The

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

Randonnée is a yearly cycling event that takes place on the Sunday of the early May bank holiday weekend. The event is organised by the local Wayfarers Cycle Touring Club and consists of two rides – a 100 km Round the Island Route, and a 55 km "Mini Randonnée" that covers the East side of the Isle of Wight. The Randonnée is the largest event of its kind on the South Coast of England, attracting around 3,000 cyclists each year.

Route

The event generally follows the permanently signed "Round the Island Cycle Route". Riders can start/finish at any of the checkpoints on the route. Until 2012 the ride alternated between the clockwise and anticlockwise directions, but now runs clockwise every year. The full Randonnée checkpoints are

East Cowes East Cowes is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. It has a population of 8,428 according to the United Kingdom Census ...

- Wootton -

Bembridge Bembridge is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to the implausible claim by so ...

Alverstone Alverstone is a village 2 miles from the east coast of the Isle of Wight, near Sandown. The name Alverstone is most likely of Saxon origin meaning "Alfred's Farm". Up until 1960, boating took place on the river and tea-gardens were very popula ...

- Whitwell - Yarmouth - ''use Cowes Floating Bridge'' - East Cowes. The Mini Randonnée checkpoints are:

- Wootton -

- ''via Newport and Cowes Floating Bridge'' - East Cowes. In 2017, due to the closure of the Cowes Floating Bridge, the route was diverted via Newport.

Event history

The Isle of Wight Randonnée was established by the local Wayfarers cycling club in 1985Wight Echo http://www.islandecho.co.uk/news/wightlink-lends-support-randonnee-cyclists and, like the yearly Cycle the Wight event, follows a route around the whole of the Isle of Wight, taking minor roads and lanes where possible enabling the rider to see and enjoy the best of the Island's scenery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isle of Wight Randonnee Sport on the Isle of Wight Cycling events in the United Kingdom Annual sporting events in the United Kingdom Annual events in England