Another Coast 2 Coast..........

steve23

i will be riding the coast to coast route in mid september, and was looking for info on the route etc.

we will be following the cycle route 72 (i think). is it all on road, as i only have a "normal" road bike!!! how hard is the route, some of our group are not mega fit!!

any info is great, thanks!

Desert Orchid

http://www.c2c-guide.co.uk/

jibi

Hard??? he asks ....Hard???

Low Lorton and Whinlatter, Hartside,Garrigil to Nenthead ( Oh dear) and not forgetting Crawleyside out of Stanhope,( nearly got off and walked),,,, but then it's all downhill from there

One of my favourite rides.

Most of it is on tarmac ( unless you are doing the off-road route)

I can only remember one bit between a hedge and a fence being on a "footpath", only about 100 yards.

Have a good one

Tailwinds

george

PHcp

How many days are you planning to do it in? If you're doing it over 3 or 4 you'll have no problem. First time I did it I was drastically unprepared and unfit, walked a good few of the hills and still got to each days destination at a reasonable time.
It's a great ride, have a good time.

steve23

3 days.without being too bigheaded, im hoping to do well in the ride, as im pretty fit, and have had a hard season of racing etc. however, i am looking forward to the hard climbs!!! and im preparing to suffer!!!

Hairy Jock

Never understood why on an Island there is only considered to be one coast to coast route. :roll:

lloyd_bower

Hairy Jock wrote:

Never understood why on an Island there is only considered to be one coast to coast route. :roll:

Yep, I'd agree there. I did a two day C2C myself a couple of weekends ago, Ravenglass to Robin Hoods Bay. Hell of start up Hardknott and Wrynose and then through Hawkshead to pick up short ferry across Windermere. When I mentioned this, some said it was cheating, which is silly really as it was slower going across on ferry and main road via Ambleside & Windermere would have been much quicker but busier.

I o/nighted at Richmond so doing most on the first day, but there was still a few kicks in the the tail in the hilly NY Moors. Wainwrights walking C2C finishes in Robin Hood Bay so wasn't alone there.

A super route, but train connections to start finish are so so slow.

martincroxall

One bonus of finishing at Robin Hoods Bay is you get that lovely gentle climb back out of the village waiting for you!

Actually it's a great little place to finish a ride like that in. If only Lands End or John O'Groats were so nice.

lloyd_bower

martincroxall wrote:

One bonus of finishing at Robin Hoods Bay is you get that lovely gentle climb back out of the village waiting for you!

Actually it's a great little place to finish a ride like that in. If only Lands End or John O'Groats were so nice.

Gentle climb! out of Robin Hoods Bay, actually it's easier to bike up than to attempt to run up it which attempted with a few mates last time I was there.
Indeed it is a great place to finish, and good fish n chips available too.

hammerite

Hairy Jock wrote:

Never understood why on an Island there is only considered to be one coast to coast route. :roll:

Anyone for Fishguard to Lowestoft? 8)

jibi

There may be only one "Official" ( well 4 if you count the 2 starts and 2 finish points) C2C, but that doesn't mean a coast to coast can't be done any other way.
Just use your imagination, and a map and off you go.

Preston to Hull
Southport to Scarborough and back ( a 600 km Audax)
Preston to Easngton (Durham), My parents lived there
Morecambe to Scarborough ( then back again the next day)

These are just a few of the ways I have done a coast to coast as well as the C2C a couple of times.

so many possibilities for routes.

But sustrans have named that specific long distance route the C2C and so we all want to do that one. Personally I think the route is OK.

Tailwinds

george

hammerite

jibi wrote:

There may be only one "Official" ( well 4 if you count the 2 starts and 2 finish points) C2C, but that doesn't mean a coast to coast can't be done any other way.
Just use your imagination, and a map and off you go.

Preston to Hull
Southport to Scarborough and back ( a 600 km Audax)
Preston to Easngton (Durham), My parents lived there
Morecambe to Scarborough ( then back again the next day)

These are just a few of the ways I have done a coast to coast as well as the C2C a couple of times.

so many possibilities for routes.

But sustrans have named that specific long distance route the C2C and so we all want to do that one. Personally I think the route is OK.

Tailwinds

george

George, on the third post you mentioned that most of the route was on tarmac, is that the official routes? Or was it a different road route that you followed?

Thinking about doing it next year with the 6yo (who might be 7 by the time depending on when we do it), on a tag along. Then see if he wants to go solo the following year, I noticed on the C2C website the youngest was 8y 55 days.

jibi

I was on tarmac as I said except for that one 100yd bit of footpath and I think you don't have to do it, there is way around
I was riding a fast one and just following the signs
On my first ride, at Nenthead , I took a wrong turn and ended up on cobbles , behind the pub, (serious uphill too) but it was a sign for the off road C2C

This detour cost me half an hour and I didn't make it under 12hrs.

so I went back 4 weeks later and did it in 11hs 54mins.

This is the Whitehaven to Roker (Sunderland) route, I haven't done Workington-Newcastle.

There are, IMHO, some quite severe slopes, and if the 8yr old rode all of them. Chapeau

george

hammerite

jibi wrote:

I was on tarmac as I said except for that one 100yd bit of footpath and I think you don't have to do it, there is way around
I was riding a fast one and just following the signs
On my first ride, at Nenthead , I took a wrong turn and ended up on cobbles , behind the pub, (serious uphill too) but it was a sign for the off road C2C

This detour cost me half an hour and I didn't make it under 12hrs.

so I went back 4 weeks later and did it in 11hs 54mins.

This is the Whitehaven to Roker (Sunderland) route, I haven't done Workington-Newcastle.

There are, IMHO, some quite severe slopes, and if the 8yr old rode all of them. Chapeau

george

Thanks.

On the website it does say he did it unaided in 5 days, so I guess that means he rode them. Although would getting off and pushing up the hill still count? I suppose it would be under his own steam still. Needless to say that the two youngest to do it weren't British, who are no doubt too busy in front of the Playstation.

Hairy Jock

Or you could show a little imagination and try Aberdeen to Ardnamurchan. Apparently "Pioneered in 1985 - The UK's First Coast to Coast Route!".

Cunobelin

To be fair to Sustrans, the C2C was a marketing tool and a very successful one.

They also do a Scottish one (Firth to Forth) and there is the Trans-Pennine trail as another formal route.

Personally I have done all of these, and the Lands end to North Foreland coastal option.

pneumatic

I would recommend Helensburgh to St Andrews, which you can do in a day as it is only 100 miles. Gentle climb out of Helensburgh, cycle path around Loch Lomond and then dead straight, wind behind, mostly flat all the way to St A's. Time trial heaven. Stop on the way at Stirling Castle or Wallace Monument (or both), Milnathort (fabby ice-cream shop), Auchtermuchty (pint at the Cycle Tavern) and then the last couple of miles into St Andrews will give you the most breathtaking view of one of Britain's most beautiful towns. Hole up in one of its many B&B's and have a night out in any or all of its 30 or more hostelries.

A great weekend's adventure.

PHcp

Hairy Jock wrote:

Never understood why on an Island there is only considered to be one coast to coast route. :roll:

I didn't think anyone was suggesting there was :roll: :roll:

PHcp

jibi wrote:

I was on tarmac as I said except for that one 100yd bit of footpath and I think you don't have to do it, there is way around
I was riding a fast one and just following the signs
On my first ride, at Nenthead , I took a wrong turn and ended up on cobbles , behind the pub, (serious uphill too) but it was a sign for the off road C2C

george

We must have been following different signs, the route I used took me off tarmac a few times. The longest and most notable was the Waskerley way, which was gravel and quite deep in places. I'm sure there are ways to avoid it, but none of them are marked on my Sustrans maps.

jibi

I went straight over the moors from Stanhope and down to Consett on the tarmac,

I just followed the road,

I was grovelling so much there I must have missed that sign, if there is one, seems I was lucky there..

Where else, on the road C2C??
As I have said I only had that one little bit, but on the off road C2C lots.... ,

george

Hairy Jock

pneumatic wrote:

I would recommend Helensburgh to St Andrews, which you can do in a day as it is only 100 miles. Gentle climb out of Helensburgh, cycle path around Loch Lomond and then dead straight, wind behind, mostly flat all the way to St A's. Time trial heaven. Stop on the way at Stirling Castle or Wallace Monument (or both), Milnathort (fabby ice-cream shop), Auchtermuchty (pint at the Cycle Tavern) and then the last couple of miles into St Andrews will give you the most breathtaking view of one of Britain's most beautiful towns. Hole up in one of its many B&B's and have a night out in any or all of its 30 or more hostelries.

A great weekend's adventure.

Now, that really does look like fun, thanks, I really must try it

vernonlevy

steve23 wrote:

i will be riding the coast to coast route in mid september, and was looking for info on the route etc.

we will be following the cycle route 72 (i think). is it all on road, as i only have a "normal" road bike!!! how hard is the route, some of our group are not mega fit!!

any info is great, thanks!

I did it as a 24 stone rider with full camping gear on a 12 speed Raleigh Equipe road bike. Totally unsuitable gears for the payload but nevertheless I did the crossing in 2.5 days. You don't have to be mega fit _ I wasn't when I did it. Just remember everyone in your party has 24" gears i.e. two feet and their's no shame in getting off to push.

Buy the Sustrans map for definitive guidance.

You'll find the crossing a relative breeze. All climbs are rewarded with a descent.


If you want to do a less strenuous crossing, you could contemplate doing the Hadrian's Cycle route also from Sustrans. South Shields to Bowness on Solway would be sufficient to count as a coast to coast and you needed bother pressing on to the end of the route. There's no difficult climbs and the crossing can be done in 100 miles or so.

There's also the Reiver's Route, Trans-pennine Cycle Route and Walney to Wear to investigate as way marked coast to coast crossings.