C2C Transport to and from

lioneld

Evening all, First post...

Our group (9 of us) are going to complete the Coast 2 Coast in the autumn, not got a defined route yet but will head out of Whitehaven and end in Tynemouth, no surprise there i guess.. problem is

I've been hitting a bit of a wall with regard to transport up to Whitehaven and back from Tynemouth. Restrictions on number of bikes on trains, we've all got wives and kids at school so that rules out the other half driving us to the start point. Coaches seem a no-no, van hire is about £250 each way which is looking like the only and most viable option.

Has anyone got any ideas or perhaps experience of taking a group of 9ish riders to Whitehaven or anywhere else for that matter?

Any feedback gladly received!

brin

Ride there, stay over night, ride back.

gsk82

we've done it the past 2 years. got the train from newcastle on the friday afternoon, rode back saturday, no problem whatsoever. the secodn time i left my car at a city centre car park which cost about 8quid, we then got the metro back from tynemouth and chucked our bikes in the back

Aminasquintina

Not one for driving...so when I did it I did use the train (from London, returned to Bournemouth) - did it on a bank holiday, admittedly I did it on my own, but, it was a simple enough process.

Maybe think about travelling in two separate groups.

If you booked up 3 months in advanced (when train tickets are released) I am sure that you could get some real bargains.

Good luck

alfablue

The problem with the train is that it is a 2 carriage affair, and the 2 bikes allowed are at the discretion of the train crew, so you can be waiting at the station with no way to be certain of getting on the train. This is of course compounded when in a group. When I did the ride I cycled from Whitehaven to Tynemouth then Tynemouth back to Newcastle and got the train from there. We were lucky, just 2 of us, and got on okay, but I really didn't enjoy the uncertainty.

Have a look at this: The Bike Bus

amaferanga

Dunno if this would work out cheaper, but presumably you could all get to Carlisle by train on the west coast main line (you'd probably have to split the group between 3 or 4 trains though). Then hire a van for a day to ferry the bikes down to Whitehaven with most of the group taking the train. From Newcastle is much easier - just ride back into Newcastle from Tynemouth and get on the train home (splitting the group over a few trains again).

Fat Head

It might be worth contacting this bike transport company for a quote
http://www.spanglefish.com/BikeTaxiScotland

They could pick you up, drop you on the west coast, pick you up from the east coast when you are done, then return you home

lioneld

I guess it'd have helped by stating we were leaving from Birmingham!
Thanks for the response guys, I'll give that bike taxi transport thing a look - cheers fathead. Brin, I'd love to give it a go, it's approx 550miles round and i'd need 2 coffins somewhere around Preston for the 'just started riding' contingent in the group

thanks again everyone

innerhaven

Maybe we could help out too?

Cheers,

Andy

reyserf

The guys at work have used these people to transport them selves and their bikes back to Newcastle from Edinburgh after the Coast & Castles, they seem efficient,

http://thebicycletransportcompany.co.uk/

I think we are going to use them this year for the C2C in July, I know the organiser has received a quote.

George

Bike Transport

We also supply passenger and cycle transport from west to east or from start to home or finish to home

cant do any harm to get a quote from a company that specialises in supply pass/bike transport for last 7 years

ps our prices have been held for 3rd year running


http://www.tdktravel.com

pennepacker

We used these guys last year, already mentioned earlier in the thread - http://www.bikebus.uk.com/

They were absolutely superb. Came all the way down to Kent to get us. Very pleased we did that rather than faff around with driving ourselves up and having to ferry back to the start to get cars (there were 12 of us).

dd1

Did it with a group of 12 a couple of years ago. Drove up to Penrith and stayed overnight there (and left the cars at the hotel), and then hired a minibus to drive us to Whitehaven in the morning.

Minibus then picked us up from Tynemouth and drove us back to Penrith to collect cars. Worked pretty well.

anthdci

I would drive to Newcastle, park up. Get the train to Whitehaven, they are quite regular. Then your car/s is there for when you get back. I live in Sunderland so it when I did it 2 of us got a lift, and 2 took that train. It was very easy.