Coast to Coast

Shaggy3821
Shaggy3821 Posts: 37
edited January 2012 in Routes
Have opened my big gob (again) and volunteered to do the St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay coast to coast route next june. Have only just got over the last charity ride. Any tips, hints or advice would be greatly received. Have done the WHW in the past but led to believe this is above and beyond that little jaunt!

Comments

  • Giggsmaster
    Giggsmaster Posts: 632
    Hi

    I did the C2C in 2010. Great experience, I would definatley do it again. We completed it in 4 days, probably taking an average of 8-10 hours per day. We rode about 34 miles the 1st day, 38 miles 2nd, 55 miles 3rd and around 50 on our last day.

    The 1st day, of course, has some hike-a-bike. So be prepared, especially when you have to carry downhill as well. 2nd day is all rideable with some fitness, brilliant Lakeland trails to be had. 3rd and 4th days were in the Dales and Moors, so I knew what to expect but still hard going just because of the miles in the day. Just watch out for the supposed BW after Tan Hill Pub, its nowhere to be seen and its a hike through boggy sections, not good.

    Even though it was the toughest day, I enjoyed the 1st the most.....

    We stayed in a mixture of B+B's and YHA. We also took advantage of Sherpa Van to take our luggage from place to place. Great if you are thinking of carrying spares.

    Hope this helps, though I couldn't say whether its harder than the WHW. I tried the WHW this year and came off badly on the 1st day, cutting the ride short. Trying again next May.
    Biking Pics
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    Having done the WHW 1.5times and having walked a lot of the Lakes section of the Coast to Coast I can say that the first day in the Lakes is tougher than anything on the WHW.The Dales sections of the Coast-to-Coast are on Par with the WHW,ie mostly rideable but Navigation is not as easy as the WHW.
    Giggsmaster wrote:
    Just watch out for the supposed BW after Tan Hill Pub, its nowhere to be seen and its a hike through boggy sections, not good.
    I agree we "rode"this on a loop from the Tan Hill Inn and the path is non-existant and we spent ages just hiking through heather and bog :roll: It's actually marked on Harvey's maps as "a BW with no actual track on the ground"
    4738305399_bbb465fd88.jpg
    Its like^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ for a good few miles :roll:
    The other thing is the Coast-to-Coast is nearly twice the length of the WHW.If you follow the "real"(Wainrights)Coast-to-Coast then he describes it a "A" Coast-to-Coast so you can really make it fit around you :wink:
    There's also the newer Sustrans C2C(sea-to-sea) Whitehaven-to-Sunderland which is much easier,taking in green lanes and back-roads.
    Lynskey R480

  • MrGeebs
    MrGeebs Posts: 62
    Me and my mate did the C2C sustrans route this year and had a fab time. doing it over 3 days. day 1. Whitehaven to penrith, day 2, penrith to rookhope and day 3. rookhope to tyneside. 3 days was perfect cycling roughly 45 miles a day. We didn't walk with our bikes once, walking !!!! wtf, you're a cyclist. This website http://www.c2c-guide.co.uk/ was invaluable and we got all our accomodation from here. You meet loads of people and everyone is friendly, there are loads of charity groups doing it and you get to eat lots of cake. One thing I'd recommend is just take a medium backpack if you haven't got a friend driving. It's only 3 nights out and you wear the same outer clothes while cycling anyway, I don't see any point in paying for one of those sherpa van services, man up, it's only a backpack.
    Yes there are hills, yes there are many, but if you're setting out to do the C2C you should be used to hills and not be a sunday fairweather cyclist. The route is very well marked and we barely needed to get the map out at all. Just have a quick glance over it in the morning before you set off. On the first day the route goes through winlatter so time for a bit of downhill if you set off early enough.
    Have fun, anything else PM me, happy to help.
    um .. . . . .
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    MrGeebs wrote:
    Me and my mate did the C2C sustrans route this year and had a fab time. doing it over 3 days. day 1. Whitehaven to penrith, day 2, penrith to rookhope and day 3. rookhope to tyneside. 3 days was perfect cycling roughly 45 miles a day. We didn't walk with our bikes once, walking !!!! wtf, you're a cyclist.
    That's because you did the C2C(Sea-to-Sea,Whitehaven-Sunderland) and not the Coast-to-Coast(St Bees Head -Robin Hoods Bay)which is 100% ridable and doable on a road/CX bike :roll: The C2C and Coast-to-Coast are two very different routes.The(older Wainwrights)Coast-to-Coast is actually mostly off-road and goes over real Mountains in the Lakes sections which is why people generally use Sherpa van etc as it takes longer to complete than the C2C.
    The C2C is as you said a "cyclists" route,the Coast-to-Coast is a Fell walkers/Mountain Bikers route.I think people get confused and say they're doing the Coast-To-Coast when in fact they doing the (Sustrans)C2C.
    Lynskey R480

  • Giggsmaster
    Giggsmaster Posts: 632
    You took the words right out of my mouth ibbo....
    Biking Pics
  • MTBMick
    MTBMick Posts: 7
    Did the "Woodcock" route from St Bees to Robin Hood Bay this year and used Sherpa Van for luggage service which is recommended. Enjoyed the experience and were on our own for very long periods although several times vowed never to leave trail centre again as lots of sections unrideable / very difficult to keep a decent average speed up.

    Day 1 involved a large carry up the Black Sail pass and section of bog above Eskdale. Day 3 involved a couple of lakeland passes and boggy ground on lakes side of Shap and 10.5 hours in saddle (or carrying).

    If ground is wet I would avoid the bogs coming into Shap and Eskdale. They were bad enough in the dry.

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