Cycling on the Isle of Man

Logistics

First off, let me supply some details about the Isle of Man. It is located in the Irish Sea, roughly equidistant from England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Not surprisingly then, you will hear a riot of accents there. The island is neither part of the UK nor the European Union; be warned therefore that Schengen visas are not valid and your mobile phone coverage may well be outside your deal. The island has its own currency and perhaps best of all if you from the area you are known as Manx!!

Douglas

I took the train from London to Liverpool, which was surprisingly fast, and then the ferry to Douglas (the island's capital, which recently officially received city status). The ferry people were very very disappointed I didn't have a QR code on my train/ferry ticket and spent a good ten minutes asking me if I was 100% sure I didn't have one and what was my date of birth, whilst the ferry's departure time crept ever closer but eventually I made it on.

"Of course the tsunami will come soon so it will" said the jolly Irish hotelier in Douglas as she handed me the key to my room. She'd just told me a world government was on its way with one currency under which we would all earn the same amount, which sounded alright to be perfectly honest, but I did ask what sort of tsunami was she talking about. If it had been refugees I would have wanted to find another place to stay but she was being more literal, since she has fears (hopes?) of her hotel being washed away by the sea.

Douglas was pleasant, a resort town (now city!) with a lovely curving bay. The shocked hotelier said she had never once been asked about tide times in 35 years of service and advised me the best way to get around the island was by car. The next day I realised she was right about the car, as what had been described on a blog as an easy flat car-free ride down to Port St Mary became cycling on a bumpy pavement next to an A-road. There was a lovely car-free stretch of old road which ran out all too soon. Still, everyone was friendly, even the joggers said hello and the sun came out to the extent that I got mildly sunburnt. As I licked my ice cream in Castletown and chatted to an agreeably barmy old man who had asked me why I was hiding when actually I was reading an infoboard, I realised things could be much, much worse.

Where the flat be?

On day two, I went the other way from Douglas along the coast, hoping to get to Laxey and perhaps Ramsey. Well. I only made it round the corner to Groudle Glen and Sea Lion Cove, where I was immediately stumped by the ENORMOUS hill. Why on earth do people pretend online that this is a flat journey - how can it be when you are going up and down headlands?

So I nearly gave up, but on day three I finally found a flat route! I cycled across the island from Douglas to Peel, off road along an old railway track (the Heritage Trail). This was a delightful ride reminiscent of the disused train route across the Isle of Wight (the Red Squirrel Trail). The charmingly deaf dog walkers in no way impeded my feelings of happiness and joy. Breaded brie and chips on the seafront at Peel kept me smiling too.

Worth it

So in conclusion, the Isle of Man is well worth a visit. Whilst many take a motorbike, I'd say it's also worth it to take a bicycle. I also wanted to swim, but the beaches were rocky and always seemed to be at low tide, so that didn't happen. Knowing that the sea temperature was around 9C probably didn't help either, although I did have a few nice paddling sessions.

Overall, it's fun for cycling but not as great as the Isle of Wight, which is pretty much perfect in that it is not as hilly and it is smaller so you can get around faster. The Manx bike culture has produced some top cyclists and that's no shock because it's so bloody hilly.