C2C achievements

I receive quite a few e-mails asking about the fastest trip or the youngest completer so thought that maybe this page would not only save me a bit of time replying to some e-mails (!) but also, maybe inspire some folk. What I don't want to do is start a competition where silly risks are taken simply to beat a fastest trip time and maybe if that starts happening I will look again at this but for now I will attempt to gather some info. on records and categories.

I have placed below a basic list to give you all an idea of the various categories etc. but if you have any suggestions for other categories - serious or humorous - or even wish to submit a record feel simply e-mail me with further details.

fastest C2C crossing:
Whitehaven to Sunderland - in 2006 Lawton Chen rode the route in a total ride time of 9hrs 57mins and 30 secs. He made stops (mostly to exchange water bottles) totalling 30 min and 15 sec.
Whitehaven to Tynemouth - Chris Jones from Newcastle rode the C2C on 22nd July 2007 leaving Whitehaven at 6:03am and reaching the finish at Tynemouth at 19:32, making a total trip time of 13hr29min.
Workington to Tynemouth - Ian Hagyard of York rode the C2C from Workington to Tynemouth in June 2007 in a total time of 15 hours and just under 11 hours actual cycling time.
Workington to Sunderland
Colin Hurst, Dave Mold and Ray Smith (who all work for South Tyneside Council) completed the C2C bike ride on road bikes from Workington to Sunderland on 9th September 2007. They completed the route in a total trip time of 8 hrs 15 mins with an actual cycling time of 7 hrs 10 mins. The route was A66 to Penrith and then the A686 over Hartside and onto Langley and Hexham, then the A695 to Gateshead and the A184 to Sunderland.
tandem crossing - Jonathan Lumb and his dad completed the C2C in 17 hours on a tandem from Whitehaven to Newcastle. This was not a record attempt but more just an effort to try and do a sub-24 c2c - details of the trip can be found by clicking here
double crossing - Gary Baum rode the route from his home near Keswick to Sunderland, back to Workington and then home again in 2005 in a ridiculous time of 15hrs 24mins cycling time (17hrs total time) and his trip account can be read here.
John McAvoy, Nick Hudson and Graeme Widdup rode the route in 2007 from Tynemouth to Workington and then cycling to Sunderland in 17hrs 15mins cycling time and 21hrs 15mins totat time.

youngest completer:
under own steam:
 - male - Joseph Craggs was 7yr and 350 days when he completed his first solo crossing on 15th July 2004 having alreadye had already done it twice before on a tag-along attached to the rear of his dad's bike in July 2003 & July 2002.
Gustaf Darrason (all the way from Reykjavik, Iceland) was 8 years & 85 days old when he dipped his front wheel in the North Sea after 5 days cycling unassisted from Whitehaven to Tynemouth in June 2007.
Frans van Helvert was aged 8yrs and 259 days when he completed the C2C (Workington – Tynemouth) on his own bike in four days in May 2007.
Christian Webster-Reed (2007 trip), Steven Chorkley (2007 trip), William Speed (2006 trip), Aaron Frier (2003 trip) all receive an honourable mention for completeing the trip aged 9.
 - female - First place goes to Ruth Trickett who on July 22nd 2007 rode the route with her mum and grandad from Workington to Sunderland aged 8 (born Jan 4th 1999). She completed the journey, in full, in 6 days despite falling off on the steep decent into Stanhope. photo
Second place goes to Alice Craggs who completed a four day solo crossing of the C2C on 18th July 2003 aged 8 years and 218 days.
Third place goes to Emma Brady who was aged 9 years and 117 days when she rode the c2c over five days in August 2007 - getting up all the hills in one go as she did with all the climbs say her proud parents - photo
Honourable mentions go to Amy Curtis who was aged 9 (29 June 1996) when she completed the C2C from Workington to Roker over 5 days 29 May 2006 to 2 June 2006 and also Sarah Driscoll aged 10 who completed the C2C in August 2006 over 4 days.
- using a tag-a-long type bike attachment - Tom Colbenson (2001 trip) aged 4.5. The trip was unfertaken with his dad, Martin as a tribute to Tom's mum who sadly died a few months before the trip . Martin and Tom did the ride as a tribute to his mum and as a fundraiser for Carlisle Hospital and the R.V.I in Newcastle where she had been treated.
- taking it easy in the baby seat! - Natalie Buchanan recently completed the C2C from Whitehaven to Tynemouth on the back of her mums bike aged 9 months old - she was accompanied by her 2 year old sister Sophie who was in a trailer on the back of her Dad's bike - photo

oldest completer:
male - the curent oldest completer is Fred Holmes who was who was 70 yrs & 193 days when he completed the C2C in May 2004 - for pictures of the trip click here.
female - The current record holder is Pat Craven of Wolverhampton who completed Whitehaven to Tynemouth in 3 and a half days 2/4/08 - 5/4/08 aged 66 years in snow and hail. A legend!
Second eldest is Ann Denton of Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne who completed the C2C from Workington to Tynemouth over 4 days from 22-25th Oct. 2007. Ann was 55 years 3 months and 27 days when she completed the ride.
In third is Valerie Honeywell was 54 years, 5 months and 11 days when she completed the route over 3 days from Workington to Sunderland in July 2007.

most C2C attempts:
The current record is set at a massive ten journeys by The Shelton Bikers - alias Mike and Ang Walker - who are the most experienced C2C'ers I have heard of and maybe they should be running this site? Their 10 trips came between March 1995 and 2005 with a promise of more trips to come!

most money raised for charity:
solo - In 2004 Deborah Gibbon raised £4650.07 for the Lymphoma Association
group - Despite 2 accidents, 1 broken chain and several punctures, between May 11th-13th 2007 a team of 12 middle age blokes mainly from the UK Flooring and PVC Resin Industries completed the C2C route from Whitehaven to Tynemouth and in doing so raised £12,610 for the Candlelighters Children's Cancer Charity Trust based at St James Hospital (known as 'Jimmy's in the recent TV documentary) based in Leeds and thus beating the previous record by £7.

punctures:
Iain Holland - a massive 7 punctures over 3 days on his May 06 trip!
Christopher Russell - who had a grand total of 4 punctures in one day on his August 2006 trip!
Rachel Simpson also had a record four punctures in one day on her May 2007 trip.
Chris Jones from Newcastle had a puncture within 10 minutes of starting out from Whitehaven in 2004!
Ian Bennet - In 2005 Ian was pacing his friend on a sub-24hrs attempt. Ian's allotted section started at the bottom of Crawleyside before turning onto the Waskerly Way - within 30 seconds, he mis-judged an "S" bend, put the bike in the gravel and got two punctures. Ians introduction to the C2C lasted approx 10 minutes in total!

most curious c2c story
This is off Rob Ainsley and although not a C2C record maybe it should be!
"In June 1998 I did the C2C with some pals. Somewhere on Hartside, taking off my rucksack, I must have dropped a roll of exposed film. That evening I couldn't find it; shame, it had some cracking photos, souvenir of the first half of trip, etc. Phoned cafe, places we stayed, but nothing handed in. Lost for ever...
Two years later, I get a letter through the post with one the (developed and printed!) pictures from that very trip, and a note from a chap in Yorkshire I'd never met saying, is this you? Uh?? How?? What?? How did he find my address??
This is what had happened: Rick Newton, the chap from Yorkshire, was doing the C2C about three weeks after I did it. He stopped on Hartside to take a picture and noticed a roll of film someone had clearly dropped. He took it, asked round on the rest of his trip if anyone had lost one, but no joy. He took it home and put it in a drawer, and forgot about till he moved house two years later. He got the pictures developed, then wondered how to find their owner. He sent them in to a cycling magazine he took, MTB UK, based in Bath, saying maybe they could publish them and perhaps the owner would be in them and identify himself or be identified. By coincidence, they knew me in the office, so when the pics arrived, they sent them to me and put me in touch with Mr Newton. He did his C2C ride for charity (can't remember which) and wouldn't accept payment for the film, but would accept a small donation to his charity, so everyone was happy!
So, my lost pictures - after spending three weeks in the mist and rain on Hartside - were found by stranger, and somehow found their way to me two years later.
But (having done the C2C four times and about to do a fifth) I find things like this happen. Fabulous people, unforgettable experiences, great memories, remarkable coincidences, and lots of stories!"