Traffic Free Family Bike rides - #3 - Wroxall to Shanklin

This traffic free cycle track near Shanklin is about two miles long

We have reached the third chapter in our series on traffic free bike rides. Previous episodes in the saga have so far included #1 Freshwater to Yarmouth and #2 Seaclose Park to Island Harbour.

This third chapter is a two mile section of the Red Squirrel Trail from Wroxall to Shanklin.

We've written before about the Red Squirrel Trail, which is a 32 mile cycle track on the Isle of Wight.

It is a noble attempt to link up various sections of former railway lines and other cycle tracks into one big route that covers a large chunk of the Island.

The only hitch is that the Red Squirrel Trail only offers 'mostly traffic-free cycling'. There are glorious long sections without any cars at all, but then you meet a road and have to do a bit of wiggling to re-join an off road section.

This isn't intended as a criticism of the route and it is very similar to cycling on the mainland. 

However, as parents with young children we prefer to stick to the sections without any traffic at all. Child one can cope with quiet roads but child two wiggles and weaves along cycle tracks like she's peddling home from the pub after six pints.

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Wroxall to Shanklin

There are two ways to do this car-free bike ride. 

If you've got your own bikes, I would start in Wroxall at this point on the map. If you need to hire bikes, start at Route 57 Cycle Hire in Shanklin. 

We started at Wroxall, as we have our own bikes but it would work either way. 

The advantage of starting from Wroxall is that you can mark the half way point with a stop in Shanklin. The car-free track ends at Lower Hyde holiday park and you then need to walk 15 minutes or cycle on roads to Shanklin seafront.

Wroxall has very little entertainment (apart from a donkey sanctuary), so you will probably just turn round and come back.

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Setting off

We dithered rather before actually going on this bike ride.

50% of the children wanted to go to finish a treasure hunt in Shanklin whilst the other 50% wanted to go on the bike ride. We made it quite clear that it would be the parents who would decide and that we wouldn't be swayed by nagging, badgering or lobbying.

We certainly didn't have a discreet conversation about which child would make the most fuss if they didn't get their way. Anyone who tells you otherwise can expect a letter from my solicitor.

The weather also played a big part in the decision. It had been threatening to rain all day and we didn't want to end up drenched on a bike ride.

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Parking up

As mentioned earlier, we found a place to park right by the cycle track. I reckon there was space for four cars, as long as you didn't mind parking against stinging nettles and climbing out the wrong door.

The track from Wroxall to Shanklin is not particularly treacherous. It's a former railway line and is a fairly solid surface, if not exactly smooth tarmac. The width of the track varies. In the narrower bits you wouldn't really want to meet another cyclist, but it's mostly wide enough for a bit of wobbling. There are a few spots where there's a notable drop by the side of the cycle track.

The track is mostly wide and easy but there are some narrow sections and drops

​After about a mile we met our first obstacle - a horse which the owner told me was in 'a naughty mood'. I wasn't sure if this meant they would nibble my bike helmet or kick me in the head but we kept our distance until we reached a wide section of track for overtaking.

The horse owner also had two off-lead dogs which then decided they wanted to ride my children's bikes. Thankfully, child one and child two maintained their balance. There are contrary accounts from the children as to whether the owner was apologetic or ignored this incursion. I had raced ahead and missed the whole thing, as I was being a terrible parent and making a Tik Tok video, like an irritating teenager.

After another mile, we arrived at the entrance to Lower Hyde Holiday Park. The journey had taken us 20 minutes but adults would do it in 10-15 minutes.

The scenery on this cycle track is pleasant but not stunning. There are nice rolling hills and various animals but you can't see the sea.

The end of the traffic-free section is the entrance to Lower Hyde Holiday Park

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Turning round and returning to Wroxall

My suggestion at this point was that Mrs Guru locked up the bikes and walked the children to the Co-op supermarket, which is a seven minute walk away from the end of the traffic-free section of the cycle track. 

I would pedal back to the car and dutifully load up the bikes before picking them up from the supermarket and driving on to the beach.

However, Mrs Guru felt that the journey had been a success and that whinging levels were lower than usual. She suggested that we should all pedal back to the car, making it a four mile bike ride. I pointed out that it was a gradual uphill ride all the way back (and was secretly hoping for a chance to cycle at top speed on my own) but agreed that her suggestion was a good one.

And so we cycled back to the car, which took 25 minutes. 

If you struggle with maths, let me summarise that this bike ride took 45 minutes and covered four miles.

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Testing out the towbar

This addendum is a discussion of bike racks which is for frugal parents facing similar conundrums. Feel free to move along to something else.

I concluded a long time ago that I didn't want to pay to hire bikes, so I have been on a journey of discovery.

This followed my usual pattern of wasting time and money on half-baked solutions before finally giving in and coughing up.

The first thing I tried was sticking bikes on the roof with bungee chords. That didn't work as I didn't have a proper roof carrier, and I just ended up scratching the roof of the car until it looked like a work of art. I didn't want a bike rack that would make the bikes stand up as it would make the car too tall for some car parks.

My second 'solution' was a bike rack that hangs off the back of the car. The one I settled on is one of the better ones on the market and is called the Saris Bones 3. It costs about £200 but I bought an older model on eBay for £50.

This was fine for carrying a couple of small bikes, but it was hard work with adult bikes and didn't work at all with Mrs Guru's bike as it has doesn't have a crossbar (you can buy a false crossbar but I was losing patience by this point). The other problem was that we have four bikes.

Finally, I paid £460 to get a towbar fitted to my aging car and a further £180 for a four bike towbar bike rack. 

This seems to be a pretty robust solution, even if it does make your car longer than a minibus.