The longest day(s) - two day c2c, Workington to Tynemouth

The plan was to give ourselves as much daylight as possible so the weekend 23-24 June 2007 was booked for a two day c2c trip. Our group of 4 comprised a couple of keenish cyclists (Sean, Rob), a fiercely competitive Welshman (Mike) and me (Gavin, Sean's twin, more runner then cyclist). I think we all had different motivations for the trip, a combination of varying degrees of mid-life crisis, a weekend away from the kids, a night on the ale or to redress 1000 years of oppression. We all had road bikes, although my Ebay purchased Raleigh took a bit of stick from the lads. Slick tyres, gears were 53/39 doubles, although I wish I had had a few more for Crawleyside (more of that later). Thanks to Rob's mate Ian we had someone to drive our gear to Alston and pick us up from Tynemouth (didn't envy the people we passed toiling along with panniers).

Day 1 - Workington to Alston
Setting off from Chester at 04:30 meant we were able to start riding 09:00, after a few stops to pick everyone up. Getting out of Workington was tricky as we were not yet attuned to spotting the cycle route signs - we ended up following the coast road and turning right to Seaton were we picked up the "71" route. Our only wrong turn then quickly followed, as the "71" bears right by a bridge and we went straight on. This meant we ran out of path eventually and ended up walking our bikes down an overgrown lane. We were able to get back on track by following signs to Broughton/Cockermouth. The "71" signs in Cockermouth town centre are a bit tricky, there is a right turn halfway along the high street which is a little hidden by overhanging trees. The paths to and through Wythop Woods were not really suitable for our bikes but we made it through ok with a few fillings loosened - the view looking down on to Bassenthwaite Lake being a great reward for the first few miles.

Since we felt we had lost a bit of time getting lost we kicked on straight through Keswick and met the first hard climb of the day out of Keswick - not too long but very steep.

The run to Greystoke was good, through some beautiful countryside and we stopped at the cycling cafe in Greystoke at about 14:00. It was good to get some savoury food, a nice change from the bananas, jelly babies and flap jacks of the previous hours. I was impressed with the cafe - top food and there had been a real effort made to welcome cyclists with a room available.



With water bottles refilled we set off to Penrith were there was another steep climb before we stopped at the bottom of Hartside - a quick gel in preparation for our last climb of the day.

I found the first bit of the hill hard work but once on the main road it is not that steep, just a long way. Mike secured the polka dot jersey since Rob had to be domestique for Pantani, who was having a bad day. The 4 miles downhill to Altson was fun and we'd survived the first day, arriving at 18:00 (75 miles).

We stayed in the Victoria Inn and had swift couple of pints before a shower. Tian, lady who runs the pub, must qualify as one of the hardest working people on Britain. A good place to stay, very friendly and helpful although I do not think much of the skull in the display case in the bar - very Royston Vasey. The locals were friendly and we had a few good games of pool - Rob let the side down a bit, downing a pint of Jennings in one is not that impressive if you end up in bed at 10:30.

Day 2 - Alston to Tynemouth
A good breakfast set us on our way - setting off at 10:00 the steep climb out of Alston helped clear the head. The next bit of the ride to Allenheads was my favourite - amazing scenery and just an empty road over the moors.

The climb out of Allenheads was steep but I managed to get up without stopping. I did however suffer psychologically as Sean (who had done the c2c before) assured us that this was the last climb of the day. The 17% hill in Stanhope up Crawleyside must have slipped his mind. I finally met my match. In the Parkhead Cafe we read about the UK Hill championships that have taken place up Crawleyside - my best chance of any record would be for the number of stops on the way up from Stanhope. It was now 14:00 so we had lunch in the cafe - a great place. Unfortunately it started raining whilst we were inside, so we got wet for the only time on our trip, on the run down to Consett. The weather was very kind to us over the two days, considering the reports from the rest of the country and pictures from Glastonbury; we managed to avoid rain for the whole weekend except for this 30 minute shower. We had no problems with the signposts around Consett and were able to easily follow the "72" to Newcastle/Tynemouth. Some of the cycle tracks were busy with people which was not ideal (Rob nearly running over over a Spaniel) but it thinned out once we got away from Consett. The ride through Newcastle is good and we enjoyed seeing the sights along the river.

The last 11 miles to Tynemouth then dragged a bit as the hard work had been done. Someone also needs to take a few signs down (maybe the lads from Consett can help) as you seem to get reminded about how far to go every half mile. Sometimes the number doesn't change - I think we had 5 mile to go for about half an hour. We passed a bloke doing the c2c on a unicycle about half a mile from the finish - that must have took some doing - and finished at 18:00 (64 miles).



Seans GPS data:
Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)               32:41:20                            14:07 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)           12:24:02                             5:21 pace
Distance (mi )                       138.89
Moving Speed (mph)             11.2 avg.                         48.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)            +16,171 / -16,184
Speed Data                     Average (mph)               Maximum (mph)
Overall Speed                         4.2                                      --
Moving Speed                        11.2                                  48.5
Ascent                                      8.3                                   48.5 ???
Descent                                   14.3                                 35.8**
Flat                                           12.1                                  31.3

**Sean gets a bit windy on descents - Rob touched Mach 1 on the way in to Alston.


In summary a good laugh - two days was about right for us - if we had done it over three we would have ended up hanging about and getting in to trouble. Only pain is getting to the start and then home again - we did however manage a couple of pints on the Wirral before dropping the bikes off. I hope our account is of some help to other intrepid souls for planning.