Trumpettom001
Well-Known Member
Soo - what with a couple bits of advice from the guys here, I decided to do the TPT this year - The route that I took encompassed 233 miles in 4 days of riding - Including all of my camping stuff. Altogether, my bike weighed around 25-30 kilos - I never did an accurate weight check.. Unfortunately, the only tent we own is a 2 person job - weighs 3.3kg.. and is a bit awkward to carry... However it was much appreciated at night - I had somewhere to put the bike at night, so that it wouldn't get too wet....
So - on the first day, up at 6am - the first day I'd been up before the sun had risen this year, and indeed last year, I had a brekfast of porridge with porridge and dates and general energy food, then it was off to the train station, where I caught the first of 3 trains, plus one walking stage, just to get to Southport. (I met a guy on the last train, who was intending on doing the entire thing (215 miles) in 20-25 hours - hope he made it!!).... So the first day was pretty uneventful, rode 50ish miles, ate alot, got to the campsite, Holly Bank, which I'm afraid I don't reccommend. I hadn't reserved a spot, as when I called up on the phone, I was told to "just turn up as we've got loads of space". Fair enough, but it was raining when I arrived, and the shop/reception was closed, so after a fairly lengthy leg of trying to get ahold of the warden via mobile, I was given vague directions as to where to go and pitch the tent, and they'd "come and find me in the morning".... (the pitch site itself was pretty dire in all honesty - It was right next to the main road, and right at the bottom of a hill, so had a fair amount of water in the grass..)..
Anyway, after having arisen the next morning by a bit of an interuppted sleep, I headed to the shop to go give them money, so that I could be off....still closed..... decided to make more food to eat.... and the shop finally opened at 11:30... so that I could give them the extortionate £13 for a night of soggy tent-ness.... I will point out that the shower facilities are fairly well kept, the water is hot, and showers are free.
Now glad to be away, I set off on what was definately the longest leg of the journey - 70 miles in 8hours 30 mins, which included 4000 feet of climbing, 2000ft of which was pushing the bike up the hill, in the pitch black. Of course - you are rewarded for you climbing, so had 30 miles of constant downhill with a tailwind, so the next 30 miles literally flew by! I really enjoy night riding, especially if it's off road, and there are no cars to worry about. After having climbed a 50degree, 50 ft bank, using tree roots as steps/footholds, I managed to get back onto the main road from the trail itself, so that I could commence the 3 mile hop to the campsite from the trail... This next campsite was much better - although a little confusing as to where to go if you arrive in the pitch black... However, all the other camping families were really quiet, the field was dry, and sheltered - the only drawback was that there was a rule - No Campfires. Bit of a shame, as I had intended to cook a large dinner, and instead had to eat a packed of peanuts and halva for dinner and brekfast the next morning. Only other gripe was that you had to pay 20p to use the showers - I was hoping to shower in the evening, but no-one was awake to exchange the coins for somthing that would work in the shower...
However - the owners were very friendly, and charged me a very reasonable £5 for the night... and were very prompt at finding my tent so that I could pay them, and leave fairly sharpish..
Third day's cycling was excellent - after all the excitement of the hills yesterday, I was very glad to be riding along flat ground for the next few days. After about 3 hours in the saddle, I decided to stop at "The Threeways Cafe" - A cafe specifically for cyclists and walkers - which I very highly reccommend. I ordered a pot of tea for two, and a helping of beans on toast which was a very reasonable £3.75 all in, especially considering both the prompt service and the size of the tea/meal. This cafe also offers camping at £3.50 per person if I remember correctly, and is situated directly upon the trail, so it is very quiet. They also have a WiFi connection - which was handy as my phone died, and I did have to keep in contact with people really.... Moving on, I found myself still riding about an hour before the sun set, over disused airfields, bathed in golden, warming sunshine casting long shadows off to my right, with a breeze keeping me cool, but still giving me a bit of a push - the wind was blowing at about 45 degress difference to the direction I was travelling - pretty much perfect for me!. I arrived at the campsite about half an hour before the sun dissapearred. This third campsite was by far the best - the guys were really friendly - gave me free wood, and good steel plates to build a fire on. After the last few days I was pretty hungry now, so cooked myself an absolutely massive portion of soup, with protein chunks, with cheese and bread - really welcome after a long day in the saddle. Apart from the proximity to the main road - this campsite really can't be faulted - and for a very reasonable £5 per night, you can't sniff at the price either!
Fourth day - I woke up shivering, at about 5am.. put another couple layers on and tried to go back to sleep, to no avail.... went outside to start the fire to make tea, and found a layer of ice on the outside of my tent... I suppose it must just cool down much quicker in the countryside, where you don't have buildings packed close to act as giant heatsinks... - anyway, after a couple pans of porridge, and a few cups of tea - I set off to do the last 45 miles to Hull. (I tell a lie when I say I rode the Trans pennine trail - I actually rode from Southport to Hull, with the finish of the trail being another 15 miles away - however - that would hve meant another 30 miles, as I really couldn't afford another day off...) So yes - arrived at the train station with 4 hours to spare, so rode round hull for a bit, bought some dinner at tesco, and then boarded the 1925 to leam - arrived at leam 5 hours later.
Having just re-read the first day's account - It seems a little negative - however, I'd like to point out that I thoroughly enjoyed the time away - I'm now planning a slightly longer trail somewhere I think.
Full statistics:
Day 1
Max Speed - 25.4 M/h
Distance - 50.4 miles
Moving Average - 11.2 M/h
Moving time - 4HR 17 Min
Door to door speed, 9.3M/h
Day 2
Max Speed - 31.9 M/h (good fun when there's no street lighting)
Dist 73 Miles
Moving Average - 8.5
Mov Time 8Hr 31 Min
Door to Door 6.6M/h - (lots of this day was walking up hills)
Total Ascent 4032 feet
Day 3
Dist 58.1 Miles
Moving Average 12.3 M/h
Mov Time 5Hr 36Min
Tot ascent 1400 ft
Tot Desc 1500 Feet
Max Speed 24.5
Day 4
Max 25.4 M/h
Dist 44.3 Miles
Mov Time 4Hr 23 Min
Mov Ave 10.1 M/h
Door to Door 8.3 M/h
So - on the first day, up at 6am - the first day I'd been up before the sun had risen this year, and indeed last year, I had a brekfast of porridge with porridge and dates and general energy food, then it was off to the train station, where I caught the first of 3 trains, plus one walking stage, just to get to Southport. (I met a guy on the last train, who was intending on doing the entire thing (215 miles) in 20-25 hours - hope he made it!!).... So the first day was pretty uneventful, rode 50ish miles, ate alot, got to the campsite, Holly Bank, which I'm afraid I don't reccommend. I hadn't reserved a spot, as when I called up on the phone, I was told to "just turn up as we've got loads of space". Fair enough, but it was raining when I arrived, and the shop/reception was closed, so after a fairly lengthy leg of trying to get ahold of the warden via mobile, I was given vague directions as to where to go and pitch the tent, and they'd "come and find me in the morning".... (the pitch site itself was pretty dire in all honesty - It was right next to the main road, and right at the bottom of a hill, so had a fair amount of water in the grass..)..
Anyway, after having arisen the next morning by a bit of an interuppted sleep, I headed to the shop to go give them money, so that I could be off....still closed..... decided to make more food to eat.... and the shop finally opened at 11:30... so that I could give them the extortionate £13 for a night of soggy tent-ness.... I will point out that the shower facilities are fairly well kept, the water is hot, and showers are free.
Now glad to be away, I set off on what was definately the longest leg of the journey - 70 miles in 8hours 30 mins, which included 4000 feet of climbing, 2000ft of which was pushing the bike up the hill, in the pitch black. Of course - you are rewarded for you climbing, so had 30 miles of constant downhill with a tailwind, so the next 30 miles literally flew by! I really enjoy night riding, especially if it's off road, and there are no cars to worry about. After having climbed a 50degree, 50 ft bank, using tree roots as steps/footholds, I managed to get back onto the main road from the trail itself, so that I could commence the 3 mile hop to the campsite from the trail... This next campsite was much better - although a little confusing as to where to go if you arrive in the pitch black... However, all the other camping families were really quiet, the field was dry, and sheltered - the only drawback was that there was a rule - No Campfires. Bit of a shame, as I had intended to cook a large dinner, and instead had to eat a packed of peanuts and halva for dinner and brekfast the next morning. Only other gripe was that you had to pay 20p to use the showers - I was hoping to shower in the evening, but no-one was awake to exchange the coins for somthing that would work in the shower...
However - the owners were very friendly, and charged me a very reasonable £5 for the night... and were very prompt at finding my tent so that I could pay them, and leave fairly sharpish..
Third day's cycling was excellent - after all the excitement of the hills yesterday, I was very glad to be riding along flat ground for the next few days. After about 3 hours in the saddle, I decided to stop at "The Threeways Cafe" - A cafe specifically for cyclists and walkers - which I very highly reccommend. I ordered a pot of tea for two, and a helping of beans on toast which was a very reasonable £3.75 all in, especially considering both the prompt service and the size of the tea/meal. This cafe also offers camping at £3.50 per person if I remember correctly, and is situated directly upon the trail, so it is very quiet. They also have a WiFi connection - which was handy as my phone died, and I did have to keep in contact with people really.... Moving on, I found myself still riding about an hour before the sun set, over disused airfields, bathed in golden, warming sunshine casting long shadows off to my right, with a breeze keeping me cool, but still giving me a bit of a push - the wind was blowing at about 45 degress difference to the direction I was travelling - pretty much perfect for me!. I arrived at the campsite about half an hour before the sun dissapearred. This third campsite was by far the best - the guys were really friendly - gave me free wood, and good steel plates to build a fire on. After the last few days I was pretty hungry now, so cooked myself an absolutely massive portion of soup, with protein chunks, with cheese and bread - really welcome after a long day in the saddle. Apart from the proximity to the main road - this campsite really can't be faulted - and for a very reasonable £5 per night, you can't sniff at the price either!
Fourth day - I woke up shivering, at about 5am.. put another couple layers on and tried to go back to sleep, to no avail.... went outside to start the fire to make tea, and found a layer of ice on the outside of my tent... I suppose it must just cool down much quicker in the countryside, where you don't have buildings packed close to act as giant heatsinks... - anyway, after a couple pans of porridge, and a few cups of tea - I set off to do the last 45 miles to Hull. (I tell a lie when I say I rode the Trans pennine trail - I actually rode from Southport to Hull, with the finish of the trail being another 15 miles away - however - that would hve meant another 30 miles, as I really couldn't afford another day off...) So yes - arrived at the train station with 4 hours to spare, so rode round hull for a bit, bought some dinner at tesco, and then boarded the 1925 to leam - arrived at leam 5 hours later.
Having just re-read the first day's account - It seems a little negative - however, I'd like to point out that I thoroughly enjoyed the time away - I'm now planning a slightly longer trail somewhere I think.
Full statistics:
Day 1
Max Speed - 25.4 M/h
Distance - 50.4 miles
Moving Average - 11.2 M/h
Moving time - 4HR 17 Min
Door to door speed, 9.3M/h
Day 2
Max Speed - 31.9 M/h (good fun when there's no street lighting)
Dist 73 Miles
Moving Average - 8.5
Mov Time 8Hr 31 Min
Door to Door 6.6M/h - (lots of this day was walking up hills)
Total Ascent 4032 feet
Day 3
Dist 58.1 Miles
Moving Average 12.3 M/h
Mov Time 5Hr 36Min
Tot ascent 1400 ft
Tot Desc 1500 Feet
Max Speed 24.5
Day 4
Max 25.4 M/h
Dist 44.3 Miles
Mov Time 4Hr 23 Min
Mov Ave 10.1 M/h
Door to Door 8.3 M/h
