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!