vernon
Harder than Ronnie Pickering
- Location
- Meanwood, Leeds
I'm back from a very nice ride along the Coast and Castles Route along NCN1. I caught the train up to Edinburgh on Monday and set off from Waverley Station mid afternoon. Leaving Edinburgh was a pleasant experience and very quickly I found myself on the track bed of a long abandoned railway line. Much of the route for the first eighteen miles or so were flat on account of them following railway routes but the sting in the tail for the first day's riding was the climb through the Moorfoot Hills. I was flagging a bit until a cyclist pulled alongside me on the final climb before Innerleithen and engaged me in conversation. I was gob smacked to find that he commuted between Innerleithen and Edinburgh three times a week despite the climbs. I really appreciated the tow and he pulled clear on the long descent into Innerleithen. There's a nice modestly priced camp site at Innerleithen and I had a nice chat with some Dutch cyclists who were taking a leisurely ride back towards the ferry terminal at Newcastle having spent three weeks cycling and walking in Scotland.
Day two promised to be flatter in that there hills were not as high but there were more of them. The gradient profiles on the Sustrans maps understate the challenge of the route. The physical challenge was more than compensated for by the abundance of roadside wild raspberries and the stunning scenery. I had a long chat with a local pensioner in Kelso who was convinced that the country was going to the dogs and regaled me with tales of life in the Air Force in the sixties and seventies while in Africa - he deployed at least four different accents during his 'performance' and could probably earn a crust as a wit and racconteur. I ended the day at Coldstream where I found that the camp site marked on the Sustrans map and, indeed the 2009 Philips' road atlas, closed several years ago. I wild camped just outside the village and enjoyed watching the sun go down as I drained a can of cider bought in the village.
Day three was a less demanding ride and I stopped for a coffee break in Berwick on Tweed. The day was warm and sultry with no sign of the sun until much later in the day. Progress towards bamburgh was hampered by my inability to pass laden wild cherry tries without stopping to sample the fruits. They all were nice with little bitterness and some exceptional sweetness with some of the trees. The coastal paths were cyclable and I chose not to cycle over the causeway to Holy Island as I wanted to press on. The mugginess of the air caught up with me and I stopped for a snooze on a bench just outside of Fenwick. I woke just in time to see a walker that I'd overtaken five miles earlier catch up with me. Rejuvenated by the kip Bamburgh and its stunning castle was soon reached. I restocked with jelly babies and cycled on to Seahouses where I had fish and chips and a long conversation with a local who was upset that his dog had become pregnant. His mates were ribbing him mercilessly about the fact that he was less upset about his daughter becoming pregnant out of wedlock. I was now firmly in the north east of England where the accent has a melodic overtone and a bit of auditory retuning was needed for full comprehension. I spent the final night out as the Camping and Caravan Club's campsite at Dunstan but not before I'd had a couple of bottles of 'Broon' drank out of a schooner. At this point I received a texted invite to a get together in Darlington so my touring plans were rapidly redrawn to terminate in Newcastle the following day.
Day four. A nice start to the day, a sea fret obscured the sun until lunch time but visibility improved steadily as the morning progressed. A Dutch couple at the camp site were philisophical about the weather have only sampled four days of sunshine out of three weeks of touring. I was glad that their final week was a pleasant one. The coastal route was very pleasnat and well sign posted until the approaches to Ashington. Some dead reckoning kept me more or less on route through the edge of Ashington and the edge of Blyth. I stuck to the Sustrans route untilTynemouth where I took to the A193 and headed for Newcastle Station and train to Darlington.
All in all I'd recommend the Coast and Castles route to someone who had already done a C2C, W2W or similar. It's a tad more challenging through its hilly nature at the Edinburgh End. I'm back a day or so earlier than anticipated but everything has been washed, cleaned or serviced and the panniers are packed for the next mini tour when I get back from Crete in two and a half week's time.
Day two promised to be flatter in that there hills were not as high but there were more of them. The gradient profiles on the Sustrans maps understate the challenge of the route. The physical challenge was more than compensated for by the abundance of roadside wild raspberries and the stunning scenery. I had a long chat with a local pensioner in Kelso who was convinced that the country was going to the dogs and regaled me with tales of life in the Air Force in the sixties and seventies while in Africa - he deployed at least four different accents during his 'performance' and could probably earn a crust as a wit and racconteur. I ended the day at Coldstream where I found that the camp site marked on the Sustrans map and, indeed the 2009 Philips' road atlas, closed several years ago. I wild camped just outside the village and enjoyed watching the sun go down as I drained a can of cider bought in the village.
Day three was a less demanding ride and I stopped for a coffee break in Berwick on Tweed. The day was warm and sultry with no sign of the sun until much later in the day. Progress towards bamburgh was hampered by my inability to pass laden wild cherry tries without stopping to sample the fruits. They all were nice with little bitterness and some exceptional sweetness with some of the trees. The coastal paths were cyclable and I chose not to cycle over the causeway to Holy Island as I wanted to press on. The mugginess of the air caught up with me and I stopped for a snooze on a bench just outside of Fenwick. I woke just in time to see a walker that I'd overtaken five miles earlier catch up with me. Rejuvenated by the kip Bamburgh and its stunning castle was soon reached. I restocked with jelly babies and cycled on to Seahouses where I had fish and chips and a long conversation with a local who was upset that his dog had become pregnant. His mates were ribbing him mercilessly about the fact that he was less upset about his daughter becoming pregnant out of wedlock. I was now firmly in the north east of England where the accent has a melodic overtone and a bit of auditory retuning was needed for full comprehension. I spent the final night out as the Camping and Caravan Club's campsite at Dunstan but not before I'd had a couple of bottles of 'Broon' drank out of a schooner. At this point I received a texted invite to a get together in Darlington so my touring plans were rapidly redrawn to terminate in Newcastle the following day.
Day four. A nice start to the day, a sea fret obscured the sun until lunch time but visibility improved steadily as the morning progressed. A Dutch couple at the camp site were philisophical about the weather have only sampled four days of sunshine out of three weeks of touring. I was glad that their final week was a pleasant one. The coastal route was very pleasnat and well sign posted until the approaches to Ashington. Some dead reckoning kept me more or less on route through the edge of Ashington and the edge of Blyth. I stuck to the Sustrans route untilTynemouth where I took to the A193 and headed for Newcastle Station and train to Darlington.
All in all I'd recommend the Coast and Castles route to someone who had already done a C2C, W2W or similar. It's a tad more challenging through its hilly nature at the Edinburgh End. I'm back a day or so earlier than anticipated but everything has been washed, cleaned or serviced and the panniers are packed for the next mini tour when I get back from Crete in two and a half week's time.
