DAY ONE
Saturday 8th June 1996
Dovenby - Workington - Cockermouth - Dovenby
Miles Travelled
Start Mileage on Cycle Computer 514.9
ODO = 552 miles
MXS =
AVS =
DST = 38
TM =
First day a warm up ride to get us to the start of the C2C at
Workington, very nice ride to Workington, find start point - then
the fun starts!!! No route signs, no cycle path!! Very
poor indeed - first we cross a very narrow footbridge beside the
railway line JUST enough room for the Tandem(if we had been fully
loaded for touring it would have been an extremely tight fit!!!)we
then walked for the next 1.25 miles due to very poor surface eventually
got back onto a road after a nasty style. We hope the cycle route
will improve or we are in for a difficult holiday!!! Ah well we
are at least cycling now, its a fairly steepish hill up to Seaton
where we find a cycle way along a disused railway line - this
is more like it. Then, Blast! it ends very abruptly after 3 or
4 miles and were taken back the way we had been travelling down
a rough track to re-join the road. We are loosing faith in Sustrans
routing. Continue on our way to Cockermouth got our map stamped(Sustrans
sell a map of the route with various check points where the map
can be stamped once all stamps collected, it can be sent away
for a T-shirt) we also had lunch off main street under an archway
towards supermarket Sally had home-made quiche with EVERTHING
in it, plus salad, mint, couscous, melon & grapes excellent
value, Chris had a baked potato with bacon, garlic mushroom and
sautéed onion filling all washed down with a GOOD strong
cup of tea, very, very tasty, nice place to stop. Feeling proud
of ourselves well we had done 20 miles! We had two enormous ice-creams
to follow the above meal. Guilt now set in so we decided to reconnoitre
some of our route for to-morrow. Took the C2C out to-wards Wythop
Mill and decided that we were NOT going to take Sustrans farm
track route(not on a fully loaded Tandem), continue to the head
of Bassenthwaite Lake and then back down the other side of the
valley to Cockermouth and Dovenby, really good ride, nice start
to the Holiday. The real fun starts to-morrow.
The Meal
No meal report as we ate en-famile and forgot to write it up.
DAY TWO
Sunday 9th June 1996
Dovenby - Penrith
Miles Travelled
ODO = 588 miles
MXS = 31.6 mph
AVS = 8.6 mph
DST = 35.98 mph
+ 3 or 4 miles cycle computer not turned on!!
TM = 4 hrs 8 mins
Loaded up the bike, bade farewell to everyone and off we jolly
well go by 10 A.M. OK to Cockermouth then the up-hill drag starts!
What a difference the luggage makes. After 5 miles Bill and the
boys catch up with us, we had forgotten the bike lock! Farewells
made once more and off we go, pleasant ride to the head of Bassenthwaite
Lake where we join the A66, continue along lakeside until we turn
off onto the old road and re-join the C2C route, nice ride into
Keswick along very pretty quiet undulating country lanes. Loads
of walkers, stop in Keswick to buy lunch - sarnies and meat pies
which we enjoyed in the park. Decide not to take the old coach
road(not tandem country) so we took the old railway line to Therelkeld
WARNING 99% of this route is great BUT where it
passes under the A66 it was very hairy with the Tandem, very,
very steep incline with loose surface then a descent down rough
steeps to river - HARD GOING!!! Lots of stops to adjust for running
with luggage, road is up and down, long slog to Troutbeck getting
bored with gaining height and then loosing it just to stay off
main road, so once more part company with C2C and do a couple
of mile along the A66. Pleasant few miles to Greystoke, hills
kinder to us Opt for more direct route to Penrith rather than
C2C which goes on a wiggley route. Arrive Penrith 5 P.M. look
for accommodation at Tourist Information Centre, walk through
town to see what is available and find the George Hotel opt to
stay here and yes they have a room tuck the tandem up for the
night in the porters lodge, go to room, dump our luggage and go
for a really welcome cup of strong tea, then back to room wash
our smalls and ourselves(shower in room 25 very good) having refreshed
the outer and the inner man we go off for a wander around the
town and find somewhere to eat the Hotel's fare looks a bit stodgy.
Find a nice pub for our end of day largers and start writing up
the diary.
Meal
Not sure what we wanted to eat feeling a little picky so opted
for Italian, quite nice starters Sally had mixed Italian meats,
Chris had Calamris. Main course both plumped for house special
pizza so-so all washed down with a nice bottle of Orieveto, to
celebrate our first full day buy a half bottle of whisky then
back to room to relax with a nice stiff drink then bed.
DAY THREE
Monday 10th June 1996
Penrith to Allenheads
Miles Travelled
ODO = 620.1 miles
MXS = 21.1 mph
AVS = 7.3 mph
DST = 32.05 mph
TM = 4 hrs 20 mins
Started the day after a fairly ordinary breakfast. Weather looked
a bit "iffy" and by the time bike was ready for the
off it was raining so on with the flo-yellow lightweight jackets.
Horrible hill out of town just what one wants on a full tum!!
Eventually join the A686 which is surprisingly quiet, so after
studying the C2C official route at Langwathby decide to stay on
A686 to avoid cross country section especially the bit where it
says "you may have to carry your bike" carrying a loaded
tandem IS not a barrel of laughs(so its on yer bike with that
idea). Pleasant up and down route to Melmerby clouds look threatening
but rain holds off. From Melmerby its a solid slog up to Hartside
at 1903 feet (a climb of 1621 feet from Langwathby to Hartside)
feeling very proud of ourselves!! Had a very welcome lunch - bacon
buttie for Chris, beans on toast for Sally and a plate of chips
between the two of us. Very cold and windy on the summit by the
time we got to Alston after a 5 mile descent we were very cold.
Alston very pretty but oh those cobbles!!(on the derriere). Push
bike out of town. Then long hard slog to Nenthead suffering from
cold of long descent. At Nenthead got map stamped and meet group
going other way, compare notes and push on, very "ooo nasty"
hill out of Nenthead, legs very rubbery so it's suddenly a nice
day for a walk!!!! Once on the summit 1997 feet it's down, then
up again, no cars, no man made noise, just us and the bleak moors
- magic. One last long steepish descent into the green oasis of
Allenheads the highest village in Britain 1350 feet, book accommodation
at the pub 91 miles done only 49 to go.
Meal
Due to a coach load of old biddies restaurant was booked so had
to go for the bar menu. Sally had Chicken pie Chris had the Steak
pie - both excellent and plenty for two very hungry cyclists.
This is a very unique pub it has more memorabilia
then we have ever seen, the customers have a hard time getting
in, its so full of brass work, visit & enjoy especially the
Landlord Peter - he is a card!!!!
DAY FOUR
Tuesday 11th June 1996
Allenheads to Sunderland
Miles Travelled
ODO = 675.3 miles
MXS = 31.7 mph
AVS = 8.5 mph
DST = 55.2 mph
TM = 6 hrs 26 mins
Nice breakfast early start 9.30 A.M. cycle 400yards and its a horrendous hill just what we want after a GOOD breakfast, so decide to have a nice long walk to digest our breakfast rather than up chucking it!!! Weather again looks "iffy" temperature getting colder as we leave the valley, reach the top of the hill 1853 feet and bid farewell to the green oasis of Allenheads - cross the border into County Durham and then a long long gentle downhill to Rookhope on the advice of the cyclists we meet yesterday it's sod it to the Sustrans route, we head to Stanhope. At Stanhope we go up the most horrendous hill almost vertical - it's cold spitting rain our spirits are low especially Sally who is having a good grumble!!! Once over the top the road levels out across the moors, try to re-join the C2C official route which is on the old railway track "the Waskerly Way" the track is on the top of the hill and the wind is wicked (well outside the Tandem operating envelope) even on the road which is sheltered it's hard going with strong gusts of wind. Countryside is getting more pastoral and the ride gets more pleasant as the wind drops, the moors are left behind us, we head to-wards Rowley. Follow cycle path to Consett, here we had difficulty finding the C2C accreditation point. We have to go on the main road, barriers on cycle path are totally impassable on a Tandem, rejoin cycle path at Leadgate barriers here difficult but not impassable(luckily we are fit enough to lift loaded Tandem over them) All along the path there are various forms of sculpture all very interesting especially the "Serpents Tail" a large earth work which the cycle path snakes its way through, extremely good fun on a Tandem, Sally thought I did very well to navigate it safely. At Annfield Plain find a mobile café in a lay-by, very welcome mug of tea bacon buttie for Chris, Mars bar for Sally. Crack on to the Beamish Museum with idea of finding a B&B and visiting the museum, unfortunately we arrive at 3.20 P.M. museum closed at 3 P.M. Ah well the best laid plans of mice and men. So rejoin cycle path and head for Sunderland, now on the look out for accommodation, railway cycle paths are not the best of places for locating somewhere to stay, so we just keep going WARNING make sure you have a puncture repair kit we have never seen so much glass before on a path(we were lucky no punctures). Reach Sunderland quick reccy no hotels so cross the Wearmouth Bridge and find way to Roker. After a quick reccy all the Hotels seem to be in 500 yard stretch, decide to start at first and work our way along. Strike lucky first time - bog standard seaside guest house, book in park tandem in the function room and have EXTREMLY welcome end of day largers. Notice that the chefs special is Mince and Potato, decide to eat out!! Find a steak house down the road - only problem, it had run out of steaks passable meal nice bottle of South African wine, then a pleasant walk along the promenade, had a few drinks, dip our toes in the North Sea - We have done Sea to Sea now its onto the Wall.
DAY FIVE
Wednesday 12th June 1996
Roker(Sunderland) to Wylan(just off the wall)
Miles Travelled
ODO = 710.5 miles
MXS = 26.3 mph
AVS = 7.5 mph
DST = 35.25 mph
TM = 4 hrs 28 mins
Up and away to get last stamp for the C2C route which will entitle
us to a T-shirt so we can say "been there, done it, got the
T-shirt". Decide to capture the moment on film "sacre
blue" the camera is missing back to hotel to see if it is
in the room, no it isn't, eventually find it in the back pannier
- wrongly packed, short argument about who's fault it is - we
agree to disagree!!!!! Go back and take photo at end of route.
Then a pleasant ride along the coast to South Shields now battling
against a strong wind, which we have for the rest of the day,
cross the River Tyne on a passenger ferry then re-cross the Tyne
via foot/cycle tunnel, unable to fit tandem into the lift, so
a very nice man turns on the escalator especially for us!!
Blurb said this is the longest escalator in UK. A first for us
taking the tandem on an escalator, most exciting!. We now follow
the River Tyne up stream along paths of variable quality, surprising
amount of greenery, somehow we expected it to be all "dark
satanic mills" and back to backs(watching too much Catherine
Cookson on TV), the one thing we always travel with are our preconceptions,
well at least travel broadens the mind. Eventually reach Newcastle-on-Tyne
and its famous panorama of bridges we cross by the lowest the
swing bridge after having our photo taken in front of Toskers
boat(as seen in the BBC series "Our friends in the North")
Headed up hill to centre to buy a guide book and map of Hadrians
Wall. Have a very welcome MacD burger then off into the wind towards
the wall, very impressed by Newcastle City football ground it
was huge and cycled past the Newcastle Brown Brewery Ah the whiff
of legends. Navigation a bit fraught the map does not appear to
agree with the local topography however according to the compass
and locals we are going in the right direction as soon as we stop
somebody comes to our aid, with directions and if old they reminisce
about far off days courting on a Tandem, the place where Biker
Grove was filmed is pointed out to us, and increasingly bits of
the Wall(what's left of it) start to appear along our route. As
Newcastle is left behind we start looking for a B&B, NOTHING!!
Stop at a pub at Haddon-on-the-Wall they advise we detour to Wylam
which unfortunately is a few miles off our route and at the bottom
of the valley. The first place we try is full for weeks ahead,
we find an Italian restaurant that does B&B so here we rest
for the night. A very hard day lots of stops and starts with strong
head winds, surprisingly very light traffic all day except of
course for the city centre.
Meal
Chris started with Sardines grilled in garlic butter - V. nice.
Sally had Antipasto Italiano(cold meat salad pate etc. etc. etc.)
For the main course Chris had Sirloin steak in a tomato, anchovy,
olive and garlic sauce - OK but nothing to shout about, Sally
had Pork medallions in a tomato, sage and sweet sherry sauce -
again nice but not fantastic. For dessert Chris had a really nice
Tiramisu, Sally had a lemon Sorbet, all washed down with a really
nice bottle of Italian wine from the area the owner came from.
Had a good sleep - V. nice room.
DAY SIX
Thursday 13th June 1996
Wylan to Lanercost
Miles Travelled
ODO = 752.9 miles
MXS = 37.1 mph
AVS = 7.9 mph
DST = 42.32 mph
TM = 5 hrs 17 mins
Up and away and up the hill!! And that is how it was for the rest
of the day, long, long straight Roman road that just goes on forever,
little variation in the scenery once you have seen one bit of
wall you've seen the lot!. It was a long hard boring day, no decent
food stops, eventually found a pub after 2 PM had a very welcome
break - soup and bread, went down a treat!! Both feeling low until
food cuts in, countryside getting more mellow and interesting,
head for Brampton to find accommodation, nothing appeals, get
second wind, so carry on, find a nice looking B&B at Lanercost.
Beautiful location fabulous Abbey Church, which was knocked about
a bit by William Wallace aka Braveheart, the monks wrote a poem
to celebrate his demise. Very pleasant end to the day sitting
outside sipping our end of day largers on the old bridge with
the river burbling below us, worth the long day to be here.
Meal
Restaurant in adjacent posh shed. Chris started with a medley of 3 smoked fish - Halibut, Peppered Mackerel and Smoked Salmon - yummy. Sally started with Deep Fried Breaded Brie with Cumberland Sauce. To follow Chris had Fillet steak with mushrooms fried with garlic it was a huge fillet Sally had a rack of Lamb with mint sauce both accompanied with Cabbage/Carrots/Broccoli and lovely fluffy roast potatoes. All very nice Chris finished with a selection of cheeses so-so Sally had a Peach Brandy Meringue - V. Nice all washed down with a litre bottle of house white! Coffee and liqueurs to finish. Note breakfast was normal English breakfast but cafeteria coffee was excellent. - Best food on trip.
DAY SEVEN
Friday 14th June 1996
Lanercost to Skinburness
Miles Travelled
ODO = 803.1 miles
MXS = 33.6 mph
AVS = 9.3 mph
DST = 50.24 mph
TM = 5 hrs 04 mins
Started day in bright warm sunshine, countryside a delight quiet
roads and only one or two "ooo nasty" hills. We pushed
bike up a couple of hills, Chris had pain in his thigh, pulled
muscle? decided to play it safe and not put too much strain on
it. The countryside getting progressively flatter hills now only
a blue shadow over our shoulders. Arrive in Carlisle at approx.
midday had a pleasant walk through town, buy some scrummy baguettes
to eat later en-route. We thought the hills were at an end once
got to Carlisle, how naïve of us!! Even on the flat bits
one has to go over old railway bridges and dykes. Eventually get
onto the flood plain and follow the Solway Firth to Bowness-on-Soleway.
We've DONE IT !!! C2C2C coo aren't we marvellous. Carry on along
the coast really nice day, the sun is shining and a nice cooling
breeze off the sea. Arrive in Skinburness and see a sign for a
Hotel so head off down a narrow track and find a very nice hotel
with a JACCUZI, sauna and swimming pool oh such BLISS after a
hard day in the saddle, Take bags to room very, very nice room
with a corner turret area with comfortable armchairs. Dump baggage
and head to the bar for our end of day largers very welcome, absolutely
parched, then back to room for a bath, huge corner bath with loads
of smellies sheer bliss. Go for a walk around the area - very
pretty and then back to hotel for the much anticipated Jacuzzi
BIG DISSAPOINTMENT due to sunburn we are unable to get into the
Jacuzzi too, too painful!!!!! So just had a quick swim, change
and go to dinner.
Meal
Chris started with deep fried breaded brie and yoghurt/Cumberland sauce coulis - so-so, Sally started with tuna salad again standard fare, main course we both had halibut in prawn butter sauce (not much butter!!) finished with Cheese and biscuits for Chris and Peach tart for Sally all fairly mediocre. Retired to bar for a few whisky's and bed. Very nice hotel shame about the cuisine.
DAY EIGHT
Saturday 15th June 1996
Skinburness to Dovenby
Miles Travelled
ODO = 829.7 miles
MXS = 32.1 mph
AVS = 9.4 mph
DST = 26.57 mph
TM = 2 hrs 47 mins
Breakfast and then off on the last leg of our journey - most of
ride is along coast, phew it's hot! After a couple of miles go
through Siloth ALL the streets are made up of sets(local name
for cobbles) very uncomfortable on the derriere, glad to get back
onto tarmac. Head on along the coast no cooling breeze from sea
to-day, stop in Allonby to slap on the old factor 15 and have
an ice-cream funny little place reminds us of the French villages
around the Baie Du
St. Michel, pleasant flat countryside until Maryport, nearly home,
one last long hill out of the town then a few more ups and downs
to Dovenby - ride finished, done, completed - um not quite, nobody
home to welcome the conquering heroes, so dump luggage and off
to Cockermouth for a bite to eat, gosh we fly along without the
luggage, wonderful!! Arrive in Cockermouth, its carnival day have
a welcome end of ride largers and watch niece and nephews in the
Grand Parade, back to Dovenby, regale brother and family with
our epic journey and enjoy a couple of bottles of bubbly to celebrate
our ride.
The End
Statistics
Total Distance = 315.61 miles
Daily average distance = 39.45 mph
Max speed achieved = 37.1 mph
Average speed overall = 8.39 mph
Total time in the saddle = 37 hrs 10 mins
Average daily time in saddle = 4 hrs 39 mins