Woke about 8am and went for coffee and banana bread at Dandy, a small shop but very good and a very welcome coffee. Today was an explore-by-land day. Elpie and I hired a couple of e-MTBs from Evolution Bikes a few hundred meters from the marina. E-bikes are the best way to explore, particularly if you have the range the bikes we hired did. At 15mph or less you have the time to look around and take in the sights, the bikes are quiet enough to hear the birds and wind in the trees, and you’re open to the scents not locked in a metal box. You can cover more ground than running, and with an e-bike at much less effort.
Off we set, out of St Helier and, after a few mistaken turns, we were out cycling along the coast under blue skies and hot sun. The first section was flat and we cruised along on the e-bikes with minimum effort. Elpie was getting used to the slightly heavier bikes, and indeed riding itself, after a break from cycling of many years.
Then we turned onto a very well maintained and car-free, gravel path which ran for a few kilometers up the first hill. There was a school walking event on and we weaved our way through crowds of children meandering along, and back along the path. They never quite realised they should all move in the same direction to make space, but they were always most pleasant. The e-bikes made light work of the gradient but progress was still a little slow.
On reaching the top and descending on the road we pulled over for ice cream - we’d done nearly 6 miles after all. The little Jersey Ice Cream van sold excellent ice creams, and the vendor was a cheerful chap and we talked about the Lands End-John O’ Groats bike ride we’d both done previously. We agreed, Devon and Cornwall are brutal with their constant short but steep climbs, while Scotland has higher but more gently sloped hills and beautiful views.
Then it was on the bikes again. A number of climbs followed, each of which would have taken tens of minutes, but they disappeared in less than 10 beneath the e-bike’s wheels. Elpie was keeping up with me despite her lack of recent experience. After a while we realised we’d not recently seen any of the blue Route 1 signs that indicated which direction we should go. A few minutes of map-reading later we worked out we’d missed a turn or two and planned to rejoin the route. This would be a bit of a feature of the trip. The route is well signposted, but they’re easy to miss, and due to placement restrictions aren’t always in the most obvious location. No matter. Jersey has plenty of low traffic routes, Green Lanes that are restricted to 15mph, and plenty of 30mph restrictions in the frequent small villages along the way.
The Green Lanes themselves were often beautiful, tree-lined routes, providing relief from the heat of the sun and an incredible quality of light filtered through the leaves. Elpie and I both have great affection for this kind of road, both for the environment it creates, and for the long history the trees have witnessed over the years, as they protect those that journey along the road from wind, rain and sun.
We hit the halfway point of the 40-mile route and started looking for somewhere to eat and headed down into Rozel Bay, a delightful little village, with picture book houses and a sea wall hosting The Hungry Man, a small hole-in-the-wall cafe with tables outside. They have a great vegetarian selection of bacon/sausage, burger options. I had a bacon, sausage and egg bap. Elpie had a standard BLT. They were quickly devoured. While e-bikes make the hills a breeze, you still have to put effort in and with the heat we both needed recharging.
As we climbed back out of Rozel, Elpie said we should turn left, but I was convinced the turning was earlier - I remembered seeing a sign pointing to St Catherine’s on our way down. So we kept climbing, further and further, until I finally gave up and we cycled back down. That’s when we spotted the sign I’d seen earlier, sitting there barely 10m from the turning Elpie had suggested in the first place. If we hadn’t been on e-bikes, Elpie could rightfully have killed me!
On we rode, over past St Catherine’s breakwater and then to the impressive Mont Orguell Castle at Gorey. By this point Elpie was feeling the miles and ready to head back. We stopped at the top of the hill and consulted the map. We didn’t want to descend the steep 80-90m drop and then have to cycle straight back up. Fortunately the route followed the coast after Gorey so we descended to another lovely seaside village a little bigger than Rozel, and had cold drinks and cake at Cafe Louise which provided a very welcome rest in the shade.
After that it was a gentle ride back to Evolution Bikes to hand the bikes back after 40 miles and then head to the nearest pub with shade. A few cold drinks and a serving of fries later, and we went back to the boat to get clean clothes for a shower and catch up with the rest of the crew. Suzanne had gone to Elizabeth Castle, crossing the causeway in the amphibious ‘truck’, Mark and Hugo had also gone on the bike ride, also getting lost at various points.
Pizza was the order of the night, and we went to an Italian restaurant called Pizzeria Romana where we devoured the pizzas and still had room for dessert. Well, everyone but Hugo did, his dessert was out of stock!
Then it was off for a game or two of pool. We first tried the Tiki bar which has 4 tables. I was very excited about the pool and Tiki drink combination but luckily (the music was awful) all the tables were taken. Oddly, above the tiki bar is another pool hall and we went there. Hugo got some tokens for the pool table. Somewhat weirdly, we never quite worked out why we didn’t have to pay for the tokens, and we even had a couple of games of darts which we didn’t pay for either. The drinks didn’t seem that expensive, but whatever. We played “winner stays on”, Mark won the first game, bringing out his misspent university powers against Hugo, then Elpie miraculously beat Mark, Suzanne beat Elpie (she potted the black), Suzanne beat me (I potted the black), then Hugo beat Suzanne.
Then it was time to go back to the boat for a well-earned sleep. An 0800 start tomorrow as we head to Sark before starting the trip back to the Solent on Saturday.
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