Hi all,
just thought I'd pop in to give some encouragement to anyone giving the C2C cycle route a go.
I'm not exactly the fittest of people, but in July last year, to mark the first anniversary of my Mum's death from cancer and to raise money for Cancer Research, I ran the C2C route from Whitehaven to Sunderland over five days - and if I can do it on two little legs, you can definitely do it on two wheels. My Dad (age 64, and never having cycled much) cycled the route with me as 'support vehicle' - a really positive and quite emotional journey for the two of us, being met at the end of each day by my wife and my baby son, who my Mum had known was on the way, but just missed out on meeting. I was determined not to walk a single step, and after a long, hard five days, managed to keep my promise to myself.
The worst was day three, I think, with Hartside (slow and steady, not too bad) early in the day and then the b*stard road from Garrigill to Nenthead in driving rain and storm conditions as dusk was settling in, at the end of a very long 29 miles. Crawleyside was also tough, but the truth is that we are tougher than any of those bloody hills if we put our minds to it.
Seeing the Angel of the North, then the Stadium of Light, and then finally Sunderland seafront on that final day (a year to the day since we lost Mum), was an extraordinary experience.
Good luck to all of you who are taking the C2C challenge, and when the climbs feel tough, think of an overweight 34-year-old plodding his way up there on two legs.
just thought I'd pop in to give some encouragement to anyone giving the C2C cycle route a go.
I'm not exactly the fittest of people, but in July last year, to mark the first anniversary of my Mum's death from cancer and to raise money for Cancer Research, I ran the C2C route from Whitehaven to Sunderland over five days - and if I can do it on two little legs, you can definitely do it on two wheels. My Dad (age 64, and never having cycled much) cycled the route with me as 'support vehicle' - a really positive and quite emotional journey for the two of us, being met at the end of each day by my wife and my baby son, who my Mum had known was on the way, but just missed out on meeting. I was determined not to walk a single step, and after a long, hard five days, managed to keep my promise to myself.
The worst was day three, I think, with Hartside (slow and steady, not too bad) early in the day and then the b*stard road from Garrigill to Nenthead in driving rain and storm conditions as dusk was settling in, at the end of a very long 29 miles. Crawleyside was also tough, but the truth is that we are tougher than any of those bloody hills if we put our minds to it.
Seeing the Angel of the North, then the Stadium of Light, and then finally Sunderland seafront on that final day (a year to the day since we lost Mum), was an extraordinary experience.
Good luck to all of you who are taking the C2C challenge, and when the climbs feel tough, think of an overweight 34-year-old plodding his way up there on two legs.
