Conclusion

Proud hubby! Thanks for your support and for following me around even though it was raining and not much fun for you. It's worth noting though that he saw fit to dip his toe in the sea at Whitehaven and again at Tynemouth just to say he'd been C2C too - even though he'd gone by car!!!!!



Thanks too to Diana & Keith who looked after us so well and even bought me a bottle of champagne in celebration and insisted on paying for fish and chips and for a lot of other things too.

And of course a big thank you to Wendy and Colin, my special friends who shared the journey with me, who reinspired my interest in cycling and who selflessly helped me to achieve my ambition - I owe you!!!

Journeys end, 149 miles over 3 days. 18 1/4 hours cycling time in terrible weather but I had a great time and would highly recommend it. So far have raised £666 for the British Heart Foundation, thanks to everbody who has contributed and shown an interest and sent me messages of support to keep me going.














Finally thanks to my lovely Dad who taught me how to ride a bike and who would have loved to hear about this journey - if not join in too! Next time could you help with some better weather?

Castles and Coast next year?????????????????????????????????????????

The end at last - arrival in Tynemouth

The Waskerley Way turned out to be the Washed Away. The cinders surface had suffered badly in the heavy rain so again time that I thought I'd be able to make up didn't happen as it was a case of picking your way a bit carefully. It was obvious that Newcastle had had bad flooding over the weekend too as the river banks were decimated and lots of people were out for a walk in the evening sunshine looking at the damage that had been done. The ride through the city centre along the riverside was nice but the last few miles were a bit lonely and the city cycle paths had a bit a broken glass around and I was praying not to have a puncture. The last 10 miles felt like the longest 10 miles ever and it would have been nice if Colin had been there for company.

Finally, I got to the sea at 7pm only to be sent along the sea front to The End sign but still no sign of Nick and Keith & Diane - where were they. Up a short, sharp incline and then......hurrah - the beach and people I recognised. Couldn't wait to get my wheel in the sea and say I'd done it!

Hurray - I'd done it

Felt fab

What a feeling!!

Never believe it'll be downhill until you get to the beach!!

Next stop Stanhope and then a bugga of a climb up Crawleyside. Could probably have walked it quicker but was determined by this time to ride the whole route. It was interesting watching the JCBs scooping all the sand off the road and putting it back in the escape lane from which it had been washed out over the previous 2 days!

Decided to avoid going through Consett and carried on via Edmundbyers giving me a fabulous downhill all the way to Shotley Bridge where there was yet another sharp hill to climb back onto the Waskerley Way which is where I last saw the 'team' until getting to Tynemouth.

Day Three. Mon 8th Sept 2008

Having dried all my clothes in front of the fire and after a lovely breakfast we headed back to Allenheads to recommence the journey by 11am. Better still it wasn't raining and even at times there was SUNSHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hurrah!

Scenery was lovely. Pity Col & Wen weren't there to see it.

Onward journey to Black Hill

On the continuing climb from Hartside and now alone, Nick took on the role of guardian angel and started following me in his car worried about my safety, particularly as we entered the misty realms of the highest hills. Visibility was poor in places but we had to discuss the best way of him staying close without him actually driving behind me for the next 3 hours. I felt like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock film with the constant glow of Volvo headlights learing at me from behind through the mist like a stalker!!!

Black Hill is the highest point on the ride so I had to stop for a photo. Please note the Volvo bonnet is visible in the forground as Nick had refused to get out of the car as it was raining and he might get wet so took the picture from inside the car!!! Not that I'm sore about that or anything you understand!!

Determined to get to Allenheads I rode on til 6.30 where we loaded the bike into the car and drove over to our friends Diana and Keith who live near Hexham where they were kindly looking after us for the next few days. Even the journey there wasn't without its drama as the road was flooded and the car engine cut out. Our good fortune was that a kind stranger stopped and helped us get started again, getting oil on his white work shirt in the process. Thanks to him we arrived in time for a nice bath and a lovely meal. Thanks nice man.

93 miles down 56 to go!

Arrival and departure

In the 'Go' zone and cruising to the top wondering what all the fuss was about. Pleased to report we didn't walk up after all!!



Here we are at Hartside Summit. Wet again but pleased to see Wendy and Nick and happy to be going inside for a nice cuppa.

Trying to dry off a bit and enjoying some minestrone soup in front of the fire. Sadly though this was where we said goodbye to Wen & Col who needed to be back for work the next day and thought it sensible to head home from here.

It was sad to see them go but it was already 3pm and needing to get on I set off alone with Nick keeping a close eye on me from the safe haven of his car. 70 miles down, only 80 to go!!!!!!

Can you see us?

Don't look for us on this one 'cos we're not visible!!

Great view! Did we really come all that way?!! 2 small dots in a large and impressive landscape.

Hartside

Hartside beckoned! Weather still dry!!!!!!

We were dry too until we reached a rather large puddle in the road which turned out to be mid shin deep and came over the bottoms of our pannier bags. After stopping to empty our shoes and wring out our socks we travelled on, passing for the second day, the only other 2 people we saw attempting the C2C. They were already walking so we were spurred on and feeling good we carried on our climb up Hartside. Stopping only for sustenance from a Go Bar we cruised on meeting rain as we climbed and as we reached Hartside cafe could see our other halves waiting for us in the rain, a welcome sight indeed.

Day Two. Sunday 7th Sept 2008

Off we go on day 2. Miraculously no rain and only a light wind. Much better cycling conditions. Strangely we hadn't slept much the night before. I was so pumped up with adrenalin from all the exercise I was ready to go again at about 3am!!!!! After a nice breakfast of cereals and eggs we set off from Greystokes at 10.30 and soon realised that had the weather been better the day before we would have easily made it to the foothills of Hartside as originally planned.
Aided and abetted by our fab support team things were looking good for the start of our climb up Hartside.

Greystokes - end of day one. 50 miles down only 100 more to go!

Got to Greystokes by 6pm. The rain was persisting and we decided we'd had enough for one day. Wen and Col were staying in Greystoke so I peddled on another 2 miles to Penruddock to our B & B and we dried off and went down for a meal. I'd turned up so bedraggled and weather beaten that the man who'd shown us our room did a double take as he didn't recognise me until he saw Nick with me and realised I must be the strange and slightly mad creature that had graced his presence just 1/2 an hour before!

Winlatter Pass - low point of the whole ride

The first half of Winlatter Pass proved to be steep and wet and windy. By the time we got to the visitors centre to meet up with Wendy and Nick we were well behind schedule and tired. After stopping for food and the loo we were also getting cold and decided to push on. What should have been an exhilarating downhill section was freezing cold and had to be taken carefully due to the slippery conditions and cascades of water running across the roads. We thought - if Winlatter is this bad what on earth is Hartside going to be like - the 'big hill' that was built up to be 'the big one'. We decided we may well be walking up it!!!!!

Bubble Head at Loweswater

If only I'd looked in the mirror!

What can I say!!!!!!?

The scenery was stunning!

5 miles in and already encountering blown down foliage!!

The heavy wind and rain over the previous couple of days we found had strewn bits of trees and other rubbish over the route and even in places trees themselves. Our worst nightmare had also happened. Rain we could cope with - but we were peddling against a strong North Easterly head wind which we felt at times was trying to blow us back to Whitehaven. (Feeling sorry for us yet?) It made what should have been easy riding much harder and slowed us down considerably. We realised quite quickly there was no way we would be able to complete the ride in 2 days and that therefore I would be going it alone for the some of the way as Colin and Wendy had to be home for work by Sunday evening.

Setting off from Whitehaven

Left Whitehaven at 10am.

Hey - the weather might brighten up!

Day One. Sat 6th Sept 2008

Well D Day arrived and guess what - it was raining. Met Colin and Wendy down by the harbour and prepared ourselves for the off. Lots of wet weather gear including - as advised by our friendly bike shop owner - in the absence of waterproof helmet cover - a shower cap over my helmet. As you will see from the pictures this gave me the appearance of having a bubble on my head but until I saw the photos later that day I had no idea (and no-one had thought to tell me) that I looked like a complete knob head!!!!!! But hey ho - it kept the water out of my eyes and made it slightly more bearable so its not until I look back in retrospect that I regretted not looking at myself in the mirror before I set off. No wonder the man in the B & B looked at me a bit strangely as I left!!!!!

Background to the ride

The idea evolved after several discussions with my friends Wendy and Colin. I'd been reading Jane Tomlinson's books and decided I wanted to take part in some type of physical challenge. Colin had thought he would like to try the C2C to see the best of the Lake District and decided to join me for some of the trip. Wendy and Colin and I enjoy cycling in Derbyshire throughout the summer (less so in winter) so just upped the distances and frequency a bit to increase our fitness and stamina. For the trip my husband, Nick, and Wendy would be our support team.
The weather report started to look grim. Fortunately, I was able to get some good wet weather gear although my attempts to get a waterproof helmet cover proved unsuccessful. (More later about this!!)
Nick and I travelled up to Whitehaven on the Friday afternoon by which time it was raining heavily and quite windy. Wendy and Colin, having to leave Derbyshire after work, got caught in heavy rain too and encountered closed roads on the way up due to accidents and trees dropping branches so didn't get to Greystokes until 10.30pm. Apparently there were floods around the country and Morpeth was under water by this time. Should we have heeded the warnings?????
Walked down to the harbour in Whitehaven and had a very nice meal in the Vagabond Pub and saw the start point for the next day. No turning back now.

Still thinking its going to be sunny at this stage! Training going well. Waterproofs just NOT an option!

Preparing to go

We'd spent several weeks slogging up hills and cycling as much as time would allow in preparation for our epic voyage. We'd been out in some pretty foul weather too including thunder storms and hail storms!!!! We decided then that we were a little bit mad but pressed on thinking it would be good training incase the weather was bad when we did the real thing! Little did we know!!!! I still has visions of glorious sunny days in sleeveless tops and needing suncream. How wrong could I be!!!!!