"Coast to Coast" - Help Required

JohnWilky
JohnWilky Posts: 63
edited May 2009 in Routes
A mate of mine has decided that instead of a normal stag do he fancies doing a "Coast to Coast" ride for his..... Trouble is he wants me to decide the route...... Now starts the challenge....

He isn't very fit, and neither are some of the other guy's, and they want to do it Fri-Sun..... Now I've suggested any of the coast to coast routes would be too challenging in that time period, but he's still keen.

Any idea's??

Thanks,

John.

Comments

  • Andy B
    Andy B Posts: 8,115
    Sustrans C2C is probably the easiest, ~150 miles, easily done in 3 days (has been done in 10 hours!) Still a fair bit of climbing though.
    2385861000_d125abe796_m.jpg
  • JohnWilky
    JohnWilky Posts: 63
    Thanks Andy,

    That does look like the easiest one I've seen so far...... could be just what we need.

    Thanks again,

    John.
  • funkymrmagic
    funkymrmagic Posts: 21
    Sustrans C2C is definitely the easiest... Do it West to East I would say, starting at Workington. This website is a useful one...
  • JohnWilky
    JohnWilky Posts: 63
    Thanks funky.
  • wyrdhead
    wyrdhead Posts: 6
    A good mate and I did the C2C a few years ago as our first major ride. We did it comfortably over 3 days but certainly now I realise how unfit we actually were, but we managed it and truly enjoyed it. The website was essential for preparation, route finding and accommodation.

    We went from Whitehaven to Sunderland....do NOT do Sunderland! Newcastle is a much nicer finish.

    One thing to say...be warned...Coast to Coasts can be addictive - since then we have done the Reivers and the Scottish Coast to Coast. Now trying to decide what to do next - is there a Irish Coast to Coast? :D
  • punctureboy
    punctureboy Posts: 217
    in that time period you could have a look at the devon coast to coast.
  • tptvmbircn
    tptvmbircn Posts: 782
    wyrdhead wrote:
    We went from Whitehaven to Sunderland....do NOT do Sunderland! Newcastle is a much nicer finish.

    Thanks a bunch mate...

    ...haha

    There both as bad as each other to be honest! Sustrans C2C is the best for you, just try and get out a bit before the ride and go well prepared, it will be a good laugh!
  • JohnWilky
    JohnWilky Posts: 63
    Thanks guys.

    What tyres would you recommend for the ride? I'm looking at maybe the conti double fighters rather than my usual nobblys.

    Cheers,

    John.
  • tptvmbircn
    tptvmbircn Posts: 782
    I used halo twin rails and downhill innertubes and usually cycle up the tracks to waskerley from sunderland and had no problems
  • kuddly
    kuddly Posts: 12
    John why not try the Hadrian's way but instead of doing it from Ravenglass you could start from Whitehaven or Workington that's if your going from west to east . I would not recommend The Reivers west to east i've just done it this way and it's badly signposted from Whitehaven till Falstone and the off road bit from Newcastleton to Keilder was very rough.
  • Cunobelin
    Cunobelin Posts: 11,792
    That was my thought, and easier route than the C2C and as much fun, but less climbing.

    Otherwise if you are not worried about getting to the destination then the Devon one will be more manageable with unfit riders (and unfit bikes?)
    <b><i>He that buys land buys many stones.
    He that buys flesh buys many bones.
    He that buys eggs buys many shells,
    But he that buys good beer buys nothing else.</b></i>
    (Unattributed Trad.)
  • JohnWilky
    JohnWilky Posts: 63
    Thanks again guy's.

    Now I have no concerns over myself making it but my friend has now asked his brother to join us using his son's 'halfords special' bike..... The more he talks about it the more worried I become.

    Where does the Devon one run from/to? Is there a map online I could have a look at?

    We are hoping to complete this over the weekend Fri 12 - Sun 14th June, so I don't have that long left to pick a route and do the planning.

    Cheers,

    John.
  • JohnWilky
    JohnWilky Posts: 63
    Just googled it and found it!! Cheers, the Devon route looks to be my favorite at the moment.

    John.
  • tptvmbircn
    tptvmbircn Posts: 782
    JohnWilky wrote:
    Just googled it and found it!! Cheers, the Devon route looks to be my favorite at the moment.

    John.

    good stuff, don't let yourself be put off the ride it will be fun, i'm not being personal but experience wise it may not be a good idea to recommend the halo twin rail and perhaps go for a more off road tyre as it does get slippy!

    hope you have fun!

Categories