Coast to Coast

I'm feeling a little tired today!

I cycled the C2C yesterday with a couple of mates -

We set off from St Bees, a small seaside village just 6 miles SW of Whitehaven in Cumbria on the West coast & cycled the 140miles across to Seaham a seaside town in County Durham 5 miles south of Sunderland on the East coast.

We'd planned the trip a couple of months ago & where lucky enough to have great weather with a light W/SW wind behind us all the way.

John Richardson, myself in the middle & Phil Whitehurst on the right at the start of the C2C

Myself, Graham Theobald & Phil at the start of the C2C in St Bees

We got away a little late & it wasn't until 8.45am that we left St Bees behind us & headed into the Northern Lakes towards, Ennerdale Bridge, Loweswater, Lorton & over Whinlatter to Keswick.

We kept moving on through to Penrith, Langwathby, Melmerby & then up the steep climb to the top of Hartside where we had our first break & time for some proper food. Unfortunately Phil left us here & headed back down the hill to Penrith. He was fighting a cold & did well to get that far. 

Time was passing fast so we picked up the pace down towards Alston & Garrigill, then up one of the many 1in20 climbs up to Nentheads and East to Stanhope.

The road was surprisingly steep in places & never flat or downhill for very long before it climbed up again. Even from Lanchester further East the road still had some steep descents & steeper climbs with the coast never in sight until the final mile down into Seaham.

The sun had long gone & any light was fading fast as we cycled the last mile or two down to the seafront at Seaham. We were glad to have lights but even happier to see the North Sea!

Myself & John at the finish of the C2C in Seaham

Graham, myself & John at the finish of the C2C

We arrived at 6pm after leaving St Bees 9 1/4 hours earlier - we stopped at the top of Hartside for 30 minutes & god knows how many times for Graham to relieve himself!! 

We had a great day out, if not a little tired today & already planning the next cycle!

Happy cycling!

Ade