2019 Coast to Coast Whitehaven to Tynemouth

The start in Whitehaven Pleasant Cumbrian scenery At the top of Hartside, a gruelling 90 minute climb. Nice to reach Newcastle The finish in Tynemouth. Front tyre goes into the North Sea.

I slept well and enjoyed a nice breakfast of porridge followed by scrambled egg.  Just enough to keep me on the move until lunchtime. I had a lazy start and left just after 9am. Immediately there was a climb into Alston  town centre and its quaint cobblestones. It would have been a bustling market town when its lead and coal mines were open but now there is scarce employment. Everyone is working in a shop or on a farm it seems. Plenty of early climbs towards Nenthead were  not too unpleasant in sunshine and a very strong 25mph wind generally assisting from the west. Some glorious downhillers followed, the first three hours being taken up by climbing for an eternity at 5mph then doing 40mph on the downers for about 2 minutes, knowing you'd only have to climb back up. By Rookhope there was an off road 9ml  "shortcut" to Parkhead but after 500 yards I had to give up on it and return to the roads as it was just impassible because of a very poor surface of mud ...

 This was a battle. So many hill climbs and some go on for ever it seems. A good start, dipped the back wheel in the Irish Sea at Whitehaven Marina and off by 8am.   The climbing soon began moving up from sea level steadily through the first 5 miles of Cumbrian lanes.   As I reached Ennerdale some sharp climbs began.  A lovely downhiller followed down to Loweswater, the first lake on the ride. Progress was generally good, covering the 31 miles to Keswick in a little over 3 hours or so. Theres a lovely old disused rail track from Keswick and I was looking forward to using it for the next 10 miles or so.  Trains couldnt go up steep hills so its usually just a light constant climb.   Sadly the 2015 floods had washed away a bridge ,(no funds to replace after 4 years?) and it was closed after just one mile.  A diversion sign took me straight up hill approaching Grasmere then further rigiurous climbing into Threlkeld. I took a lunch break in Greystoke at the Boot and Shoe, its a bit of a tra...

Its been a lovely morning, a little cool at times but at least its dry. A tough morning on the bike covering 45 miles so far. Numerous climbs, some quite lengthy.  It was quite a struggle through the Whinlatter Pass as the route takes you through the Forestry Commission land and the surface was very difficult, big lumps of loose stone making balance tricky. Just stopped for some lunch and sitting next to me is Sir Chris Bonnington Mountaineer, Writer and all round adventurer.  I reminded him that I had interviewed him in 1983 about his then book release "Kongur". Lovely chap. Some pics from today to follow

It's a dry and bright start to the day in Whitehaven.  Off shortly before 8am I hope. 

Ive arrived in Whitehaven on time after an uneventful but rainy train journey. The west side of the country looks a bit bleak here, Maryport Aspatria and Workington to name a few towns that seem to have suffered most in the loss of industries over the decades. It was quite nice to see the Irish Sea as we travelled right on the shoreline for some time. I thought I could see Isle of Man through the mist, certainly it was land out at sea, don't think it could have been the other side of the Solway Firth as we were too far down Cumbria. Out for some green salad and then Pasta tonight in Casa Roma. Billy no mates on a table for one! Must eat.

Its always useful to have a quick energy boost in case of cyclists "bonk" - it's not rude, just google wikipedia "hitting the wall" if you need to know more.  Its when all energy drains out of your body to get you to rest up for a while.  It comes from nowhere without warning and momentarily you can't go on. A small portion of cold porridge with added banana and fruits of the forest can hopefully get you over the final 20 miles. I've also got some fruit and nut which is a great help if hunger strikes. Tony's top tips!

I like the back up on having a postcard on the handlebars with all the villages/towns I need to look out for on the way.  Its incredibly useful when your map is in your rucksack and you just want a quick confirmation that you're heading in the right direction. So tonight was a chance for a quick refresher on the route, this website is great for that ....    http://www.c2c-guide.co.uk/the-route/ and a quick look at the road layout in certain busier stretches.  An hour later, hey presto, the entire route reduced to villages I must aim for with accumulated miles from the start in Whitehaven in brackets to check against the on board Garmin that all is in order. So for anyone else attempting this, here is my village checker.... Day 01 Whitehaven - Rugby Club – Corkickle – Mirehouse – Moor Row – Cleator Moor [5] – Frizington – Rowrah – Lamplugh – Loweswater [17] – Thackthwaite – High Lorton – Whinlatter – Braithwaite [27] – Portinscale – Keswick [31] – ...

On Friday, I take the short 12 mile cycle to Central Station and catch the 15:13 train to Carlisle then onto a connection to Whitehaven  to begin a tough weekend of training for the new cycle season.   Solo of course, I must like my own company after all these years. It will be C2C No. 5 for me I think, I remember the very first, which was the longest ride I'd done at that time about 11 years ago, when I was just getting back into cycling.  I still have a photo on the beach at Tynemouth (shown below) as I completed the 140 miles over three days with stops at Langwathby and Stanhope.  I looked a bit younger and a lot lighter then. The weather recently has been very severe with gale force winds and torrential rain, this after a beautiful sunny February so I'm hoping it stays dry and if there are winds that they blow from the west. This year's intention is to complete in two days as work always infringes on having fun :-) Day one on Saturday should star...