Cycling in/on Jersey Island?

OldBean

I'm flying out to Jersey (The island off the French coast) in a few weeks for a break, and debating bringing my bike out for the 5-6 days. Has anyone any experience with cycling on the island and/or bringing a bike through Jersey's airport on the return?

Air Lingus say I can roll the bike into Terminal 2, and turn the bars sideways, reduce pressure in the tyres and probably best put cardboard on the delicates. I'll also get one of the large plastic bike bags but I don't want to be told I need a bike box to get back.

If anyone had any idea of what the cycling is actually like on the island it'd be great. I've not been out much on the bike recently, so relatively handy 40-60km's would be perfect. Enjoyable and scenic is great, hard work... maybe not.

furiousox

I lived there during the 90's so I can offer you my (pre cycling) hazy memories of the place.
It's 9 miles by 5 miles at it's longest points and relatively flat.
Most of the roads are quite narrow and it can be fairly congested with traffic.
There is some nice scenery outside of St Helier (Gorey, for example)
Not sure if I'd bother bringing a bike with me, have you considered hiring one over there?

granty1987

My brother lives there, lovely spot!

He lives in St Brelades and cycles to work in St Helier along St Aubins Bay which looks ideal for what you want - bit of a hill on the West end of the bay if you want to get up and over to St Ouens (another great spin up along the beach with a few tasty spots for lunch along the way)

I stayed there for a few months but wasn't on the bike so I cant give firsthand experience but the island is a spiderweb of narrow country lanes. There are plenty of wider roads which would suit you fine. I would probably stick to the coast on that point.

Check out the pdf below, shows you some ideas for cycle routes and bike shops where yo can rent if you end up not bringing the bike

https://www.jersey.com/Documents/Cycling/Jersey_Cycling_Guide_Map.pdf

alanjgalbraith

Strava Heatmaps can give a good overview of where the locals cycle .. prefix this with http (I haven't posted enough times yet to include URL's .. "://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#13/-2.15924/49.21530/gray/both"

OldBean

Cheers all! It's been about 17 years since I was last there, and wasn't sure if I was remember how easy it would be to cycle around there correctly or not. The tourist board and private companies tend to look at mountain biking and 'touring' hybrids as the main cycling scene.

The rental companies I've come across haven't had anything very inspiring bike-wise. The A loop that Granty posted seems right up my alley though - A spin long enough to eat and drink my way around the island, with a camera in my handlebar bag.

If I bring the bike along, I'll report back.