Local Keswick knowledge

Unless things have changed in the last couple of years (which I doubt), the lower (Keswick) end is finer material and just about rideable on race-bike tyres. You could probably get to a holiday village (comprising a few terraced cottages and a bunch of permanent caravans) just over a mile from Keswick centre okay.
But the surface of the remaining 2 miles till you are about 1/2 mile short of Threlkeld then gets progressively coarser and looser, the stones pointier and sharper.

I tried to get through coming from the Threlkeld direction and punctured after less than 1/2 mile, and without a spare tube with me, had to walk the rest of the way to Keswick - which also didn't do my cleats much good on such a stoney surface.

One alternate is to ride from Keswick to the holiday village, then join the A66 using the access road from the A66 to the holiday village. However probably a far better choice to Threlkeld on a racing bike is a small road on the south side of the A66 between Keswick and about where the Sustrans route ends, going past Burns Farm Campsite. I don't know it but later discovered it on maps.

Are you doing c2c?

We used Road bikes, and followed the c2c route without much problem, then we chose to stick on the A66 for longer, as the old A66 runs right beside it on the other side of a hedge (you can see it on google maps) and was perfect for cycling on - literally a closed road for miles.

bianchimoon wrote:

yup doing c2c tomorrow, will see if i can find that road on google, tho concensus seems to be go up towads castlerigg stone circle and rejoin A66 further east

Yeah that's right, nasty climb out of Keswick up to the stone circle!

Once you get onto the A66 (around Threlkeld) I would stay on until the turn off towards Greystoke.