Deryk and George's
C2C adventure Who are these guys? We started our visit to the UK with two days jetlag rehab at Deryk's
mother's house near Cockermouth. Deryk was brought up in Cartmel
in the south Lake District but left for two years in the USA in
1967 without a return ticket. Anyway here he was 34 years later,
traveling on a US passport, still able to drive on the left and
understanding most Cumbria dialects. George last saw the UK in
1958 while in the US Navy. Actually all he saw was the inside of
Portsmouth bars but that's another story. George's role was to
carry enough tools to fix a 18-wheeler (sorry large lorry), take
hundreds of photos and carry chocolate.
After Loweswater we decided to take an unofficial route to Keswick via the shore of Crummock Water and Newlands Pass. The scenery along the lake is spectacular and the pass has open views in both directions. By now the wind, supposedly prevailing from the west, was blowing half a gale directly from the east, straight into our faces. Luckily we found a sheltered place on the shoreline to have our lunch and indulge in chocolate bars. Newlands Pass is beautiful, we had plenty of opportunity to view it while taking rests from pushing our loaded bikes. At least we could look forward to the steep, fast ride down into Portinscale. The east wind had really got some teeth as we started down and we had to pedal just to keep rolling, still it beats pushing. Keswick was heaving with tourists and it didn't help sidewalk congestion when Deryk parked his bike in front of a busy ATM machine while he went into the bank. Why were all those people so politely lining up to admire his bike? With only eight miles to go from Keswick to the Old Vicarage B&B in Mungrisdale we thought our first day was nearly over. Almost two hours later and after six road gates in the last 3 miles, we dragged into Mungrisdale, very glad to have completed the first "easy" 40 miles. A friendly welcome from Gordon and Pauline at the B&B and a short walk to the Mill Inn for dinner with Dik and Lou completed the day. Day 2 Mungrisdale to Garrigill (about 37 miles) George has never met a rocky path he did not like so up we go off-road to Hartside, the higher we got the thicker the fog until we were pushing up the disappearing sheep track in less than 20 yards visibility. Deryk's rising panic at the lack of signs only subsided when he crested a ridge and heard cars ahead on the road. Two other sagged C2Cer's summed it up best at the top, "you came 3000 miles to push up that track, you must be loony", and they hiked up behind us!! Another lesson learned was don't arrive at the hilltop Hartside Cafe at 5.30 p.m. in thick fog, desperate for tea and a bacon butty, they may be shut. On with the raingear again and downhill we sped out of the fog into Leadgate and as happened on the first day the last three up and down miles nearly finished us off. As we pulled up at East View B&B in Garrigill George had little trouble translating Deryk's muttering about being "knackered". A log fire, Hazel and Tony's welcome, more tea and Hazel's delicious four-course dinner made it all worthwhile. Day 3 Garrigill to Consett (about 35 miles) Deryk rebelled at the sight of the boulders on the off-road section
out of Garrigill so up the steep road we pushed. It was not so
bad being passed by vintage sports cars but to be passed by a hiker
was almost too much to take. Needless to say we saw him off on
the near vertical ride down into Nenthead. Again George's love
of rocks won out and we took the off- Finally endless downhill to the sea, is there a speed limit on the smooth gravel Waskerley Way, if so we definitely broke it. The relief after all the uphill and the sight of an empty downhill railtrail just makes you want to go fast. The remaining ten miles flashed by to Consett past hedges of May Blossom in full bloom and great clumps of bright yellow broom. Inquiries of some runners gave the answer that the Crown and Crossed Sword Hotel was at the bottom of a two mile "bank" in Shotley Bridge. For once we had an easy way to finish the day, only to realize we had to come back up in the morning to get back on the trail to Sunderland. Day 4 Consett to Sunderland (about 26 miles) We caught the 4 p.m. "through" train to Whitehaven only to find after getting all our gear in the racks that Arriva had decided to change equipment in Newcastle. Deryk's ability to translate Cumbria was no match for railway speaker Geordie, leaving us to sprint with two bikes and assorted loose gear across the station bridges while the conductors followed our progress on their radios. Except for a 40 minute stop to clear cattle off the track at aptly named Haltwhistle the rest of the journey was uneventful. A friendly Carlisle conductor even made an unscheduled stop at Parton to help us avoid getting wet on the way back our car. One more cup of tea from Jim Hewitson and we were on our way talking about what should be next, the Reivers or maybe the Coast and Castles. Postscript Contact us at either derykharrison@juno.com or gllundberg@juno.com and
we will be glad to do what we can to help.
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after a chat and some helpful advice we set off in high spirits along the mile
bike path to Whitehaven harbor. We dipped our wheels at the C2C sign and said
hello to a group of guys half our age who were raring to go. The ride out Whitehaven
was well signed, had lots of walker's and their dogs. The horses had left their
markers and the resulting flies came in for the attack without warning. Also
there were plenty of friendly hellos and "now thens" as we rode along
the trail. Eight miles later near the end of the paved railtrail to Rowrah
the younger group finally passed us, apparently they were going so fast they
missed the signs. Sometimes it pays to be the tortoise and not the hare.
winter.
As Gordon said, you soon get warm on these hilly roads, so after a few miles
we were fortunate only to have an audience of cows to see our roadside version
of the "Full Monty". As we entered Penrith the weather gods really
let go, wind and heavy rain. We missed the worst by sitting dripping in Bell's
cafe drinking another and then another cup of tea. Being statistic mad American's
we wondered how many miles per pot of tea the average C2C cyclist gets, probably
not many on a wet day. By Langwathby the sun was out, what a crazy climate,
and the May Festival Queen and attendants were laying a wreath at the village
War Memorial. Deryk would have like to stop to listen to the Brass Band on
the village green but the need to get started on the long climb up Hartside
couldn't be delayed any longer if we were to get to Garrigill the hard way
before dark. 
road
route from Nenthead to the highest point on the C2C route at Black
Hill. Fortunately George's fascination with photographing dry stone
walls and sheep provided plenty of time to rest and recover on
what was becoming the Sea to Sea bike push. Later on another statistic
came to mind, how many miles per camera click does an American
cyclist get on the C2C, in our case not very many. George says
the country is so beautiful it is a continuous photo opportunity.
The moors were magnificent, seemingly empty except for sheep and
the odd cyclist. Rolling along with the occasional shaft of sun
lighting up a valley made us realize how lucky we were to be here.
Lunch in Allenhead and a fast five miles down into Rookhope prepared
us for another off-road experience to the caravan cafe at the hundred-mile
point. Even Deryk had to admit that single tracking a loaded mountain
bike across the moor with a 25-mph crosswind blowing was kind of
fun. Fortunately the off-road rock count drops drastically before
the single track begins at the old mine buildings. No George, a "caravan" is
not a line of loaded camels crossing a moor, just a big camper.
At the C2C hundred mile mark, the caravan cafe is a must place
to stop to meet Lorraine and Terry and top up on tea and homemade
currant scones. We only hope the spirit of the caravan café survives
intact when they finally move into the old railway stationhouse
they are rebuilding next door. Yes Lorraine, all the Sustrans posters
made it to the USA, ready to be used in planning our next UK bicycle
trip.
in
their sag vehicle to the trail in the morning. A well marked, smooth off-road
trail and the sightings of weird metal trailside sculptures made for easy cycling.
We stopped for lunch at Beamish Outdoor Museum but with a 4 p.m. train to catch
in Sunderland we did not have time to visit the recreated North Country village
and industry exhibits. The first sight of the River Weir told us the trip was
nearly over and after a windy ride along the riverside trail we reached the
North Sea. Waving cameras at a friendly couple walking their dog on the beach
helped us get the obligatory wheel dip recorded for posterity. We had made
it, what a trip!! As a country song sort of says "We wouldn't have missed
it for the world."