Girls on Tour: the C2C road route

Yesterday ten of us touched our bike wheels in the sea by Sunderland Pier and it was a perfect moment as the sun shone and everybody beamed. Judging by the number of cyclists we saw during the last three days the coast to coast must be completed by thousands of people on bikes every year and yet you can still feel a huge sense of achievement and friendship, through pain and laughter, when that person is you and the rest of your mates.

Three days earlier I was just meeting some of our group for the first or second time ever but the C2C is like an accelerated learning course for friendship. It takes the first mechanical, a bit of map reading and lunch at 2pm despite leaving home at 5.30am to cover kids, jobs and partners. By the time everybody has had at least one hill they couldn't get up, but did; and kept look out while someone has to pee yet again, it feels like we've known each other for a decade or two.

Day one is hard work long before you get on your bike what with trying to leave home life organised while getting yourself plus bike to Workington in time to cycle the first 55 miles to Penrith. Then there’s the unplanned trip to Halford’s and a completely different route out of Workington due to the devastation left by the flooding at the end of last year. Cockermouth had been similarly affected and whole streets were boarded up and strangely uninhabited. So the trip started with a guilty buzz of excitement at our own frivolity against a backdrop of such obvious calamity for others.

To be continued ... see

Girls on Tour: the C2C road route Workinton to Penrith
Girls on Tour: the C2C road route Penrith to Rookhope
Girls on Tour: the C2C road route Rookhope to Sunderland

More Thursday Biking

Thursday tootles are gathering momentum and for the last couple of weeks we have been three. Three is our biggest gathering so far this year, which just goes to show what a toll bad weather and busy lives can take on a girl’s biking! This Thursday the weather was warm enough to get the legs out and, for those of us who hadn’t resorted to fake tan, they were a very white sight. It might not have looked pretty but it sure felt good.

Starting out in Ainthorpe we headed up to Danby Beacon and then turned left onto an old favourite across Brown Rigg and Roxby High Moor. The last time I did this bit of single track it had snow as an extra but today it was just dry and fast; what more could a girl ask for? After High Tranmire Farm there was the usual footbath for anyone daft enough to bike through Hardale Beck and then it was the near vertical up, complete with sections of loose gravel and grassy banks to aid traction.

We rattled on through Green Houses and onto Lealholm, after a spot of house viewing at Lealholm Side (don't ask), returning not via Houlsyke but heading out of Lealholm towards Fryup up an incline that for once looked far steeper than it actually was. Before heading back to the start we had one last detour to make via Danby Moors Centre and in particular the cafe with its fish finger sandwiches and gallons of hot tea, coffee and cakes!

The following Thursday it appeared 'summer' had been and gone and it was back to cycling tights; still the route up Ainthorpe Rigg is always guaranteed to keep you warm and today was no exception. We proceeded round onto Danby Rigg and then back onto the tarmac for a stint up New Way before heading off on more bridleway towards Trough House and beyond ... a great bit of track as long as you don't need to decelerate too fast on the loose surface. Winter has taken its toll on all the local bridleways and this one is no exception so unless you are paying attention it is easy to find yourself on a new route that leads exactly to the middle of nowhere - that'd be me then! 

Another road section gave us just enough time to catch our breath and chat before our route headed right across Glaisdale Rigg and we chose to come out between Broad Lees and High Lees at the top end of Glaisdale. Now lunch was in sight and as we head back towards Lealholm it was decision time should we go for the tea rooms or the pub - the pub won with its Rambler's Lunch at £5 a go and a warm and cosy bar. Over hot soup and sandwiches we told Lou all about the deceptively steep looking incline out of Lealholm and how it was a doddle really ... having convinced her we returned by the same route as last week - another good ride girls!

No Thursday biking next week as I'm off on the C2C very early on the Friday - fingers crossed the weather gets warmer again before then.