September 1 - 3, 2006

The English Sea to Sea Ride

Day 3

Consett

This day was much easier than the previous two. The weather was pretty good, and the route was generally downhill to the sea with no big climbs,  We largely rode on cycle tracks based on old railways (hence no traffic), and we only had 30 miles to do – albeit as it had to be done by lunchtime, we couldn’t dawdle too much

 

After a decent breakfast we set off, with the Freedom/Alcatel guys the first on the road (again), and the group I rode with (Neil, Dave, Andy, Ken, and Phil) being the last on the road (again).

pavement of the A68), we headed on to Consett. The C2C passport said we could get our sixth  stamp at the Safeway supermarket in Consett, but we couldn’t see one … until it clicked that Safeway had been bought by Morrisons a couple of years back. So the people in that big Morrisons store with the big Morrisons petrol station in front of it will stamp our passports then? So it proved.

 

The next challenge was finding our way through Consett (not in truth a place of great beauty) and out onto the path to Sunderland, making sure we didn’t take the route to Newcastle and Tynemouth by mistake. The route zig zags through the town centre and northern suburbs alarmingly, so you need to keep a look out for the C2C signs. However, once clear of the outskirts the route is clear.

 

With all the messing about, we thought we’d better get our heads down. We needed to get the bikes to Sunderland by 1PM. Time was pressing on, and we thought we should too.

 

 

 

We wondered where Mike and Colin, staying at their B&B, were. (We’d planned to cycle with them). We’d left messages on both of their mobile phones, but had heard nothing in response.

 

As the cycle route crosses the busy A68 near their B&B we waited there for a little while. Most of the group set off after 10 minutes, but Neil and I stayed a little longer. We didn’t catch up with Colin and Mike until the North Sea (at which Mike ultimately arrived first!), but it meant that Neil and I rode the last day together.

 

When we left the A68 behind (tip: if you do stop for a break on the last leg of the trip, there are far more pleasant places to do it than on the

A poser, on the Waskerley Way

Rainbow near Consett

Consequently, the rest of the morning was spent at a brisk pace, passing through sunny, pleasantly rolling county Durham countryside on the cycle track, which because of its easy gradient allowed us to get into a rhythm and hold it. This was very welcome after the previous day.

 

We did have a few brief stops, to try to contact Mike by phone (turns out his battery was flat), to take in the view from the bridge over the East Coast rail line towards Gateshead and the Angel of the North, and on the spectacular Victoria Viaduct. Less welcome was a stop to fix a rear wheel puncture on my bike, but (flying

pannier bag on day 1 aside) it was the only mechanical mishap I suffered on the trip.