Having just completed the C2C I thought I would share our experiences before
I forget the good and not so good bits.
After travelling up to Ponteland to meet Paul on the Sunday night the intentions
were for Paul's wife Alison to drive us out to the starting point in Workington
for a bright start at 8am, However, half way there i remembered i had left
my cycling shoes at Paul's house, how stupid! so a quick return journey and
a delayed start time of 11am. The plan was to ride to Alston on day 1, 70 miles,
and then on to Tynemouth on day 2, 70 miles.
The route on day 1 was pretty well marked although both Cockermouth and Keswick
proved difficult to find a way out of. Once out of Keswick the route to Penrith
was easy enough. The roads and paths were quiet and beautiful countryside with
some challenging but rideable hills. Due to many map reading stops, a few wrong
turns and a late start we approached Hartside at the end of day one at about
7pm, the challenge of the off road accent was too much to resist and it proved
to be a great challenge until the final part. There's an option of rejoining
the road here or continuing over the moorland to the white building. We opted
for the moorland which was a bad decision.
In thick fog and mist and very wet conditions we struggled to ride this bit
and at times pictured ourselves on the next series of Survivor Special! The
white building was a pleasant site and we rejoined the road for the final few
hundred yards to the summit and then enjoyed the fast decent into Alston, only
to find we had missed last orders for meals, so the co-op was raided instead.
Day two was warm but overcast and the scenery out of Alston is amazing. Through
the mine areas and up some great climbs, we made slow but steady progress.
Then came the hill of all hills out of Stanhope, 17% gradient and very long,
a real killer. How many more of these could we handle? Fortunately we weren't
tested any further as from here onwards it all downhill or flat into Consett
then on to Gateshead. Almost boring at times after the adventure of the Pennines
but we both we happy to settle for this.
Map reading went well till we got to Newcastle where my best advise would be
to ditch the map and head for the river side. The path follows right along
this and the new stretch is now open so no need to keep crossing the Tyne.
Not the most scenic way to finish after the awesome beauty of the Pennines,
more a case of dodging the broken bottles. We rounded Tynemouth bay to take
us down to the sailing club and finish point. The finish was a bit of an anti
climax after the hills and dales but the greeting by Paul's family and friends
made up for that.
A thoroughly enjoyable ride, 90% being on fantastic
routes and trails avoiding traffic completely. Just a shame the
start point and the end point don't come anywhere near the beauty
and challenge of the rest of the route.
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