Fatal Swan
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Re: Coast to Coast attempt in a day (it's happening!)
Well, a detailed write-up was requested, so here goes...
And here's the Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/16004 ... 0050096194
The route was based on the C2C in terms of the major milestones (Crawleyside, Killhope, Hartside, Whinlatter) but was a homebrew, avoiding quite a few of the rougher cyclepaths so I could do it on the road bike and squeeze it into a day. I also wanted to start in Seaham as it’s more convenient for where my inlaws live.
Seaham to Lanchester (0-22 miles): Set off from Seaham seafront before 7am. This section was pretty straightforward stuff and my main intention was not to invest any energy on this stretch with the climbs coming thick and fast soon after. The route was fine, particularly nice coming in to Durham through ‘Old Durham’ (no-one I know knows this exists) with a nice view of the cathedral from a long way out. The route comes in along the river on the W2W route and it was lovely early in the morning. To get through Durham I just went on the main road as it was so early. My own route out of Durham carelessly took the outrageously steep (25%ish?) Redhills lane, which turns out to be pretty notorious (https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/vi ... 9&start=20) and I would definitely not do that again on a ride with 110 miles left to go. After that it’s a decent flat cycle path to Lanchester (Lanchester Valley Way), where I stopped for a second breakfast with the family.
Lanchester to Stanhope (22-39 miles): Major climb number 1 starts out of Lanchester, about 1100ft in total. Long and easy at first but there are some steep sections near the start of the North Pennines. Wild, open moorland then around Waskerley. It’s always windy up there but I had it on my back, so the climb to the top wasn’t too much of a problem. The Waskerley Way cyclepath of the official C2C runs close by the road but I know it well and it’s too rough for a road bike. Finished up with a tea and cake at the famous Parkhead station café. It was clear by this point that nearly every other cyclist was riding west to east and most were really struggling into the wind. I kept quiet! Then steep down Crawleyside (one of a few 100 greatest climbs on my route) and to be honest I was very glad not to be coming the other way. Right at the bottom I punctured and within about 5 minutes a very nice woman came out with a track pump for me. That alone probably saved me a good 10 minutes but I'd still lost about half an hour and I was also wasting energy getting warm in the midday sunshine.
Stanhope to Killhope cross (39-53 miles): Inner tube replaced, I set off on essentially a 14 mile hill, about 1500ft total climbing. About 8 miles of gentle up and down climbing to start with. My own route took the road close to the A689 which was quiet and very pleasant, before joining it again. Was pleased to find St John’s chapel was a village with some public loos right on the road. A mistake of my own route was to then leave the A689 just before Wearhead as it had another short steep, steep section (emerging theme of my homebrew route…). Photo below is from just after that as I was getting my breath back. Then on to Killhope cross, major climb 2. I was tempted to stop at the lead mining museum café but I also was keen to get the top and was behind schedule already with the puncture. It was actually ok with the wind behind me, though steep at the top up to the sign for Cumbria, where a friendly gust blew me the last couple of hundred metres towards the summit. Oddly enough I was still feeling ok, probably the first time I let myself think seriously about realistically making the whole thing. On the other hand my stomach was struggling – with the heat, plus a diet of energy drinks and gels I just had no appetite for actual food, which I knew would become a problem sooner or later.
Killhope to Hartside (53 to 65 miles): Not much to report downhill all the way to Alston, nice little place, amenities, more public loos! Then from just outside Alston starts major climb number 3 to Hartside top, a straightforward 900ft of climbing over 6 miles with no let up. I came off the A686 for a while which was nice, steepish climb to rejoin it though. Again it was a good hill (possibly an understatement) but the wind made it pretty comfortable and I actually never felt like I would be in danger of not making it. The iconic Hartside top (part of the view below) has become a bit of a depressing affair now that the famous café has burnt down. It was absolutely wild up there too with the wind. In the plans I'd always had Hartside in mind as the point where by far the worst of the climbing would be behind me and even though I was only halfway through in terms of distance I was starting to think about what time – rather than whether - I’d finish. Forced myself to have something to eat at this point and my stomach was feeling better.
Hartside to Penrith (53 to 80 miles): Descending the Hartside switchback was absolutely terrifying with a very stiff crosswind. I really got a sense of what a properly serious climb it is west to east. I was glad again that I wasn’t doing it that way into the wind but there were quite a few brave souls who were. Otherwise lots of freewheeling after that heading down towards Penrth. My avoiding the A686 was initially a good choice (the part through Little Salkeld is fine) but then after rejoining it at Langwathby, leaving it again (Stagstones road) was maybe not the best choice - a smashing route that I would have loved on any other day but there was a fair bit of steepish stuff that I could have done without. By Penrith I was still feeling good and I’d decided that I wouldn’t want to take a long stop anywhere. So I went straight through Penrith with just a short break to refuel. Still no appetite but my stomach was definitely thanking me for swapping out the energy gels for Haribo/dates/muesli bars and the energy drink for water.
Penrith to Keswick (80-100 miles): Another welcome sedate section. Took some quiet roads out of Penrith to the A66 section. It’s a short and fast downhill section and when planning the route I'd been a bit concerned about how big/fast a road it is, but some thorough Google street-viewing confirmed that it's all either on a cycleway separated from the road, or comes off on minor roads that run alongside it. it was fine. The part at Threlkeld was also welcome as it passed some good public loos that were unexpectedly still open around 7pm on Sunday evening! After a short steep climb there is a really nice trail that runs down through the woods (Latrigg) but the signs said that the path was closed to cyclists and it’s currently well fenced off. Access by foot is still apparently permitted though and I checked at the start with some local walkers who suggested I just go through despite the signs. Given that time was getting on and I really didn’t want to ride back on myself for a couple of miles I decided to ignore the fences and signs and do it anyway. Not like me but it was definitely the right decision, it would have been a really enjoyable dash down through the deserted woods had I not been desperate to get out as quickly as possible without being seen (had to give sheepish/apologetic smiles to one or two walkers)! But after a couple of miles I came out on the outskirts of Keswick.
Keswick to Whitehaven (100 – 129 miles): By this point the final major climb of the route (Whinlatter pass) had been on my mind for quite a while, and I wasn’t sure what would be left in the legs for the 2-mile 800ft climb that starts just out of Keswick at Braithwaite. Fortunately there was enough! The steepest stuff was in the first half (and it is steep), with a short stop off for a photo since there’s a great view. From the top it’s a really pleasant downhill through the pass. By this point I was looking at a finish before 9pm, earlier than I'd planned even in the best case scenario. From Whinlatter I got chatting to a nice guy heading in the same direction and after talking about all sorts of things, he advised me that the route to Whitehaven that I’d planned wasn’t any good and eventually took me to the C2C path. By the time he went his own way I clearly wasn’t as close to Whitehaven as I’d expected to be, and then I got a bit lost looking for a quick way to Whitehaven off the cycle path. As the sun was setting I gave up on the Garmin rerouting and I did a bit of old-school navigating by just pointing the bike at the sun, which is basically what I'd been doing all day, at least when I hadn't just been pointing it at the sky! It seemed to work and a few miles later I was quickly through Whitehaven and down at the harbour just as the sun was setting around 9:30pm, all done!
Well, a detailed write-up was requested, so here goes...
And here's the Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/16004 ... 0050096194The route was based on the C2C in terms of the major milestones (Crawleyside, Killhope, Hartside, Whinlatter) but was a homebrew, avoiding quite a few of the rougher cyclepaths so I could do it on the road bike and squeeze it into a day. I also wanted to start in Seaham as it’s more convenient for where my inlaws live.
Seaham to Lanchester (0-22 miles): Set off from Seaham seafront before 7am. This section was pretty straightforward stuff and my main intention was not to invest any energy on this stretch with the climbs coming thick and fast soon after. The route was fine, particularly nice coming in to Durham through ‘Old Durham’ (no-one I know knows this exists) with a nice view of the cathedral from a long way out. The route comes in along the river on the W2W route and it was lovely early in the morning. To get through Durham I just went on the main road as it was so early. My own route out of Durham carelessly took the outrageously steep (25%ish?) Redhills lane, which turns out to be pretty notorious (https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/vi ... 9&start=20) and I would definitely not do that again on a ride with 110 miles left to go. After that it’s a decent flat cycle path to Lanchester (Lanchester Valley Way), where I stopped for a second breakfast with the family.
Lanchester to Stanhope (22-39 miles): Major climb number 1 starts out of Lanchester, about 1100ft in total. Long and easy at first but there are some steep sections near the start of the North Pennines. Wild, open moorland then around Waskerley. It’s always windy up there but I had it on my back, so the climb to the top wasn’t too much of a problem. The Waskerley Way cyclepath of the official C2C runs close by the road but I know it well and it’s too rough for a road bike. Finished up with a tea and cake at the famous Parkhead station café. It was clear by this point that nearly every other cyclist was riding west to east and most were really struggling into the wind. I kept quiet! Then steep down Crawleyside (one of a few 100 greatest climbs on my route) and to be honest I was very glad not to be coming the other way. Right at the bottom I punctured and within about 5 minutes a very nice woman came out with a track pump for me. That alone probably saved me a good 10 minutes but I'd still lost about half an hour and I was also wasting energy getting warm in the midday sunshine.
Stanhope to Killhope cross (39-53 miles): Inner tube replaced, I set off on essentially a 14 mile hill, about 1500ft total climbing. About 8 miles of gentle up and down climbing to start with. My own route took the road close to the A689 which was quiet and very pleasant, before joining it again. Was pleased to find St John’s chapel was a village with some public loos right on the road. A mistake of my own route was to then leave the A689 just before Wearhead as it had another short steep, steep section (emerging theme of my homebrew route…). Photo below is from just after that as I was getting my breath back. Then on to Killhope cross, major climb 2. I was tempted to stop at the lead mining museum café but I also was keen to get the top and was behind schedule already with the puncture. It was actually ok with the wind behind me, though steep at the top up to the sign for Cumbria, where a friendly gust blew me the last couple of hundred metres towards the summit. Oddly enough I was still feeling ok, probably the first time I let myself think seriously about realistically making the whole thing. On the other hand my stomach was struggling – with the heat, plus a diet of energy drinks and gels I just had no appetite for actual food, which I knew would become a problem sooner or later.
Killhope to Hartside (53 to 65 miles): Not much to report downhill all the way to Alston, nice little place, amenities, more public loos! Then from just outside Alston starts major climb number 3 to Hartside top, a straightforward 900ft of climbing over 6 miles with no let up. I came off the A686 for a while which was nice, steepish climb to rejoin it though. Again it was a good hill (possibly an understatement) but the wind made it pretty comfortable and I actually never felt like I would be in danger of not making it. The iconic Hartside top (part of the view below) has become a bit of a depressing affair now that the famous café has burnt down. It was absolutely wild up there too with the wind. In the plans I'd always had Hartside in mind as the point where by far the worst of the climbing would be behind me and even though I was only halfway through in terms of distance I was starting to think about what time – rather than whether - I’d finish. Forced myself to have something to eat at this point and my stomach was feeling better.
Hartside to Penrith (53 to 80 miles): Descending the Hartside switchback was absolutely terrifying with a very stiff crosswind. I really got a sense of what a properly serious climb it is west to east. I was glad again that I wasn’t doing it that way into the wind but there were quite a few brave souls who were. Otherwise lots of freewheeling after that heading down towards Penrth. My avoiding the A686 was initially a good choice (the part through Little Salkeld is fine) but then after rejoining it at Langwathby, leaving it again (Stagstones road) was maybe not the best choice - a smashing route that I would have loved on any other day but there was a fair bit of steepish stuff that I could have done without. By Penrith I was still feeling good and I’d decided that I wouldn’t want to take a long stop anywhere. So I went straight through Penrith with just a short break to refuel. Still no appetite but my stomach was definitely thanking me for swapping out the energy gels for Haribo/dates/muesli bars and the energy drink for water.
Penrith to Keswick (80-100 miles): Another welcome sedate section. Took some quiet roads out of Penrith to the A66 section. It’s a short and fast downhill section and when planning the route I'd been a bit concerned about how big/fast a road it is, but some thorough Google street-viewing confirmed that it's all either on a cycleway separated from the road, or comes off on minor roads that run alongside it. it was fine. The part at Threlkeld was also welcome as it passed some good public loos that were unexpectedly still open around 7pm on Sunday evening! After a short steep climb there is a really nice trail that runs down through the woods (Latrigg) but the signs said that the path was closed to cyclists and it’s currently well fenced off. Access by foot is still apparently permitted though and I checked at the start with some local walkers who suggested I just go through despite the signs. Given that time was getting on and I really didn’t want to ride back on myself for a couple of miles I decided to ignore the fences and signs and do it anyway. Not like me but it was definitely the right decision, it would have been a really enjoyable dash down through the deserted woods had I not been desperate to get out as quickly as possible without being seen (had to give sheepish/apologetic smiles to one or two walkers)! But after a couple of miles I came out on the outskirts of Keswick.
Keswick to Whitehaven (100 – 129 miles): By this point the final major climb of the route (Whinlatter pass) had been on my mind for quite a while, and I wasn’t sure what would be left in the legs for the 2-mile 800ft climb that starts just out of Keswick at Braithwaite. Fortunately there was enough! The steepest stuff was in the first half (and it is steep), with a short stop off for a photo since there’s a great view. From the top it’s a really pleasant downhill through the pass. By this point I was looking at a finish before 9pm, earlier than I'd planned even in the best case scenario. From Whinlatter I got chatting to a nice guy heading in the same direction and after talking about all sorts of things, he advised me that the route to Whitehaven that I’d planned wasn’t any good and eventually took me to the C2C path. By the time he went his own way I clearly wasn’t as close to Whitehaven as I’d expected to be, and then I got a bit lost looking for a quick way to Whitehaven off the cycle path. As the sun was setting I gave up on the Garmin rerouting and I did a bit of old-school navigating by just pointing the bike at the sun, which is basically what I'd been doing all day, at least when I hadn't just been pointing it at the sky! It seemed to work and a few miles later I was quickly through Whitehaven and down at the harbour just as the sun was setting around 9:30pm, all done!
