September 1 - 3, 2006

The English Sea to Sea Ride

Day 1

Whinlatter

The feeling of satisfaction evaporated when we looked at the map and checked how far we had come from Whitehaven – almost exactly five miles. Given that the first group had set off almost 90 minutes ago and was probably climbing Whinlatter twenty miles ahead, we realised we had to pick up the pace a lot, or we would be spending the first night in Keswick, not Penrith as planned.

 

We set off at speed, pausing only to put my pannier back on, which had shot off my bike when I flew over a speed bump in Cleator Moor. Applying the customarily shrieking brakes, I found myself in the unusual position of being overtaken by my own pannier gracefully sliding down the road to a halt 10 yards ahead of me. Thankfully this was the only mechanical mishap that affected Dave, Neil and I that day.

keep in a rhythm, but the views over Loweswater and across to the Crummock Water/Buttermere fells more than compensated.

 

Not so lucky was Mike Shawcross. As we approached the more undulating terrain on the edge of the Lake District, Dave’s mobile phone rang. It was Andy Trotter, saying that he and Mike had stopped, as Mike’s chain had broken. They were about 4 or 5 miles ahead, outside the school at Lamplugh.

 

We caught up with them 15 minutes later. The bike Mike was riding was brand new, and the chain still sported its coating of manufacturer’s grease rather than cycle oil. Andy’s bike was jumping out of gear, and his hands were oily black after having had to put his chain back on four times by now. He was mightily grateful when I pulled out a small pot of hand cleaner that I had brought with me and he was able to clean his hands.       

 

They had phoned the Discovery guys who were on their way. We stopped for a chat and to take Mike’s picture with his broken chain, then set off again.

For me, the Lake District is the most beautiful part of England and the low cloud didn’t diminish the grandeur of the scenery over the next twenty miles or so. The cycling was harder now, with a series of undulating dips and climbs making it difficult to

Oily types (and a broken chain)

The weather closed in and the rain started as we approached Whinlatter pass, the biggest climb of the day. The C2C route follows an undulating minor road up the pass rather than the main B5292, and was probably a harder ride as the gradients seemed more severe than those on the quiet B road we could see below us.

 

A mile before the summit of the climb the minor road joined the B5292, which we followed to the visitor centre at the top, where we stopped for a bite to eat. We were tucking in when Mike and Andy turned up, broken chain reconnected and jumping gears adjusted by Discovery. The rain stopped while we were sheltering - it would stay off for the rest of the day. When we caught up with the front group later in the day, they said they hadn’t seen any rain – they had cycled over Whinlatter before it started.

 

Loweswater