Post by davidp on May 8, 2013 15:05:12 GMT
Bank Holiday wk/end 4th & 5th May – Matthew & I did the Coast to Coast, 140 mls from Whitehaven in the Lake District across to Sunderland on the east coast. This was booked with our B & B stops end of last year, and it was part of my build up towards the Raid Pyrenean epic I am hoping to ride in June. Just to fill in the details my plans were a steady build up in Jan and Feb, 2 weeks more intense in Mallorca in March, then the C2C, 2 weeks training in Italy in June which includes the biggest Gran Fondo sportive the Nove Colli, then the Raid in July (100 hours max from Atlantic to Med). How the best laid plans can go astray…… 
After the terrible winter which set everyone back I did Mallorca, nearly died the 1st day in THAT storm, felt below par afterwards until I came home on the 30th March, went down with a cold the next week, and have had a nagging and worsening chest infection since and am now on medicine to clear up pleurisy. The thing about this chest infection is I feel fairly ok as long as I don’t exert myself; well, trying to ride over the mountains of Cumbria and the Pennines just doesn’t fit with that and the result is a lot of pain. However we did it.
On Friday Mary & I picked up Matthew from Bromsgrove and we drove up to our overnight B & B (Chestnuts) near Whitehaven, arriving in heavy rain and strong winds after 10.00pm. The place was excellent so after a good breakfast we went into town, took a couple of photos by the start next to the harbour, then left on the marked route of blue C2C signs. The first 10 miles is purpose built and traffic free, tarmaced mostly except near the end, but Matt got a puncture just after that. The day was cold and cloudy, snow still on the highest hills, but the morning rain stopped just before our depart so we had a nice calm beginning. We agreed to meet Mary in Keswick and our route cut back and forth on quiet roads but increasingly hilly, Loweswater Fell being steep, and then grinding over Winlatter Pass before a long, twisting, and rather rough descent into Keswick. We found M and had a drink and snack at one of the many café’s then picked up the signs out of town. Immediately we were on a gravelled cycle path following the stream eastwards for several miles before getting back on to tarmac again. The road climbs up and over the last lumpy bits of the Lake District before dropping down to Penrith and then off towards the Pennines and PAIN.
To reach our overnight stop in Alston we were sent on what might be called ‘The scenic route’ which I suppose if you were in a car would be ok, but on a bike it’s nothing like ok…it’s more like hell. The back roads just go up and down, up and down, and we stopped at a working mill where we got a hot drink and some cake, yippee, then it was back to the job at hand. We had to go over Hartside, just under 2,000 feet, and the signs kindly took us halfway up on a little moorland road, you can imagine how nice that was after nearly 70mls, and my chest was so painful from the infection. On the top it was very windy, cold and cloudy with the temp around 4 deg C, so we soon zipped off down towards Alston. This place is very picturesque and has a long steep cobbled street which we rode up, then back down as the place we were looking for was near the bottom! Matthew fell off with cramp in his thighs, I fell over laughing, ;D well you just do don’t you. We found Mary and our B & B, really nice, had our showers and headed off to the pub for an evening meal. The rain started as we went to bed.
Sunday morning was grey and drizzling and windy again. With just over 60 miles to do and the expectation of having done the worst we set off with a long hard climb out of Alton, then a long descent, then a longer steeper climb up into the cloud, then a longer descent, then an even steeper climb up into cloud and the moors, a lunatic must have come with this route. Finally we reached Stanhope and went into the Information centre, where we got depressed to see our ride was going uphill again. Stanhope Moor started off really steep, like Hurtle Hill near Dunley, but then goes on for miles like a couple of Clee Hills joined together. At the top the cloud started to break up and we had a very fast and lengthy drop down, Matt’s computer clocked him at well over 50mph, I took it a little more conservatively. We stopped for lunch at a quiet country café and after leaving found the blue signs had gone awol. After a long time heading in the general direction of the east coast we picked them up again about 10mls from Sunderland. We had motored along the better and busier roads with a good tailwind and managed to hit the cliff top just above the car park where we found Mary snoozing quietly in the passenger seat. We grabbed a drink and a couple of photos by the C2C carving on the beach, the sun shining and 140 miles covered. It’s a challenge I would recommend, in company, but you need to be fit and have some low gears for the many climbs.
After the terrible winter which set everyone back I did Mallorca, nearly died the 1st day in THAT storm, felt below par afterwards until I came home on the 30th March, went down with a cold the next week, and have had a nagging and worsening chest infection since and am now on medicine to clear up pleurisy. The thing about this chest infection is I feel fairly ok as long as I don’t exert myself; well, trying to ride over the mountains of Cumbria and the Pennines just doesn’t fit with that and the result is a lot of pain. However we did it.
On Friday Mary & I picked up Matthew from Bromsgrove and we drove up to our overnight B & B (Chestnuts) near Whitehaven, arriving in heavy rain and strong winds after 10.00pm. The place was excellent so after a good breakfast we went into town, took a couple of photos by the start next to the harbour, then left on the marked route of blue C2C signs. The first 10 miles is purpose built and traffic free, tarmaced mostly except near the end, but Matt got a puncture just after that. The day was cold and cloudy, snow still on the highest hills, but the morning rain stopped just before our depart so we had a nice calm beginning. We agreed to meet Mary in Keswick and our route cut back and forth on quiet roads but increasingly hilly, Loweswater Fell being steep, and then grinding over Winlatter Pass before a long, twisting, and rather rough descent into Keswick. We found M and had a drink and snack at one of the many café’s then picked up the signs out of town. Immediately we were on a gravelled cycle path following the stream eastwards for several miles before getting back on to tarmac again. The road climbs up and over the last lumpy bits of the Lake District before dropping down to Penrith and then off towards the Pennines and PAIN.
To reach our overnight stop in Alston we were sent on what might be called ‘The scenic route’ which I suppose if you were in a car would be ok, but on a bike it’s nothing like ok…it’s more like hell. The back roads just go up and down, up and down, and we stopped at a working mill where we got a hot drink and some cake, yippee, then it was back to the job at hand. We had to go over Hartside, just under 2,000 feet, and the signs kindly took us halfway up on a little moorland road, you can imagine how nice that was after nearly 70mls, and my chest was so painful from the infection. On the top it was very windy, cold and cloudy with the temp around 4 deg C, so we soon zipped off down towards Alston. This place is very picturesque and has a long steep cobbled street which we rode up, then back down as the place we were looking for was near the bottom! Matthew fell off with cramp in his thighs, I fell over laughing, ;D well you just do don’t you. We found Mary and our B & B, really nice, had our showers and headed off to the pub for an evening meal. The rain started as we went to bed.
Sunday morning was grey and drizzling and windy again. With just over 60 miles to do and the expectation of having done the worst we set off with a long hard climb out of Alton, then a long descent, then a longer steeper climb up into the cloud, then a longer descent, then an even steeper climb up into cloud and the moors, a lunatic must have come with this route. Finally we reached Stanhope and went into the Information centre, where we got depressed to see our ride was going uphill again. Stanhope Moor started off really steep, like Hurtle Hill near Dunley, but then goes on for miles like a couple of Clee Hills joined together. At the top the cloud started to break up and we had a very fast and lengthy drop down, Matt’s computer clocked him at well over 50mph, I took it a little more conservatively. We stopped for lunch at a quiet country café and after leaving found the blue signs had gone awol. After a long time heading in the general direction of the east coast we picked them up again about 10mls from Sunderland. We had motored along the better and busier roads with a good tailwind and managed to hit the cliff top just above the car park where we found Mary snoozing quietly in the passenger seat. We grabbed a drink and a couple of photos by the C2C carving on the beach, the sun shining and 140 miles covered. It’s a challenge I would recommend, in company, but you need to be fit and have some low gears for the many climbs.