by 5 Local Government
Officers (Motto: Born to be Mild) & 1 Normal
Person
The simple tale of 6 people (5 men
and a woman, 3 aged under 40 and 3 over,5 from Preston and 1 from
Fleetwood) attempting to cross England fromWhitehaven to Tynemouth
in the long wet early summer of 2002.
- Collecting people and bikes. Squeak from bottom
bracket of new bike - shown Haynes bike manual and squeak stopped
never to re-appear.
- One car M6, A66, drizzle, other car M6, A595,
drizzle. People quieter as Whitehaven approaches; some tension.
- Whitehaven seems quite nice. Where exactly
is the start? Find start on map, fine, but where are we relative
to start? Never mind about the start, take lashings of photos
and dream of finding toilets. Our support crew suggest politely
that it might be time we went.
- The Start. Slippy slipway, photos, final adjustments
to padded shorts, farewells, we're off. Wave to first pair of
C2C cyclists unloading their car next to slipway.
- Cycle 1 minute. Dismount, walk through crowded
market, find toilets, all's well with the world.
- Help given to team member with on-going adjustments
to panniers; pointed out panniers badly fitting because they're
on the wrong way round.
- Covered 400 metres of 136 miles to Tynemouth,
stood by toilets and flipping Lost.
- We people from Preston eventually find Preston
Road (it was behind us) and we're off.
- Glass, housing estates, a bit grim but locals
seem OK.
- Signing actually good (and just got better).
- 2.9 miles and, we stop for lunch!
- Rain - for next 2 hours, or was it 2 days?
- Minor collisions with each other, hats blowing
off, minor technical problems.
- Rain eases, scenery improving, people getting
used to weight on bike.
- Where are farmhouses/villages doing teas?
We spot not a one.
- Remainder of in-flight meals consumed in Lorton.
What a mistake (oddly a mistake we were to repeat each and every
sodding day), Lorton is at the bottom of a big hill (Whinlatter)
and more than one us felt some pain in the ensuing half hour.
Only consolation in arriving at the top last was that the toughies
who had made it look easy were by this time being consumed by
midges - well done midges.
- Strange detour through
forest before finding first and last open café of whole
trip at visitor centre (it did close but with us already in
it with nice pot of tea).
- Superb descent through
forest with views of Skiddaw and Keswick; our first night B&B.
- Keswick. What a lot of people. Our mobile
phone lovers obtain signal and phone loved ones who must be missing
them after all of 8 hours.
- Average speed including stops a gut-wrenching
5mph. Heck, are we slow.Relax over pint of Jennings or, a pint
of something else also brewed by Jennings (do they own the town?);
views after day one range from 'at that pace you could pedal
all day:- Land's End/John O'Groats on the cards' through to'
that was much harder than expected, dreading tomorrow'.
- Over 40's head back early, under 40's
try and find the high life but, alas….
- Dave: "Awake to 2 depressing sounds:
one of rain battering on window, other the sound of headboard
of adjoining room as (non-C2C) couple consummate first day of
their holiday in Keswick. Whereas one event lasts for much of
the day, the other lasts no more than 90 seconds before it is
replaced by sound of kettle boiling. And the devils beat me down
to breakfast; at least they had the decency to look dead miserable,
and they ran out of toast".
- Anticipate flat, easy
run to Penrith. Learn that flat is a relative term in C2C parlance
(2½ hours
cycling and only 8 miles from Keswick). Fantastic run down to
Greystoke only to be greeted by Volvo lover's convention -how
very odd. On the approach to and in Penrith we meet our second
(of three) pairs of fellow C2Cers. Where are all the rest? Seemed
to take forever to get to Penrith, inland low point topographically
also happens to be group low point of whole trip. Take comfort
in chips, burgers, chicken and raid Somerfield for energy & choccy
bars; 25 miles to go to Garrigill. We phone our accommodation
to let them know that we will be arriving, hopefully before dark,
and when does the pub stop serving food?
- Eat food, find big
hill, feel sick. Fell Lane appropriately named: Jan - "After worrying that I'd be left
at the back on my own with no one to talk to, I soon didn't have
much breath to utter a single word and for the first time in
my life solitude to suffer in silence was very appealing".
- Some good drops now; approach Eden crossing
on narrowest cycle lane ever devised. Learn important lesson
that if you are daft enough to have multiple navigators (we had
3) that they should all try and use same route map (we had 2
with new route and 1 with old route; this is not recommended).
- Tension building as route parallels the Pennines
yielding tantalising glimpses (through the masses of black cloud
hanging over the summit) of the challenge that is Hartside; matchbox
cars visible zig-zagging up what looks like a terrible climb;
the dream of cream teas and long pub lunches now only a distant
dream, gone forever, this is reality After an eternity spent
looking at the damn thing (and being overtaken at least once
by a pedestrian) we reach Renwick and sign warning of interminable
winter weather and yetis. It didn't say that the winter weather
could also be experienced in summer.
- Begin climb; short sharp fast climbers hate
it; slow steady sloggers find it OK.
- Café at top
(home baking) almost open (lady vacuuming) but actually, shut.
We interact with a 'local'
on a motorbike - have trouble tuning in to the accent at first.
We are not the only people having problems with water in vital
bits - in his case the wiring to his immobiliser.
- Last view of the Irish Sea 40 or more miles
away.
- Wonderful drop down towards Garrigill in first
sunshine of the trip. Map says 43 miles but most of us record
49/50 miles for the day. Knackered.
- Split into 2 nice B&Bs. Nice pub (but
2 log fires in June(?!)), general discussion of group's massive
range of gels, sprays and creams and their employment before
leaving B&B for pub, little sympathy shown for poor soul
who had mistakenly heat-sprayed very sensitive area which he
should have gelled (and which was now burning hotter than the
two log fires).
- Moderation on the alcohol front of the night
before went out the window and it was party time, relief at having
completed another day and us all being together with group spirits
getting stronger all the time.
- Garrigill just lovely; so quiet, nice pub,
little village green, church, no downsides to Garrigill.
- There's just one downside to Garrigill,
it's that it's very downside and the C2C (on-road) route out
is very very up. After ample breakfasts the short but very
steep climb straight out of the village sees a mix of stoppers,
pushers and leaning on wall gaspers - the 'that wasn't too
bad' brigade are advised to keep their own counsel.
- We talk to a local in Nenthead who despite
appearances knows a lot about cycling. We learn a dialect word
'click', which seems to describe a short steep climb.
- Everyone feeling fine for day 3 despite half
a dozen stiff climbs (the books say four climbs but we know a
climb when we see one); each climb followed by a superb descent
to a small mining village (closed, it is June after all) and
then another climb.
- Meet fellow cyclist in Allenheads travelling
in the opposite direction, he is camping but has left a vital
piece of equipment behind, a stove. He is not on the C2C but
is talking of cycling to the Lake District and back
- General agreement that having strong wind
behind us is helping greatly.
- Stanhope. At last a
real place with open shops, seats, hint of sun, toilets and
people. Oh, and actually, another
open café, but by this time we'd given in and taken advantage
of the confectioners or, the superb packed lunch our nice landlady
in Garrigill had provided for just £4.
- Person with newest bike swears a lot as he
discovers that about a dozen spokes are loose on the back wheel.
Attempts to true wheel by eye and ear.
- True to form food is
followed but gut-wrenching climb out of Stanhope, an absolute
stinker; Dave - " just
when I thought I might be near the top there, on the off-side,
is an escape lane suggesting that, actually, I was nearer the
bottom than the top. And I was".
- So, Crawleyside Bank. Done. It was pig of
a climb but, it was the last little piggy of the trip. No more
hills, downhill and wind-assisted, the Waskerley Way.
- Easy, gentle riding down to Consett, smelt
wagon looking quite forlorn in comparison with Terra Novalis.
- Drop down to Shotley
Bridge for our last stop. SB quite pleasant although severely
lacking in pubs and our B&B
had perhaps seen better days. Not to mind as alcohol consumption
had been gradually increasing each evening of the trip as people
came to realise they were going to hack it. This was our last
night and, whilst there was a pleasant sense of achievement,
it was tinged with sadness that it was all nearly over and that
'normality' -if that is what it is- would restart in 24 hours.
- Jan: "SB was a
dive but we'll forgive John for booking us into a hotel which
severely lacked most things
including hot water and a hair dryer! But despite this we a had
a great evening there. The drinks were flowing and even Paul
bought a round; Adrian was ruder than ever but very funny with
it and the quiz brought out qualities that had been well hidden
up to this point. Even Dave stayed up later than 10.00pm"
- Last morning, my sausage swam across my plate
in something that wasn't Trex (where do sausages learn to do
backstroke?) and we happily checked out at reception (a table
under the stairs).
- In keeping with tradition even bad food meant
a climb but we soon rejoined the Derwent Walk for a splendid
run to Blaydon and our only minor route slip-up at Derwent Haugh
when we turned right instead of left and ran along the south
bank of the Tyne instead of the north.
- Millennium Bridge quite superb.
- Cross the bridge en route to Tynemouth and
so enter grottiest bit of the trip; it may be mainly a cycle
and pedestrian route but the humps are huge, the gates and glass
are frequent and the scenery non-existent.
- Improving picture on
approach to Tynemouth; marina, new housing and then er…steps.
Interesting. But at least they were steps down rather than
up.
- Round the headland towards the harbour, mixed
feelings - sweet and sour; good to do it but sad to finish it.
- Reach foot of north
pier and priory ruins to the finish and then…nothing: no plaque,
no artwork, no sign, nowt, bugger all. Previous arrival had
discarded C2C map so decide
it must be the end. Anticlimax, then resignation, dip wheels,
take photos, swap cameras, handshakes, drag local from car to
take group photo.
- Mobiles out to tell anyone who'll listen we've
done it
- Retire to fish quay for toilets and then over
road for brill fish and chips.
- Load bikes into 'one-way' hire vans (trains
too messy for six of us, not much cheaper and certainly no quicker)
and head for home.
- The main on-road route is superbly signed,
we struggled just twice. Buy the latest Sustrans map and stick
with it, don't bother comparing it with other maps unless you
are aiming to use a non-standard route.
- If you are not a regular cyclist, or getting
on a bit, or unfit then do expect to take quite a bit longer
to cover distances than you might think, especially if you are
in a mixed group. Our group average never varied in that we never
went faster or slower than 8mph on any day. Yes, that slow!
- You may find all, or some, of the myriad refreshment
stops; good luck to you 'cos we flaming didn't. If you see a
Spar stop and stock up those panniers.
- Do almost anything to keep that weight down:
'on-body' weight before the ride and 'on-bike' weight once underway.
- If you're not too young or a regular cyclist
do do some training runs; you should be happy with 25 miles and
600 metres of ascent if you want to be comfortable on the trip.
- Some of our party recommended gel seat covers/seats.
- If you're not strapped
for cash you might like to consider single en suite rooms at
B&Bs; after a full
day together in a group a little privacy and luxury can be well
worth an extra fiver.
- The map tells you it's
136 miles but we had 3 separate cycle computers telling us
we'd done 149+ miles, even
allowing for minor detours to B&Bs we were confused as we
didn't really leave the route.
- Consider getting sponsorship
for a good cause but do it in good time as you'll have other
things to sort in
the week before the ride. We raised £1,156 for our local
children's hospice but could have done much better if we'd thought
about it beforehand.
- Sort out your gels and creams beforehand and
practise application when you are not tired, that way, when you
are tired you will reduce the chances of BBQing your genitalia.
- Here is the data from one computer for those
of you of a particular disposition:
Total Time =
Time from setting off until time of arrival at accommodation
Cycling Time =
Time when front wheel was turning
The days were:
1. Whitehaven-Keswick
2. Keswick-Garrigill
3. Garrigill-Shotley Bridge
4. Shotley Bridge-Tynemouth.
Low: Penrith;
raining, feeling cold, stood outside Somerfield wishing I didn't
have to do another 23 miles and a climb up Hartside to get to
the B&B in Garrigill.
High: The morning
after that low in Garrigill itself, a lovely peaceful village with
just a pub, a village green, a little church and a super duper B&B.
Low: In the
café at the top of Whinlatter thinking that I was going
to have to phone my husband to come and take me home
High: Garrigill
in the pub knowing that we'd worked hard, that we'd finish the ride
and thoroughly enjoying good food, good company and lots of gin and
tonics in a lovely pub.
Low: 30 seconds
after finishing. Having to buy a round for people who have just
realised they've been buying you shorts for the last three rounds.
Getting home
High: Finishing,
Seeing the Irish Sea go out of view, seeing the North Sea come into
view, drinking Jack Daniels when it's not your round.
Low: Stood
on top Hartside after a long slog. The wind was blowing it was
freezing cold and the café was closed. There was no sense
of elation for me after completing the climb.
High: To identify
one particular moment is quite difficult although the excitement
of some of the downhill stretches more than made up for the hard
work of climbing up the hills. I also enjoyed the general feeling
of camaraderie within the group and the three nights out at the end
of each day's cycling.
Low: None
High: Being
able to complete the route despite the unscheduled break in my
training schedule.
Low: Wardrobe
in Shotley Bridge; with a lean like the Tower in Pisa I spent
the night expecting it to join me in bed.
High: Hartside.
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