Coast to Coast ride, 24 July 2020

On Friday 24 July, at just before 8am, i set off on my coast to coast route from Whitehaven to Sunderland. The weather was supposed to be kind, a lovely sunny day with a bit of a tail wind. However on the drive across the A66 at 5am, the fog descended and I was really starting to regret my lack of layers!

The ride started really well. I was conscious not to go off too quickly, but the winding cycle paths out of Whitehaven were a natural brake. Soon enough I was into 'proper' countryside and it was stunning. So remote that I came across 5 cows on one of the roads, and had to navigate my way past them, very, very slowly.

I reached Keswick in a little under 2 hours, before wasting time trying to find the C2C route that was shut for repair works. The stretch between Keswick and my first pitstop was lovely, but infuriatingly the farmer had put gates every 400m which stopped any momentum. 

What I was most anxious about was my nutrition and making sure I had enough supplies. It turns out I didnt, and needed my ‘support dad’ to go to the shops. Nevertheless, banana bread, flapjack, Soreen, fruit bread, bananas and anything else available served me well.

I had been warned about Hartside Pass as being a challenge, but it was actually pretty enjoyable. The real challenge were the following two 'peaks' on the route: shorter, but certainly steeper. At this point the sun well and truly came out too!

The whole route had been really well sign-posted, until it wasn't. The route wanted to take me up a vertical gravel hill, which my legs or my road bike wouldn't have appreciated, so I carried on and expected there to be a left turn. There wasn't. I ended up taking a 20km detour, which actually passed less than a mile from my house. It took a lot of determination not to pop home for a cuppa! 

Anyway, the whole ride took me 9.5 hours, and I averaged about 25km/hour. It was, without a doubt, the most fun I've ever had on my bike, and I loved it. When I first started with Tim and Catenary, I didnt particularly enjoy cycling, but now and after my C2C endeavour, I think I'm converted! I certainly enjoyed my glass of wine afterwards!

Sarah Nicola