Coast to Coast - Whitehaven to Newcastle

[Lpoolck]

@theloafer map arrived today! Thank you again, very generous. It will save me from a fair few wrong turns and help me plan our stops better.

 

[theloafer]

@theloafer map arrived today! Thank you again, very generous. It will save me from a fair few wrong turns and help me plan our stops better.

any thing to help also this is a nice tea stop before you start the ascent of hartside http://www.organicmill.co.uk/tearoom

 

[Deleted member 23692]

I can only comment on the Cumbrian section

Day 1 - The off-road section below Hartside is best avoided unless you want to push your bike. Stick to the road. It's a bit longer but a gentler gradient and overall it's usually quicker up to Hartside Cafe

Day 2 - Alston to Garrigill: you've got this mapped as following the Pennine way (Public Footpath) on which you have no legal right to cycle, and if you want to be an 'outlaw' you'll be hoiking your bike over all the stiles along that riverside path. Taking the A689 out of Alston and going straight to Nenthead is your best bet OR the B6277 and thne minor road to Garrigill. The off road section out of Nenthead might be worth rethinking too

 

[Deleted member 23692]

Also on Day 1 the section you've got mapped along the A686 between Penrith and Langthwathby is not the best road to cycle on. A better (AKA Safer and quieter) route would be the minor roads paralleling the A686 to the north and coming back onto the 686 nearer the Eden to cross the bridge at Langthwathby.

 

[DefBref]

I can only comment on the Cumbrian section

Day 1 - The off-road section below Hartside is best avoided unless you want to push your bike. Stick to the road. It's a bit longer but a gentler gradient and overall it's usually quicker up to Hartside Cafe

+1 unless your on a mountain bike you will need to push and even on a mountain bike you may need to push!!
Its between about 104 and 106 km on OPs route, as Ffoeg says just stick to the road at that point instead of going off road.

 

[Lpoolck]

ant thing to help also this is a nice tea stop before you start the ascent of hartside http://www.organicmill.co.uk/tearoom

Cheers mate. Put it on me itinerary!

I can only comment on the Cumbrian section

Day 1 - The off-road section below Hartside is best avoided unless you want to push your bike. Stick to the road. It's a bit longer but a gentler gradient and overall it's usually quicker up to Hartside Cafe

Day 2 - Alston to Garrigill: you've got this mapped as following the Pennine way (Public Footpath) on which you have no legal right to cycle, and if you want to be an 'outlaw' you'll be hoiking your bike over all the stiles along that riverside path. Taking the A689 out of Alston and going straight to Nenthead is your best bet OR the B6277 and thne minor road to Garrigill. The off road section out of Nenthead might be worth rethinking too

Thanks for the tips. Will do. The reason I went down that route in Alston is because the planner I was on said it was an off route cycle way. I will remap using the A689. Hopefully this road is fairly quiet.

Why would you not recommend the off road road out of Nenthead?

+1 unless your on a mountain bike you will need to push and even on a mountain bike you may need to push!!
Its between about 104 and 106 km on OPs route, as Ffoeg says just stick to the road at that point instead of going off road.

I am on a mountain bike

 

[Lpoolck]

Also on Day 1 the section you've got mapped along the A686 between Penrith and Langthwathby is not the best road to cycle on. A better (AKA Safer and quieter) route would be the minor roads paralleling the A686 to the north and coming back onto the 686 nearer the Eden to cross the bridge at Langthwathby.

Thanks again for the tip, to clarify would that be using the Stagstone Road?

 

[Deleted member 23692]

The reason I went down that route in Alston is because the planner I was on said it was an off route cycle way.

That's the problem with 'non offical' maps, especially ones that use crowd sourced date like OSM And OCM.... no-one ever verifies the data against the definitive map or list of streets,

Why would you not recommend the off road road out of Nenthead?

Last time I was up there it wasn't in to good a state... but that was in a HiLux It was a while back so others might have a more recent opinion

 

[Deleted member 23692]

Thanks again for the tip, to clarify would that be using the Stagstone Road?

Yeah...
Beacon edge -> Stagstone Road -> Left onto B6412 -> right onto minor road back to A686

 

[Deleted member 23692]

Oh.... an there's a super cafe on the right just as you're going into Little Salkeld (The WaterMill)

 

[Lpoolck]

Yeah...
Beacon edge -> Stagstone Road -> Left onto B6412 -> right onto minor road back to A686

Thanks for your knowledge, it is really invaluable.

Oh.... an there's a super cafe on the right just as you're going into Little Salkeld (The WaterMill)

theloafer also just recommended this cafe so it's already down to visit. I only really now need somewhere to stop now 20 miles into Day one. However any other great stops for some nice grub will be seriously considered!!

 

[DefBref]

Not much places to stop 20 miles in, kikrkstile inn is where we often stop when on that route.

 

[Deleted member 23692]

I can recommend the Kirkstile Inn just past the SE end of Loweswater where your route takes a hard left (Around 30km on your map) . It's a tiny bit off your route but it's a lovely spot for a stop

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Kirkstile Inn/@54.576159,-3.329935,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x487cd1ef28fc6903:0x1725e07702a7d8d9

 

[Deleted member 23692]

Not much places to stop 20 miles in, kikrkstile inn is where we often stop when on that route.

Great minds eh?

 

[Lpoolck]

Thanks to you both! A little off route but if theres nothing else then so be it. Plus they do sticky toffee pudding so got to be worth the extra miles for that!!