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Coast to Coast Coast to Coast “You xxxx” I shouted – more than once if remember correctly. My ire was directed at Raz. We were zipping along a disused railway line between Keswick and Penrith when he suddenly screamed to a halt right in front of me leaving me almost no time to avoid him and get my feet out of the pedal stops and avoid a nasty case of gravel rash. He’d seen a pound coin and had to stop to claim it. I’d have given him a pound if I’d known he was that hard up! This was the first of three days on the Coast to Coast (C2C) bike ride. Dan, Raz and I were the riders with Zoe in the vital support role. Ade was supposed to be with us but Sarah’s broken ankle (one of their dogs knocked her over) just days before meant he had to pull out. It simplified the logistics but Ade missed an entertaining trip. Accommodation in the usual starting place (Whitehaven) was limited so we started at St Bees. Our drive there with our three bikes on the back of the Focus was in the dry much to our surprise. Not that Raz and I noticed much of the journey! We kept our fingers crossed for the weather! Quickly dumping our bags in the Fairladies Barn Guest house, we rode off to the beach to dip our wheels ceremonially in the Irish Sea. The pub meal we had was frankly pretty awful and when we emerged, it was raining. In the night there was apparently a major storm with power cuts but all we noticed was that our telly came on in the middle of the night as power was restored. We had planned an early start on our 54 mile ride to Penrith for our first stop. But it was sheeting down with gale force winds when we woke and we decided to wait it out. It did finally calm down and stop raining and we set off shortly after 10am. A couple of uphill miles took us to the junction with the main route from Whitehaven and we were then on easy ground on the disused railway line. My ordnance survey map (which cost 44p in1971) still showed the line as open! Back on the country roads, little hills at Kirkland and Lamplugh gave a taste of things to come and a rapid descent down the 1 in 7 slope to Loweswater left us relieved we were going East! From Loweswater, it was a steady climb (by now in the rain) up towards the Winlatter Pass. A cunning side step turning right in Hopeback cut off a corner and avoided an unnecessary descent to Lorton. We were regularly being overtaken and then catching up with a group of lads from Sunderland (of whom, more later). Below Whinlatter, one was stuck in top gear having bent a sprocket. But, pretending we were after the yellow jersey, we left them to it. Last up approaching Whinlatter in the rain We were very wet by the time we met up with Zoe at Whinlatter. Dan had relented after a rant at the MMC pub meet and allowed her to borrow my Satnav. We had a welcome cup of tea in the dry. Having waited for the rain to stop we then set off down the exhilarating off road descent to Keswick. A bit too exhilarating in my case! Mud was being flung up on my specs and I nearly lost control on the loose stones. A couple of fish tails later and a flirt with the edge of the first major hair-pin and I managed to pull up breathing heavily but still in one piece. I did the rest without my specs and not quite as fast as Dan! At the bottom. The route took us away from the A road on narrow lanes with a few hills to keep us honest, and then we were suddenly in the middle of bustling Keswick We’d thought about the off road Old Coach Road but in the doubtful weather we saved that for another day. The first part out of Keswick was on another disused railway line. It was here that Raz started spotting coins on the track. We also passed quite a few walking groups which dispersed when I gave them a ping on my bell - until it stopped working. There was me trying desperately to ping it and Raz shouting at me to use it as we rapidly closed on some tourists who scattered just in time. Dan was in stitches watching the pantomime. After losing my ping, I just had to whistle on other occasions. Readers will be pleased to know that even at my advanced years, my ping was fully restored soon after getting home. Raz coin-spotting Out track then detoured pleasantly inland to Beckside before taking to the narrow roads again and coming into Penrith from the West. My thighs were feeling the effort but I was pleased to manage all the hills without descending to the “Granny” gear. Looking back towards Keswick The Sunderland lads were at the same B&B and there was just room for the 8 bikes in the lock-up. Zoe had located a good Italian restaurant in town and we then retired for the night. At about 3 in the morning, the Sunderland lads returned from clubbing. One had no key and was thumping the door trying to wake up “Jez”. I got back to sleep quickly but poor old Raz didn’t. The lads looked seriously the worse for wear the next morning and were slightly, but not over-poweringly, apologetic for their rowdiness. We changed our tyres for ones more suited to the roads we would be on for the second day. It was only 33 miles to Allenheads but there were some tough hills on the way. After a small unintentional diversion back towards Keswick we set off East starting with quite a steep hill out of the town. A lovely sweeping descent got us to Langwathby and then there was a steep ascent through Little Salkeld and another steep part where we passed the lads as they struggled again with mechanical problems. Last again! From here, the main challenge loomed up to the right. We could see the main A road snaking along on the skyline way above us. As we turned right in Renwick, the road stretched out apparently interminably before us. It started to rain. Oh joy! Dan and Raz are quicker than me by some way on the hills and were soon out of sight. I stopped just to put my waterproof on and found they had stopped to wait only a little further on (or were they really resting?). From there on I just about kept them in sight and actually found myself enjoying the ride. The rain now stayed away for now. There were several little steep sections but none so steep as needed lowest gear. The steeps bits had more level parts in between by way of respite and despite warnings from my partner Lesley about how awful Hartside seemed to her when she saw cyclists on it, I began to think I’d do this without stopping. I passed the start of a nasty looking off road variant and then zig-zagged up ever closer to the main road. Above me I got the occasional glimpse of Dan and Raz. One final zigzag and then the last steep bit up to the main road where I did descend to bottom gear for a few yards. Then it was on to the A696 which was a doddle by comparison. Now the café at the top was the magnet as storm clouds gathered behind me. As I turned the final hairpin, the heavens opened just five minutes from the café. Of course the others had made it with a minute or two to spare and were there to welcome the drowned rat. The café buzzed with cyclists exhilarated by the ascent and eager for the descent the other side. Zoe snapped us pretending to ride the steep track that cuts off the final hairpin (Dan had ridden it of course) and then we were off via the high point here (580 metres) down to Garrigill. 5 miles with little pedalling were great fun at what felt like break neck speeds. As we approached Garrigill we could see a nasty looking scar up the far side of the valley. “Please not up there” we prayed. There was nothing on the map or in the blurb so say that this part was tough but slowly and inevitably the road bent back to the start of the obvious road straight up the hillside (Dowgang Hush). As we turned right at the bottom the road was full of walking cyclists. My heart sank. I started up more in hope than expectation but was pleased to find myself passing them all and still in the saddle. It eased a little after the first half mile but it was then a very solid grind to the top 3 solid miles away. The descent into Nenthead was great fun with an obvious accident blackspot lurking near the bottom. As we arrived the heavens opened again. It took us a little while to succumb to the warmth of the pub but we did for half an hour. Outside again, there was a steep (15%) ride up the main road before the turn off to Allenheads. Here we passed the high point on the C2C (Black Hill at 609 metres).
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