean Jersey air

The cycling here was a delight on this 5 x 4 mile island with the sun out and beautiful country mansions on display.

We made the east coast at Fricquet Bay (try saying that quickly) a steep descent down and a bloody steep climb up before deciding that enough was enough and headed back to our hotel surprisingly only 7km away. Despite the busy roads we arrived safely thanks to Rick's expert navigation and death defying riding skills.

p.s.

Yes the "promise" was kept. As soon as we arrived we raced down to the city square to get ourselves a pastie ! 

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