Cathryn
Legendary Member
- Location
- Marlborough, Wiltshire
A quick note on our weekend cycling the C2C backwards - from Newcastle (okay, not really the coast, I know) to Whitehaven.
Firstly...yes...we had three days of headwind. Tough actually and at times, quite disspiriting. But the ease of getting the bikes on the train home (having seen about 150 cyclists going in the opposite direction) made it all worthwhile.Can't imagine the carnage on the platforms as they all try to get on one train!
We sat off from Newcastle on Saturday morning. Lovely day. Gorgeous first 16 or so miles to Consett on off-road surfaces. So nice not to worry about traffic. Then onto the Waverly Way. Out on the moors now...amazing views, but the headwind kicks in. Tough, but very beautiful. Cup of tea and apple pie at Parkhead Station made it all worthwhile. Climbing now over the Pennines through Rookhope and Allenheads and then the final, horrible push over Black Hill, the highest point on the C2C. Really hard work, made harder by the smug grins of people HURTLING in the other direction with the tailwind. We have a horrific headwind at this point, we're both shattered when we fly down into Nenthead and very happy to find our lovely B&B, Avesgarth. Suprisingly wonderful dinner at the lovely Overwater Inn with two other cyclists in our B&B, one of whom knows Cav! Very exciting.
The Pennines in the sunshine
Linzgarth Arch in the middle of nowhere
Sunday, grey skies and drizzle as we slog up a nasty hill out of Nenthead towards Garrigill. Steep climb up to the Hartside road and then a wonderful few miles of gentle climbing up to Hartside. Cakes at the top. Hmm...a theme develops. On the other side of Hartside, the sun is shining and it's glorious all day now. FANTASTIC hurtle down the other side of Hartside - we see about 150 cyclists in the next few hours all slogging up the other side. Our turn to be smug.Idyllic cycling all day. Lunch is Fish and Chips in Penrith, and then we have a lovely couple of hours heading into the Lakes. We spend the night in Keswick at another top B&B. I get a bit sloshed on some very syrupy rose wine. Doesn't take much.
Me and Liesl at the top of Hartside
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The view from Hartside
Monday...it's raining. Initially not a problem until we start the Whinlatter pass climb. Horrid. Very steep, gravelly, never ending. My full english gets a bit close to coming back up again. Nice!! Eventually at the top but wind and rain really nasty now!! A pleasant pootle through the lanes and villages on the other side, but clouds very low so we don't get to see much beautiful countryside. The final climb is horrid - wind and rain lashing our faces, we're cold and a bit miserable. It's lonely up on the moors. However we're eventually on the old railway line enjoying the final 11 miles downhill to Whitehaven. Ugly town, nasty day but we're really really proud of ourselves when we get there!!
A great trip - we really enjoyed it. Much tougher than we'd expected. I don't think we'd been cocky and assumed it would be a breeze but we definitely underestimated it and it hurt more than we'd anticipated. Great sense of achievement though, I'd hugely recommend it!! Great weekend.
SO nice to be touring again.
Please can I clarify that despite the cake intake, I am not fat, nor do I usually look like I swallowed a beachball!
Firstly...yes...we had three days of headwind. Tough actually and at times, quite disspiriting. But the ease of getting the bikes on the train home (having seen about 150 cyclists going in the opposite direction) made it all worthwhile.Can't imagine the carnage on the platforms as they all try to get on one train!
We sat off from Newcastle on Saturday morning. Lovely day. Gorgeous first 16 or so miles to Consett on off-road surfaces. So nice not to worry about traffic. Then onto the Waverly Way. Out on the moors now...amazing views, but the headwind kicks in. Tough, but very beautiful. Cup of tea and apple pie at Parkhead Station made it all worthwhile. Climbing now over the Pennines through Rookhope and Allenheads and then the final, horrible push over Black Hill, the highest point on the C2C. Really hard work, made harder by the smug grins of people HURTLING in the other direction with the tailwind. We have a horrific headwind at this point, we're both shattered when we fly down into Nenthead and very happy to find our lovely B&B, Avesgarth. Suprisingly wonderful dinner at the lovely Overwater Inn with two other cyclists in our B&B, one of whom knows Cav! Very exciting.
The Pennines in the sunshine
Linzgarth Arch in the middle of nowhere
Sunday, grey skies and drizzle as we slog up a nasty hill out of Nenthead towards Garrigill. Steep climb up to the Hartside road and then a wonderful few miles of gentle climbing up to Hartside. Cakes at the top. Hmm...a theme develops. On the other side of Hartside, the sun is shining and it's glorious all day now. FANTASTIC hurtle down the other side of Hartside - we see about 150 cyclists in the next few hours all slogging up the other side. Our turn to be smug.Idyllic cycling all day. Lunch is Fish and Chips in Penrith, and then we have a lovely couple of hours heading into the Lakes. We spend the night in Keswick at another top B&B. I get a bit sloshed on some very syrupy rose wine. Doesn't take much.
Me and Liesl at the top of Hartside
http://
The view from Hartside
Monday...it's raining. Initially not a problem until we start the Whinlatter pass climb. Horrid. Very steep, gravelly, never ending. My full english gets a bit close to coming back up again. Nice!! Eventually at the top but wind and rain really nasty now!! A pleasant pootle through the lanes and villages on the other side, but clouds very low so we don't get to see much beautiful countryside. The final climb is horrid - wind and rain lashing our faces, we're cold and a bit miserable. It's lonely up on the moors. However we're eventually on the old railway line enjoying the final 11 miles downhill to Whitehaven. Ugly town, nasty day but we're really really proud of ourselves when we get there!!
A great trip - we really enjoyed it. Much tougher than we'd expected. I don't think we'd been cocky and assumed it would be a breeze but we definitely underestimated it and it hurt more than we'd anticipated. Great sense of achievement though, I'd hugely recommend it!! Great weekend.
SO nice to be touring again.
Please can I clarify that despite the cake intake, I am not fat, nor do I usually look like I swallowed a beachball!