C2C Route

C2C Cycle Challenge 2012

At last: the dates have been fixed for the 4th C2C Challenge. The 2012 Challenge takes two days, riding through the Northern Lakes and over the Pennines stopping off in Alston, at the 70-mile halfway point. Sign up here…

Thanks to all!

We are beefing up the site and updating details of accommodation providers at the moment. Thanks to all of you who helped push last year’s page views up by 50%, from just under a million to 1.5 million. And thanks for lingering for an average of five minutes on each of those pages. That’s 121,182 visitors spending a total of 125,000 hours looking at this site. Quite humbling. Now I must press on with the update…

Challenge May 26 & 27

The C2C Challenge will be upon us at the end of May. Sorry about the late arrival of the website. It’s still a week away owing to technical trouble, but pencil the weekend of May 26 & 27 for the 4th annual challenge. Meanwhile I gather from friends at Sustrans that there were even more cyclists on the route, with upwards of 200 starting from Whitehaven during the week. I am delighted that it’s no longer just a weekend dash.

2012 Challenge latest

Welcome to 2012. I expect you’re all itching to get out there and burn off those calories. So what about getting into training for the 4th annual C2C Challenge, scheduled for the weekend of May 26 & 27. The website will be up and running shortly for bookings.

C2C GPS info…

Martin Price contacted me the other day with his GPS plot of the C2C. It’s for an all road route. Martin does the ride in a day (not advisable for us mere mortals). You may be interested to have a look.  A write-up for all three can be found here, with the 2010 version being data logged on a Garmin Edge705.

http://www.calder-clarion.co.uk/c2c2010.htm

I think that the Calder Clarion CC is planning on making this an annual event so anyone interested should get in touch.

New loops for old

I’d be interested in more feedback on the new loops on the route – via Ullswater to Penrith, and via Durham to Sunderland. Any further thoughts out there?

Camera found

A digital camera has been picked up by a kind cyclist called Sean. Looking at the pictures the last ones were of people starting at the west coast. His number is 07787 330062.

Train stupid

I somehow missed this email sent in May by Colin Trigg. His experience on Northern trains is certainly not unique and I’d like to hear more from those of you who have had similar experiences and we’ll try and do some serious lobbying to get more bikes on trains.

To: C2C Guide:

I had a problem travelling on Bank Holiday Friday 29th April Carlisle to Whitehaven to start C2C.
My son & I had booked our bikes for the journey & have tickets stating Free Cycle Outward Liverpool to Whitehaven.
However after changing at Carlisle we were told that although the connecting train to Whitehaven was virtually empty it had it’s maximum number of 6 bikes on a 2 carriage train.

We (& 4 other passengers) had put our bikes in the wheelchair spaces but the train manager marched down the train shouting for the bikes to be removed.  I showed him my cycle ticket & explained that we needed to start cycling at midday to be able to cycle 75 miles to the Hostel accommodation we had booked that night.  Unfortunately he was not interested.  Our offers of leaving the train should a wheelchair passenger board further down the line or removing the wheels on our bikes was refused.

The next train was due to leave 1 hour 20 minutes later but that was delayed & we eventually left 2 hours later.

That was on a one carriage train which was full but where the manager accommodated 7 bikes.  Northern Rail made no extra provisions for what was always going to be a popular C2C day & expected cyclists to self determine the pecking order as increasing numbers of cyclists were refused to board.  When my train left there were at least 12 cyclists still stranded & similarly affected.

As a consequence of the 2 hour delay to starting our ride from Whitehaven we had to take a taxi for the last 20 miles that day.  The C2C was therefore not achieved & it cost £84 for the taxi (double fare on a Bank Holiday).

I have complained to Northern & requested compensation but I am not hopeful.

Regards,

Colin Trigg

Wanted: Garmin version of C2C

Has anyone mapped the route on a Garmin? I have yet to do so with mine but would welcome a Garmin version to post on the site. At last some good weather. I expect to see hundreds of you out there this weekend…

Summer blues

What a crap summer. Again. Maybe it’s time to move the C2C to the South of France – perhaps Sete across to Bordeaux, along the Canal du Midi. Still, cool weather is better than baking heat if you’re climbing 12,000 feet or so and I feel sure that 95% of you enjoyed the ride. Any views on tackling the Channel ride in May, along the new route on the Dorset coast before crossing to Cherbourg and St Malo? In the meantime, apologies to Bradley Dearnley for not posting his brilliant blog sooner (see Your Trips).