Girls on Tour: the C2C road route Penrith to Rookhope

On paper day two of the C2C was easier because we were cycling fewer miles but it was the day everyone knew would test us the most. We had all seen the route profile and there were some serious hills to climb; names like Hartside, Garrigill and Black Hill were to be forever associated with some serious thigh burning effort. I had failed to drink my allotted volume of fluids the day before and so signalling my intent to give it my all on the second day I drank the remaining litre of water from my camelbak complete with delicious energy powder before even getting out of bed ... yummy! Topped off with a Full English there was going to be no stopping me.

We couldn't even leave Penrith without a fairly abrupt ascent and descent to get us in the mood, however, today we were determined to fit in at least one coffee and cake stop to keep both our energy levels and our spirits up. The plan was for everybody to cycle at their own pace and then regroup in Long Meg at the Watermill for refreshments before the long slog to the summit of Hartside at 560 metres. We never did quite work out how we missed our stop but before we knew it we were strung out along the length of that never ending road to Hartside cafe. The sun came out and the views opened up to create a fabulous panorama of Lakeland beauty as we toiled onwards and upwards.We had certainly earned our lunch by the time we reached the summit and I think I even managed a date slice to finish off with.

We had heard rumours that, although Hartside was high, the next climb, Garrigill, was tending to vertical and the rumours didn't exaggerate; what hadn't been made clear was that even after the gradient eased (a little) the climb kept going and going but the scenery was still fabulous and more than made up for the pain. What goes up must come down and the descent into Nenthead was awesome and made even more satisfactory by an impromptu stop at The Miners Arms for a quick half before we ...yes you've guessed it ... went up again.

This time we were headed for Black Hill and the highest point of the C2C at 609 metres as the route crosses over into Northumberland. The legs seemed to rise to the challenge and felt strong as we powered to the top of yet another very satisfactory climb; it really felt like we were making progress as we entered a new County. The route had fallen into an almost hypnotic pattern of ascent and descent which continued through Allenheads and then along yet another glorious descent into Rookhope which was fast and furious as the end of the days cycling beckoned.

We had struggled to find accommodation for the second night and were booked into Rosehill Farm B&B just outside of Eastgate which was slightly off the beaten track. There was a near sense of humour failure when we arrived to discover that the approach along 'half a mile of well surfaced track' was as vertical as Garrigill had been earlier in the day. I was saved the pain of cycling this last hill by a timely puncture at the bottom. It was as well that the owners had offered to transport us back to the Cross Keys in Eastgate for our evening meal otherwise there might have been a few hungry people by morning - no one was too keen to cycle for their supper!

Girls on Tour: the C2C road route Workington to Penrith

On the first day of the C2C we were like a group of kids set free from school. It was wonderful to be responsible for nothing more than a bike and getting to Penrith by night fall. Fee's map reading got us through the more built up areas of Workington and Cockermouth and it was decided to take the C2C Guide's suggestion to avoid the off road section via Wythop Mill since the majority of the group were on road bikes. I was happy to go along with the decision knowing that I would get to bike that section the following week as part of my Lakeland Loop trip. The detour included cycling down a wide 'gutter' which ran along the side of a short section of the A66. This was interesting since receding flood water had left a deep swathe of debris over the top of any wide gutter that may once have existed! Wythop Woods was a delight after the proximity of the A66 and before we knew it we were speeding through Braithwaite and then into Keswick itself for a much needed lunch at a convenient cafe off the main car park. One of the most picturesque sections of the first day was cycling out from Keswick and through the Greta Gorge towards Threlkeld. This included crossing a host of different bridges, some of which were quite nerve racking for those not so keen on high open spaces.

We wanted to make Penrith by 6pm since we had booked a table for 6.30pm at a local Italian restaurant called Giannis and it's amazing what a bit of exercise can do for your appetite. The afternoon was a mixture of quiet roads and bridleways, there were glimpses of the more isolated aspects of the Lakes interspersed with pretty villages and properties. As we spun into Blencow the sight of Blencow Hall to our left was truly unexpected with its modern glazing covering the V shaped cleft in the first of its peele towers. However, our final destination was the much more modest Acorn Guest House in Penrith which was described as 'very handily placed for C2C cyclists being located only 5 yards from the C2C route itself'. Perfect!

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.

Mountain Biking in the Lake District

We had booked into Center Parcs at Whinfell Forest in Cumbria for a break this Easter and decided to use it as a base to revisit some great mountain biking locations in the Lake District. First up was Whinlatter Forest Park which is home to the Altura Trail - 19km of fabulous red grade single track. Initially, I wasn't keen on this outing since the last time I had been to Whinlatter was to take part in the Whinlatter Challenge in March 2009. The Challenge is my only defeat to date in mountain biking competitions since I retired after the first of two laps fearing that daylight would be gone and emergency rescue vehicles be required if I set out on the second lap! In my defence I could claim ill health on the day and note that 25% of entrants DNF as we say but to be honest these are poor excuses. I can only hope that they keep running the challenge so I can go back and seek victory over that particular event one day.

However, the Altura trail is different again from the Whinlatter Challenge and we had a brilliant day out hitting the 10km North Loop in the morning before being seduced by the wonderful nosh at Siskins cafe for lunch and moving onto the 9km South Loop in the afternoon. Adam was not too impressed with the start of the North Loop, 'Bob's Traverse' being somewhat exposed and 'The Slog' being just that but it was all worth it for the descent:  'Happy Days', 'Big Dipper' and 'Grand National' need no explaining the whole family were on a high by the time we swooped back into the car park. The south Loop starts with a stretch of single track called 'Dead on Arrival' which was somewhat daunting but to be honest we all found this ascent much more engaging than 'The Slog'. Again both the view and the descent were more than worth the climb and we simply flew back to visitors centre.

 

The second outing of the Easter break was to Grizedale Forest and the North Face Trail another 16km of free flowing mountain biking. The Grizedale Challenge is held here in the month of September and for the last two years we have found time to take part along with other mad friends. I still haven't managed to complete the course in under 5 hours but am inching closer and who knows what this year will bring. Again the trail is completely different from the challenge. It starts  with an ascent which zigzags upwards and requires good concentration, technical ability and fitness to keep moving smoothly without any offs or dabbing. A moment of hilarity was provided by Ben disappearing from a relatively straight section of track into some very brambly undergrowth from which it was quite difficult to extract himself -the whole route can be completed in a couple of hours with kids in tow providing plenty of variety and entertainment for all. 

Move out the way kids Dad is coming through!

Racing for fun - the latest event - the Nutcracker

The fourth of April 2010 saw the Lewis family heading over to Camp Hill near Bedale to take part in the the first of six races which will make up the Nutcracker MTB XC series and boy was it worth the effort. How lucky are we to get a mountain biking series on our doorstep with a category for everyone in the family to take part in. All the photos are by Enigmatic Photography and can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutcrackermtb/.

Even our youngest, just turned 11, got to do a lap of the same circuit as the elite men which he was totally up for. As it turned out this was a one off because the organisers hadn't realised that under 12's are in a separate category for mountain biking - thus at the last minute Dad had to accompany him on his lap for insurance reasons. From here on in a Nutcracker Academy has been set up for the under 12's called the Sweat Monsters and a specially created short course will be available free of charge at each of the remaining five races.

The series follows a common timetable which for our family works well with the kids racing in the morning at 10am and the extremely ancient parents racing later in the afternoon at 2pm. Ben, in the juvenile race was the only one of us to suffer with a mechanical - a flat tyre which he got just after the first lap. He walked much of his second lap only to discover when the results came out that he only needed to do one lap anyhow! Better luck next time son!

I was really pleased with my ride. The conditions under tyre were very muddy which made it a physical course but I managed a pretty consistent two laps and didn't collapse at the finish line - always a bonus. Having never been placed in a race before I was chuffed with my third place but since there were only five of us in the female vet category I have to say I would rather come further down the field and see more female competitors - where are you all?

And as for Mark he was a star, having already ridden a practice course plus a race lap with Adam he had a good three laps but was absolutely gutted when he was pipped on the finish line by a competitor racing from his local bike shop. Still there's nothing like a bit of rivalry to keep you motivated at these events.

Such a local event meant that it was easy to pass the word around and encourage people to pitch up at the event regardless of whether they had ever competed before. At least one such competitor was heard taking my name in vain as he completed his second lap of the course and vowed afterwards to be back leaner and meaner for the next race of the series. Unfortunately, the Lewis family can't make the second race, a prior engagement with the Lakeland Loop, but races three to six are already in the calendar - the dates are as follows:

• 23 May at Richmond
• 13 June at Dalby
• 22 August at Swaledale
• 12 September at Bedale
• 17 October at Hamsterley Forest

Hope to see you there!

Racing for fun (The first time – Ten Under the Ben)

I entered my first mountain bike competition in 2008 at the age of 44 and it was truly a baptism of fire. It was one of a series of three endurance races based in Scotland … 10 Under the Ben was the innocuous name of the event meaning a wee ten mile circuit in the vicinity of the Nevis Range and Lochaber Rural Complex to be ridden continuously for 10 hours. Now this event could be entered as an individual or as a team and originally the idea had been to enter a team of four so that the biking could be shared out – there being no possibility of me being able to mountain bike for 10 hours straight! But when it came right down to it there was only Mark (husband) mad enough to enter with me and so we found ourselves in that lonely category of mixed vets - a total of eight I think.

We drove up to Ben Nevis on the Friday night after work and it was still Friday when we arrived but only just. We had booked a place at the ‘campsite’ which turned out to be your bog standard field completely crammed with tents. I swear there were not more than two blades of grass together without camping paraphernalia squashing them. This was apparent from inside the car but things got much worse when we actually got out. The reason for the strange head gear several individuals were wearing became immediately obvious – the midges were wicked!!!  Luckily we had brought an ancient and tiny two-man tent that was quick to erect and we found a space of sorts between the guy lines of more deluxe models. We then proceeded to try and grab a few hours kip before the rigours of the next day. It was one of the stranger nights I have spent. Conversely, for Scotland, it was extremely warm and in the humid, pitch dark it felt like we were in an unfeasibly large bed full of hundreds of strangers. Different conversations and jokes bombarded us from every angle, despite the fact that I was wearing a fleece over my head in an attempt to sabotage the midges’ plan of attack. All in all the perfect preparation for my very first race!

The next day dawned hotter than ever but fortunately in the daylight the midges had abated so bare legs could be risked otherwise I fear heat exhaustion would have been a real likelihood. Many people had registered the night before but as we hadn't made it up in time we went and signed in as 'The Cobbles' and got our electronic tags and race numbers - this was a first in itself. The fact that we were in a team event meant I could watch the start which was just as well because I was feeling somewhat intimidated by all the lycra encased testosterone roaming about the place. Once the start was over it was an hour before the leaders completed their first circuit so there was plenty of time to get into the atmosphere and chat to other competitors - I was rapidly coming to the conclusion that I had well and truly jumped in at the deep end of mountain biking challenges.

If I'm honest the first circuit was heart stoppingly scary, I had never even been on a bike in Scotland let alone ridden in a competition. The circuit was totally unfamiliar so the only way I could approach it was to tell myself I could and would cycle whatever was round the next corner. With hindsight this was probably not the most sensible approach and neither was it the right approach to getting the fastest time - sometimes its quicker to get off and run. But by now the fact that I was in a race was eclipsed by the need to prove to myself that I could do the route, all of it, on my bike. Two years later all I can remember is the heat, the effort and the adrenalin. The second circuit was better in that I knew what was coming and that I had already done it without killing myself but it was also worse in that I knew what was coming .... And the third circuit nearly did kill me, the thought of some horrendous fall began to seem very attractive compared with other option of continuing to keep the pedals moving. I knew there was no way I was going to make a fourth lap not unless it would save the world or at least a child or two ... we haven't yet been back to take part in more of the '10 series' but we will. The sense of comradeship between the competitors and the feeling that everyone who took part was a winner are memories for life; and it was the first of something that continues to be a source of great enjoyment and fulfilment to me.

Other mountain biking challenges and races that I can recommend include:

• Grizedale mountain bike challenge
• The Altura Whinlatter mountain bike challenge
• British Mountain Bike Series
• The Nutcracker MTB XC series

It's great news that there is now a mountain bike series in the north in the form of the nutcracker series - so if you live in the area get involved. The first race was in April but there are another five to come and if I can do it anyone can!