As you can see spirits were high the morning of the third day of the C2C ... we had broken the back of the route and were confident that everyone would be able to finish what they had started! Not only that but there was reported to be just one last big climb at the start of the day known as Crawleyside Bank; this held no fear after we had conquered so many climbs yesterday. Of course ignorance is always bliss, a conclusion we quickly reached even as we toiled on the lower stretches of this final mammoth climb. Eventually, after leaving all signs of civilization behind and continuing onto open moorland we reached Parkhead Station the 100 mile point on the C2C with the promise of downhill all the way to Sunderland.
The Waskerley Way is a traffic free, off road section with a gentle downhill gradient. Finally, I thought I was going to get some benefit from toiling along on a mountain bike but fate decreed otherwise as I got my second puncture of the ride, Chris 2 Everyone else 0!
Still it was easily fixed and we were on our way again completing the Waskerley Way and on through Consett where finally someone else succumbed to a puncture a 'stonking, dirty nail through the tyre' affair. Cue cold, wet downpour and a time costly struggle to inflate the new inner. For the first time in three day everyone was wearing their waterproofs, gloves and anything else they could find to keep warmish and dryish? Finally we got ourselves sorted and pressed on to find lunch at the Shepherd and Shepherdess Pub in Beamish ... late again. Ravenous we all ordered masses of food including sticky desserts and while we were in the pub the sun came out; so it was with renewed vigour that we set off on the final section of our C2C.
We pressed onto the finish line conscious that there were many waiting partners and children at the Marina at Roker in Sunderland. This part of the route was surprisingly scenic and the final stretch follows the riverside sculpture trail so you get art work thrown in as well. The finish was one of those perfect moments when the sun shines and friends, new and old, grin widely with surprise at what they have achieved together ;)
Many thanks to everyone else who put in so much time and effort organising and taking part in this trip they were: Carol, Caroline, Clare, Fee, Liz, Ruth, Sally, Tanya and Vicky. What next girls ....
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