September 1 - 3, 2006

The English Sea to Sea Ride

Day 1

Whitehaven

The guys from Discovery Travel in York dropped off the bikes as arranged, and handed out some spare inner tubes (which would later come in useful…) and some basic toolkits. They gave us each a map and a C2C ‘passport’, and offered some advice on the pros and cons of the various alternative parts of the route. Regarding the ‘passport’, a number of shops, pubs and cafes along the route will stamp this document for you. Apart from acting as evidence that you have ridden the C2C, a stamped passport also allows you to purchase a C2C t-shirt should you so desire. (Dave looks very fetching in his...)

We didn’t travel as a single group. Some were eager to get to Penrith as soon as possible, others were a little more relaxed about setting off in a hurry. I was in the latter camp. Dave, Neil and I stopped to take some pictures for another group doing the wheel dipping thing, then drifted into Whitehaven’s market square to get our C2C passports stamped. We then called in at the loos at the end of the market square, and then (deciding against a nice, relaxing coffee) eventually trundled out of town on the cycle track towards the Lakes. Unsurprisingly, we were the last group to hit the road.

 

The first part of the ride was easy. The cycle track (built on an old railway line) followed a gentle incline towards the distant mountains. Pleasant, but the most memorable part of the first section of the trip was the ungodly shriek that came from my front brake whenever I applied it. One dog walker on the edge of Whitehaven leaped out his skin when I slowed down to pass him, muttering an oath about getting ‘that bloody thing fixed!’ as I went past, slightly embarrassed.

While the toolkit was sufficient to fix a puncture, it was good to know that Discovery would come to the aid of anyone who had a more serious breakdown. Just as well, as it turned out later.

 

The day’s cycling started by dipping rear wheels into the Irish Sea under grey skies at Whitehaven harbour, clothing items still damp from the soaking we took on the way back from the route planning session in the pub the previous night. We then headed off towards the Lake District.

Wheeldippers part one

Our pace remained relaxed. Passing the small town of Cleator Moor, we noted that you could get another passport stamp at the Spar on the High Street, so in went. Only thing was, ten minutes of cycling up and down convinced us that there isn’t a Spar on the High Street.

 

Asking a local, we were told that it had been re-badged as a Fine Fare some time ago, and that you had to look closely as the Fine Fare sign itself was now very faded. Armed with this information we were able to find it. Just as we were climbing off our bikes outside the shop, a helpful lady pulled over in her car and pointed out that if we were looking for a C2C passport stamp, we needed to be in the small newsagent’s shop on the other side of the main square, which has taken over the job. Over we went, and finally got our second passport stamp.