Whether on or off road, there's no denying the Isle of Man is a beautiful place to ride a bike. When combined with fantastic modern-era ambassadors of the sport such as Mark Cavendish, Pete Kennaugh, Mark & Anna Christian, Sam Brand, Mat Bostock and Lizzie Holden, that's a recipe for cycling success.
Stars from previous years such as Steve Joughin, Marie Morgan (nee Purvis), Millie Robinson & Mike Doyle have also helped in raising the profile of the sport.
Our unique cycling terrain continues to inspire, enthral and help produce these very special riders who carry the torch of Manx cycling.
Full Circle Route.
Strava link here
The Full Circle Route takes a clockwise route of the Island covering over 100 miles and over 2000 metres (6800 feet) of climbing.
Starting in the south at Castletown, the route heads to the southernmost tip of the Island at The Sound, the initial stretch is a classic and spectacular coastal road. The Southern classic climbs to Cregneash and then The Sloc before making its way to the feed zones at St John's, Ramsey and Douglas.
Back for 2023, The Sloc climb will be over closed roads, further enhancing the magic of this ascent.
Heading first to Peel and then onwards to The Point of Ayre, riders can recover a little over the northern plains before tackling the shorter but steeper climbs along the north-east coast back into Douglas and the coastal roads back to Castletown.
There are three well stocked feed stations en route to enjoy at your leisure located at St Johns, Ramsey and Douglas plus a rider relaxation zone and more food at the finish.
Entry fee:
Full Circle £45 or Team relay of 4 riders £150
Half Circle £35
Quarter Circle £25
Entry fee includes:
Electronic Timing
Event T-shirt
Fully signposted route
Feed Zones
'Broom wagons'
Motorcycle 'service course'
Massage at finish
Finisher's medal
View Britain as you have never seen it before, from the middle of the Irish Sea!
Refreshments will be available at the feed stations along the route. The feed stations are legendary and synonymous with this event! Some participants are rumoured to be returning just to visit the feed zones again! We promise you will not go hungry. This are based at St John's, Ramsey and the finish in Castletown!
Timing is all electronic using state of the art equipment which records your passage around ‘The Rock’ and provides detailed splits for each sector of the route.
When you pass through the finish gantry you will be presented with your well-deserved medal.
All courses are supported by motorcycle ‘service course’ and ‘broom wagons’….for mechanical issues.
St John Ambulance are in mobile attendance to deal with any grazes and scrapes.
You can rest assured that you will receive a warm and friendly welcome on the Isle of Man and you can look forward to some great 'banter' on your journey around 'the rock'.
There are hundreds of photographs on our facebook page, Isle of Man Lighthouses Challenge.
If you cannot enter on line please contact us by email via the contact page or telephone 0044 7624 456146. We can arrange for 'paper' entry subject to an extra charge.
Why not ride as a team?
This year we are introducing the ability for you to ride as a team of 4 in a relay. Each leg is a approx 25 miles and starts and finishes from the feed station! So if you would like to have a go at the full circle but don’t have the legs yet, why not team up with friends or try it as a corporate challenge!
Isle Listen
We're incredibly proud to be raising funds for their initiative and recognising that mental health is just as important as physical health.
The event is aiming to make a donation to Isle Listen and we would encourage participants to make a pledge via our website or ride the event on behalf of Isle Listen and do you own fund raising.
We will also be holding a Lighthouses isle Listen Raffle where everyone entering will receive a free ticket. There will be some great prizes up for grabs and there will also be an opportunity to purchase more.
All money raised from the event will be kindly matched pound for pound by the Z Zurich Foundation, the charitable foundation for Zurich Insurance Group up to a maximum of £50,000.
Classics encouraged!
Whatever distance you chose we invite all you admirers of classic bikes and kit to ride the event dressed in your favourite era kit and ride your precious classic/vintage machine.
Ride Your E Bike
If you are new to cycle sport and ride an E-Bike then this Challenge ride is waiting to welcome you. This category was introduced in 2018 and was welcomed by many who took the chance to take part. Why not come and join the fun? There are more E-Bikes than 'standard' bikes being sold these days, so we'd really like to welcome more E-Bike riders to the challenge.
