Coast to Coast 2003 Whitehaven – Tynemouth (3 days)  by Michael Wallis Here is yet another account of the Coast to Coast (C2C) bike trip, this time a three day ride undertaken by two old school friends, Sid and Mick during the last week of September 2003. Even though previous C2C cyclists have written about the route, each account has something different to offer. So naturally there should still be room for this report! We hope that you will find it of interest, particularly those readers who have not yet got around to tackling this classic cycle ride from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. The idea for the trip Planning
the “tour de North” As for my own planning, I searched the internet for suitable sites on the C2C cycle ride in the hope of reading accounts of the trip and to get some tips on training, route profiles as well as advice on what to take and what to look out for. While the Sustrans website (www.sustrans.org.uk) was a good introduction to the route itself, the most helpful to answer my own questions (as a bike novice) was the www.c2c-guide.co.uk site. Training While Sid completed a series of longer mountain bike rides at weekends (up to 30 miles) prior to going on the C2C, I devised my own 3-month training program (similar in style to my 12 week marathon training program). The training built up in distance and in speed over that period of time, so that I reached a weekly distance two weeks prior to the C2C ride of 140 km (88 miles). This included long rides once a week of 80 km (50 miles). In addition, I loaded the panniers with 15 kilos (30 lb) of weight for the final two weeks to simulate the expected weight to be taken. Without panniers I averaged 23 kmh (14.5 mph) on a flat road, with panniers that fell to 20 kmh (13 mph). Due to the lack of hills where I live in northern Germany, it was hard to imagine what my average speed would be crawling up those steep hills in the Lakes and the Pennines! Thus looking for some expert advice, I turned to the www.c2c-guide.co.uk website and sent a last minute email to Dik asking for advice on how to tackle the Hartside hill section (which I had quickly identified as the hardest climb on the second day of the tour). Dik´s advice was to find a steady rhythm going up Hartside and to stick to it. It sounded so easy, but as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating… (more about Hartside later). Packing the bike Highlights of the tour Day 1: Whitehaven - Keswick
The first section from Whitehaven along the former railway track quickly takes you into the open countryside, accompanied by the various C2C sculptures along the way. At the same time, you pass pieces of industrial archaeology from the former railway line including old station platforms. Not long after leaving the Whitehaven area, the impressive Lake District comes into view as if presented on a plate to marvel at (yes, you have guessed it, I am a Lake District fan).
After passing Ennerdale Water at a distance, the C2C route takes you along the edge of Loweswater. It was here that Sid suggested going for a swim, even if it was already the end of September. The tour was interrupted while we parked up and went swimming… The water gets colder the further from the shoreline that you swim. Yet swimming in that impressive setting made up for the low temperatures.
The subsequent ride down from the visitor centre was fun, with the bikes gathering speed as they rumbled down along the steep forest track. The official map was right to give the warning “steep descent take care”. This was where the brakes underwent their first major test. Luckily it was not raining, that would have made the descent trickier. Great view of Skiddaw (as seen below) as you emerge from Whinlatter Forest, the impressive backdrop to Keswick.
Having arrived at Keswick Youth Hostel at 4 pm and still feeling energetic, we booked in and then rode to the other side of Derwent Water to walk up Cat Bells. From the top you have great views of both Derwent Water below with its islands, as well as of Bassenthwaite Lake further in the distance. This detour was a 13 km (8 mile) round trip but well worth it for the views.
The first day had gone well, having had dry weather, no wind to ride against and no punctures or mechanical problems. The distance to Keswick was easily manageable within a day, yet we were introduced to some steep climbs. One thing did puzzle us, why did we not meet any other C2C cyclists along the way? Day 2: Keswick – Alston The road out of Keswick up to the stone circle was a rude awakening to say the least, getting us sweating soon after leaving the youth hostel! Yet the reward was discovering the stone circle in an adjacent field at the top of the climb, a place with an atmosphere of its very own as it overlooks the surrounding misty Lakeland fells. Very scenic and well worth the climb.
Sid thereafter headed into the unknown (taking with him the chain splitting tool). The subsequent account of his ride sounded rough indeed. He described the first half of the route as a ride up a dried up streambed strewn with stones and rocks. That explains why the cyclists I have seen photographed along the Old Coach Road are always pushing their bikes… but not Sid, he struggled to the top and lived to tell the tale. He describes the second half of the route as passable, whatever that means. Sid raised the valid question of why on earth did the former coaches take this inhospitable route?
After leaving the stone circle, I rejoined the other route, which took me through Threlkeld and Mungrisdale towards the Eden Valley. This is possibly one of the most scenic parts of the C2C as you follow the cycle track away from the busy A66 up the side of the valley, not a car or person in sight. The track is undulating, allowing you to enjoy cycling up and down the contours as you take in the views around you. It was here that the bike chain jumped off while changing gears. Luckily Sid (somewhere along the Old Coach Road with the chain splitter) was not needed after all…
Greystoke was a good meeting point, even if my companion took at least an hour longer to get there than I did. The village not only has a pub but also a castle, yet this is not open to the public. It was here that we met our first fellow C2C cyclists. It turned out that they were completing their fourth C2C ride, thereby trying out the various route options. Penrith will mainly be remembered for the tough climb out of the town and the steep hill on the way to Langwathby… But what goes up must come down, so it wasn’t all sweat and tears! There was another stone circle known as Long Meg just after Langwathby, a strange place indeed. This is obviously a place of pilgrimage for druids. This notion is based on the sight of various items (offerings or presents), which have been attached to the two large trees, which have grown within the circle itself. The strange thing that happened upon leaving the stone circle was that the speedo on my bike started playing havoc, jumping from very low to very high speeds while cycling at a steady speed! This lasted some 5 miles before the readings were normal again. Sid’s theory was that my bike must have been leaning against a magnetic stone, causing the speedo to go crazy. The next village was called Glassonby (or was it Glastonbury?). That was all very strange…
Now came the real challenge of the day, one that I had spent some time thinking about during my “mental preparation” for the C2C, the long climb to the top of Hartside at the foot of the Pennines! But before that, there was just time for a roadside break at Renwick.
I had set myself the aim to make it to the top of Hartside in one go. Armed with our water bottles, we quickly had to fall down into second and first gear as we snaked our way towards the top. It was here that I remembered Dik´s advice on how to tackle Hartside. Dik revealed that the trick is to find a steady rhythm early on during the climb and then to maintain it until you reach the summit. Sid and I encouraged each other with shouts of “keep that rhythm going!”. I very nearly took a break as our cycle track met the main road (A686) half way up, but Sid refused to be beaten and carried on, so I quickly gave up the idea and managed to continue. We reached the Hartside cafe at the summit after nearly one hour of hard work.
It so happened that we got to the cafe literally five minutes before it closed (at 5 pm), what luck and good timing! Thus we could enjoy coffee and cakes with great views of the landscape unfolding below and the last glimpse of the Irish Sea in the distance. And yet again, not a glimpse of any other fellow C2C cyclists, only motorcyclists parading their bikes and exchanging stories.
Having recovered after the struggle to the top, it quickly became apparent that it was getting colder at the summit minute by minute. The place seemed to have its own microclimate. Thus after having cycled up in shorts and T-shirts, we found ourselves having to put on our water/windproof trousers, jumpers and jackets. What a contrast! Now came the long drop down to Alston with the luxury of being able to cruise down at high speeds. Alston was chosen as the route to take rather than Garrigill because of the Alston youth hostel. The day ended with a night out at a local pub, ready for the long ride to Newcastle on the following day. The second day was the hardest of the trip, at times being very hilly. Yet they presented us with a challenge. Apart from completing the C2C in the 3 days aimed for, getting to the top of Hartside without pushing was for me another achievement of this trip (remember the lack of hills at home available for training purposes). Finding that rhythm and tagging on behind Sid helped me. Also, the fine weather ensured that we did not have to deal with wind or rain at the same time. Day 3: Alston - Tynemouth We were cycling through the so-called “last wilderness in England”, the Pennines. This became apparent as we cycled across the boundaries of Northumberland and Durham, windswept hills with not a person in sight, only sheep to contend with. It is in this vicinity that we passed Black Hill, the highest point along the C2C. After that it was downhill to Allenheads, reaching speeds of up to 60 kmh (38 mph) along the last section.
After yet another steep rise, this time upon leaving Allenheads, we passed further examples of the industrial past as we cycled to the former mining village of Rookhope, passing exhausted mines and their rusty machinery, derelict buildings and spoil mounds which looked like oversized mole hills. At Lintzgarth, there is even a last remaining arch of a former bridge, which now stands forlorn in the windswept landscape.
The wilderness of the Pennines was further evident from abandoned homes.
Another unannounced steep hill appeared as we left Stanhope. This was a tough one, bringing back memories of Hartside the day before. What did Sid say about cruising all the way down to Newcastle? So much for his map reading skills… Our reward for struggling to the top was once again a cafe, this time at the (official) 100-mile mark at the start of the Waskerly Way. The Bike Stop cafe is a big family sized caravan filled with a mixture of high tech equipment (fax, computer), cooking facilities, seats to rest those weary legs and an array of C2C merchandise. The Waskerly Way is the start of the gradual descent down to Tyneside. It is a single track with a good gravel surface, which took us to Consett. On the approach to Consett, we crossed the first of a number of impressive old viaducts before reaching the Smelt Wagon at Lydgetts Junction (the place where the route splits either to Newcastle or to Sunderland). The Smelt Wagon is a modern piece of industrial heritage from the former Consett steelworks. Apparently, this is one of the local tourist attractions…
Consett was the first place we got lost during the C2C, having missed the small blue C2C sign (assuming that it was still there in the first place) after riding through the town park. The resulting detour took us down to Shotley Bridge, the emphasis here being on the word down. The mistake meant that there was yet another steep hill to tackle in order to rejoin the actual route along the Derwent Walk further along. It turned out to indeed be the last of the steep hills along the C2C. The final stretch to Newcastle along the Derwent Walk is another former railway track. It was here that we decided not to stop in Newcastle but to ride on to Tynemouth while the weather still held and the adrenalin was still there. We reckoned on arriving there some time between 6 and 7 pm. Soon after making the decision, the first rain of the trip started to fall. This at least meant that we hadn’t carried the waterproof gear all this way (up and down those hills) for nothing, so we remained in high spirits as we gradually came to the Newcastle suburbs, followed by conurbation, busy roads, traffic queues and the river Tyne itself. This was quite a “culture shock” after having cycled through largely empty countryside such as in the Lake District, the Eden Valley and the wilderness of the Pennines.
Approaching the city centre, with all those impressive bridges across the Tyne, we followed the Keelman´s Way to Gateshead before crossing over the smaller red and white bridge into the heart of the city and the “Welcome to Newcastle upon Tyne” sign. After that we cycled along Hadrian’s Way all the way through to Tynemouth. Even though it did not look particularly far on the map, it took longer than expected and seemed to go on endlessly (probably because fatigue was beginning to set in together with the continuing rain). By this stage, the glass-strewn sections that we had to cycle through were largely ignored as we tried to get through to Tynemouth before darkness. The druid’s spell was obviously still working as we miraculously got through without one puncture, despite all those crunching noises! The final section of the C2C saw us pass the Newcastle shipyards (rows of soup dragons) and on to Tynemouth itself. By this time it was dark, raining and the lights on my bike were refusing to work as we weaved our way through the traffic. After missing the blue C2C sign entering Tynemouth, Sid guided us through to Long Sands Beach … in view of our finish line - the North Sea! Without delay, we cycled down to the beach (next to the castle and priory ruins) to complete the wheel dipping ceremony, which we had started back in Whitehaven. Unfortunately it was now too dark to take any photos of our arrival (those were taken the next morning). After congratulating each other on a successful ride, it was togs off and a dash into the sea… Swimming in that sea with the taste of saltwater was bittersweet, a taste to remember. Tynemouth: The following day
As our final destination was Newcastle railway station, we cycled back at a leisurely pace into the city centre in relatively good weather seeing various sights that we had missed the day before. This included the Fish Quay and the former shipyards. We also took the ferry over to South Shields. Sid guided us back via Jarrow, Hebburn and his former home area in Pelaw. One of the houses he was looking for had vanished, it had obviously been demolished in the meantime. After that it was on to see the impressive Millennium Bridge across the Tyne and the adjacent Baltic Flour Mill.
Then a final short ride to the station. While I returned to Whitehaven to collect the car, Sid took the train back down to Reading. I had a further day in the Lake District walking/climbing in the Langdales to finish off my holiday before driving back to Germany via the Harwich ferry. Final thoughts The signposting along the route is good. But do not rely on the
official Sustrans map to identify all the steep hills. There always
seems to another hill around the next corner!
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