Five Honiton Spinners tackled the coast to coast ride from Whitehaven to Tynemouth across Northern England over 4 days at the beginning of July. This is 147 miles long and 10,729 ft of climbing. Saddle Skedaddle, who we have used many times, provided the route details, accommodation and moved the bags along the route for us. Lin, Jennie, Roger and Simon opted to take the train up to Newcastle with bikes (except Jennie) but John drove up as he could break the journey at his brother’s half way taking both his and Jennie’s bikes.
For Lin the journey started with a big panic as she thought Roger had her train tickets but he had actually given them to her some time ago. Luckily husband Chris managed to find them and delivered them to Lin so she could take the later train. Ticket prices on the day were quoted at £500+ return compared with booking in advance at just over £100! In the end Lin managed to avoid any penalty charges being on a different train thanks to the helpful Tiverton Parkway ticket office. With that panic over the journey up north to Newcastle was uneventful and an amazing Italian restaurant with a 3 course meal for £20.50 was found to celebrate our arrival.
Day 1 Whitehaven to Threlkeld – 34.4 miles 2545 ft
After a long drive across the country from Newcastle the ride started at the harbour in Whitehaven which had brown water from the local mining. From there an old railway line was followed into the Lake District where Windlatter Pass had to be negotiated where a long steady climb to the top awaited. For some reason Lin decided to take the off-road route towards the top which resulted in Roger cycling back down and not finding her. A telephone call soon sorted it out though so Roger only had to climb the top bit of the pass twice!. He was glad he had a motor though. At the top of Windlatter was a nice café for a late lunch. On the other side of Windlatter there was a descent with great views into Keswick and then along a lovely cycle track, which some of us had done before, crossing a river many times to a Pub in Threlkeld our overnight stop. The views in the Lake District were spectacular making this day the most scenic part of the ride.
Day 2 Threlkeld to Alston – 40.7 miles 3541 ft
This was a day of undulating terrain leaving the Lakes behind us in light rain but thankfully the rain soon stopped. A coffee stop in Penrith helped fuel us for the challenge to come. Lunch was eaten in a large stone circle sheltering from the wind. The largest stone called Long Meg stood apart from her sisters and had ancient carvings on it. These stones are from the Neolithic Period (3200 – 2500 BCE) and form the third largest stone circle in England. The ascent of Hartside Pass was energy sapping being 4 miles long and about 1200 ft of climb with an average 6% gradient up to 1900 ft asl. Luckily the wind was behind us for some of the climb but we did get blown sideways part of the way up. From the top there was a lovely long descent down to our hotel in Alston, a quiet country town.
Day 3 Alston to Blanchland – 22.4 miles 2510 ft.
This day was a short distance to ride but with some good climbs to negotiate starting from Alston. Again we started in light rain but it did clear again after a few miles. Curlews were flying over us calling out as we approached the climb to Black Hill. The top is the highest point of the ride at 1998 ft asl. This was where the bleak Pennine Moors came into view. We descended to an isolated cafe for coffee and cakes in Allenheads to refresh ourselves. No red squirrels were spotted though but some lovely flowers in the gardens. After that the climb to Blanchland was the steepest yet ~20% in places taking us back over the moors and then a long descent to Blanchland. The accommodation there was an ancient Monastery and very well appointed with a maze of eating rooms and a bar. The short ride although tough gave us time to do a pleasant 3 mile walk out of Blanchland up on the moor after lunch. Afterwards John managed to finally find some fruit cake to consume with tea as it’s not a popular option up north apparently.
Day 4 Blanchland to Tynemouth – 49.4 miles 2133 ft.
A final long day of riding to the North Sea. The first 10 miles included another long ascent to the high moors with a strong cross wind and large lorries threatening to blow the bikes and riders off course. John was able to video some of us on the way up. Once we reached the summit a cycle trail starts which led all the way to Newcastle on a gently descending gradient initially on the moor. We left the moorland before Consett a town which lost its main source of employment as the steelworks closed down in 1980 but there are still signs of the steel works infrastructure around the town. The trail was a mix of fine gravel and tarmac and so was ok for road bikes although a gravel bike is ideal for this part of the route.
Jennie’s ride unfortunately came to an abrupt end after Consett at Black Path when a short steep downhill section with deep fine gravel combined to cause her to fall off her bike whilst braking and injured her shoulder and grazed her elbow and knee. Saddle Skedaddle were very good and came out and picked her and the bike up and took her to our lunch stop at the Cycle Hub on the quayside in Newcastle. The rest of us headed on to Newcastle after making sure Jennie would be picked up. We managed to get somewhat lost for a while after crossing the Tyne where the signage was not great. After lunch at the Cycle Hub the final section of the ride to Tynemouth was mostly on bike paths and through gardens. When we reached Tynemouth we met up with Jennie again and the mandatory photos were taken with the North Sea in the background. There is no obvious sign to mark the end of the route but we did find a sign post with C2C on it on the coast path.
Summary
The route was more challenging than our previous Saddle Skedaddle holidays with some tough climbs to negotiate but there were no difficult off road sections as we experienced on the Northumberland rides. The Saddle Skedaddle organisation was very good and the accommodation this time was excellent. The support given to Jennie shows the benefits of booking with them. Hats off to all those without e-bikes who got round under their own power.