Pete, Vicky, Sarah and Dan's C2C Adventure How little were we prepared for what lay ahead…… Day 1 - Sunday 13th July 2003 It was a slow start and we picked up the C2C signs at Cleator Moor where we got slightly lost and started to head back to Whitehaven along the disused railway line. As yet we had not put our faith in (or even looked for) C2C signs that would have put us in the right direction all navigation faults were our own. The fences along the path had been painted and it was nice that some effort was being put into the cycle route at Cleator Moor. We stopped at the Spar for a stamp and felt sorry that the amount of effort put into the cycle route wasn’t affecting the town at all. A very flat and boring route along the disused railway our path interweaving with that of a couple of lads taking a stroll to ‘local’ in Rowrah. Thanks to some stealth training (previous camping in Lamplugh) we stopped off at the Inglenook campsite and had a lovely lunch bought from the shop - cheese and tinned ham sandwiches never tasted so good! The descent down to Loweswater wasn’t as great as it could have been due to the queues of cars using the road – how dare they! We stopped again at the river Cocker to cool down as the temperatures were soaring and we were feeling the heat. By the time we were ascending to Whinlatter most
of the team had had enough. We were diverted along the main road
due to felling work through the forest and were very pleased to
hurtle downhill in the shade through Thornthwaite and on towards
Keswick. The footbridge near the marina was great fun as we managed
to have our own Millennium experience as the bridge began to sway
in time with our feet! Now despite the fact that we were using Ordnance Survey maps, none of us had bothered to count the contours up to our stay for the night. 2 miles out of Keswick and very high up is a beautiful campsite, but one that should be enjoyed without the legacy of a long day’s cycling. Great showers, friendly staff, young D of E’ers (glad it’s not me!) and beautiful views (you could even see Bassenthwaite) almost made up for the hellish climb to reach it. In a fit of rage I snapped off my bike stand and from then on my poor steed was propped against hillocks, walls and the road. That night we feasted on stew and dumplings with ginger cake to follow. Beautiful. Day Two - Monday 14th July 2003 The route out of Keswick to Threlkeld is beautiful and shady which was a relief for us. Soon the midday sun would be beating down and we would scurry from the shade of one tree to another. We were all very impressed with the amount of cycle path that has been laid to keep cyclists off the A66. We decided not to go to Mungrisedale as we were locals (!) and knew what was there. (See Friday’s entry!) Instead we took a short cut across a field along a footpath and headed on up, paralleling the A66. We also avoided Guardhouse. Cycling through Greystoke was wonderful – especially with a stop on the bench opposite the (closed on Mondays) pub. A couple of postcards and cans of Iron Bru were bought at the Post Office and we chatted to our first group of C2Cers who were taking 6 days to do it all. This made us feel a little smug and they were envious of the fact that at the end of our day was a house and beds and for them another campsite. On our way out of Blencow and onto Laithes we met a Ranger! He was very chatty and wanted to know where we had started our epic adventure and gave us some hints for later, and then we stopped off at Salkeld Dykes to admire the llamas. Very hot and very sweaty. Over the 5 days we saw plenty of amazing wildlife including a red squirrel, a newt and a stoat that decided to make a dash for it through Dan’s wheel whilst he was cycling along. Our stay that night was at KO with our teammates Pete and Vicky. Hot showers and lovely food made us feel a little better before Dan’s dad came over and drank a bottle of wine for us! Day Three - Tuesday 15 July 2003 Getting over Hartside was a huge mental block for me, especially on such a hot day with such little shade. Luckily there was a lovely refreshing breeze that must have saved our bacon. We took the off road option up to Hartside which was nice in that the route was traffic-free and peaceful. (We could drag our bikes up the hill without the fumes and jeers of automotive transport and drivers). Unfortunately there is a narrow gully that I almost came a cropper on, luckily my wonderful boyfriend came to the rescue and took my bike across for me. Thank you, Dan! Day 3 was certainly the most sociable day of the trip and we met up with a family and their tandem, the ranger (again) and the author of the C2C website, Dick! We also met a couple of lasses whose paths we would cross again. One was from Germany and had some lovely white chocolates that somehow hadn’t melted in the heat and she was pulling the bike up the hills for her friend. How chivalrous! The café was buzzing with motorcyclists as well as hard-core cyclists like ourselves! Today was the launch of the new Pennine cycle route and there was much to feast the eyes and ears (how loud was that banner on the back of the bloke’s bike?!) Here we bumped into our friendly ranger again and helped a cyclist avoid a painful ride as Vicky flicked a wasp off the posterior of one of the Pennine cycle way brigade. After tea and a hot bacon
roll we set off down to Alston. This was the first time I had
seen the ‘other side’ and
so I was keen to savour the cool breeze and views across Alston
moor. The journey to Nenthead passed
without a hitch and – we
arrived at the Miners’ Arms to find that we were the only ones
in the bunk house which was unexpected and very nice. The bunkhouse
is really great – well equipped with bedding and plenty of towels
and even TV, a kettle, coffee and mugs. Brilliant! The girls we
had met earlier were also at the pub cooling down before finding
their campsite and we checked in and chilled out. After a wonderful
meal at the pub we went for a quick walk around Nenthead which
had its own charm and were eaten alive by midges. (Poor girls at
the campsite). If any of you go for a wander in Nenthead look out
for the coal holes, water fountain and interesting trees. We all
had the best night’s sleep at the bunkhouse and had a lovely breakfast
before setting off on Day 4. At Allenheads I stopped very briefly to post a card or two and we missed the opportunity to stamp our cards. Oh well! The climb out of Allenheads was long, but very satisfying to look back over a hill and say ‘we came from over there’. The Pennine snow markers along the road made the scenery feel even more desolate and there was plenty of road kill to feed any scavengers. The girls who we encountered again at Rookhope had counted 60 rabbit corpses – we then pointed out that at least a couple of the warrens we had seen had faced directly onto the road, thus giving the family rabbit little chance of survival! Hurray – we reach the highest point, stop for a brass rubbing and lunch and watch the yellow bin truck stay within the Northumberland border, despite trying to break out into County Durham! Rookhope – what a place. The sign outside the pub promises that all cyclists and walkers are offered a warm welcome. We’ll let you decide. Here we met up with our female friends who also decided to take the ‘off road’ option before joining up with the Waskerley Way. This would be an excellent route for an experienced mountainbiker but it just scared me. Trying to cycle through a ridge about as wide as an A4 sheet of paper is not my idea of fun. Well, thankfully it ended and we joined up with the ever-expanding ‘Waskerley Way’. At first we all really enjoyed this part of the route – nice wide path, nice scenery and not too far from Consett. Why did it take forever to get there then? Well, we enjoyed going over
the viaduct just outside Consett and noted where Safeway was
for our next stamp tomorrow
and found the YMCA. That night was Youth night and there was an
air of ‘Byker Grove’ about the place. As Peter said, it’s not just
the scenery that had changed that day. The showers were quite disappointing
but the dinner was ok. Home cooked fish and chips with cheesecake
to follow. All very nice, bit doubtful over the mushy peas though,
and then we headed to bed. The rooms were in the rafters and were
very warm. I don’t think any of us slept well, and again we were
the only people staying there that night. By day 5 we really got into the milepost rubbing as we were able to start to understand them a little more. They also changed colour which was exciting. It spitted on and off all day and although day 5 is ‘downhill’, it is only a slight gradient which you still have to work at rather than the glorious descent into Alston. I loved cycling through the puddles and soaking everyone and wore my vest top all day which put a smile on some of the male walkers we passed. We stopped off at King Cole which is great and was a hint of things to come as we approached Sunderland – metal cows, stone doors and giant wooden nuts and bolts still awaited us. Just as we were about to come up the hill and away from the Wildfowl Trust Pete scored a puncture. Despite the thankful lack of practice for this operation we worked excellently as a team and the job was done (+scoobysnacks) in 20 minutes. Boy we’re professional! The route was easy to follow all the way to Sunderland marina. There things got a little hazy, or should I say foggy. We headed towards Roker pier and couldn’t see any sign to say that the C2C had finished so we decided to cycle along the pier, out into the fog!! We then had a Benny Hill moment or two where we cycled round and round looking for the marina building so that we could get our last stamp of the expedition. All this confusion took an hour or so it was great when I dug out the train tickets and saw that I had booked us on a train that left in an hour’s time. I looked on the map and found a train station nearby that we cycled to – only to find out that it was a Metro station that may or may not allow bikes on and even then it would take 25 mins to get to the central station which is the one that would take us to Carlisle. There was then a mad dash through Sunderland, taking directions wherever possible and we arrived at the most unlikely looking ‘central station’ with a minute to spare before the 1800 train that we had booked arrived and the guard reluctantly let us 4 on with our bikes as well as another traveller with bike. Hah! That was the real finishing point for us and we sat numbly on the train back to Carlisle. Similarly there was no time between connections at Carlisle for our train to Whitehaven. We started to come round a little on this train and played cards and thought about what we would choose from the Chinese. Despite efforts to put credit on the mobile phone and ring the restaurant to apologise for not making our table booking, we managed to get a take-away which was delicious and a great way to round off the trip. – Except Friday’s fun was still to come….. A brilliant experience we will recommend to everyone. Epilogue - Friday 16 July 2003 After jumping in and taking photos we had another hot drink to warm up and said our goodbyes as Pete and Vicky headed back to Kirkoswald whilst we made our way back along the A66 to Whitehaven and home.
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