Cycling The Coast to Coast (C2C) - Self-Supported Way

17-21 September 2017

Once I've tasted cycle touring on my first ever overnight trip in August I decided to do a slightly longer self-supported tour and 'Coast to Coast (C2C) or rather 'Sea to Sea' route became an obvious choice. There are several different C2Cs but I went for what I think is one of the classic ones i.e. one that starts in Whitehaven and ends in Tynemouth. Cycle touring can be conducted in many different ways but I would go for self-supported type i.e. I would carry all the stuff like a tent and other camping equipment with me.

I would use the same (unsuitable) cheap Giant Escape M1 hybrid bike as last time but I would reduce the weight of some of the kit. Aluminium cooking set from GoOutdoors gets replaced with single Alpkit 650ml titanium pot. Vango gas stove gets replaced with tiny Alpkit Kraku. Two-person Vango Mirage 200 gives way to Terra Nova Southern Cross 1. Based on my exhausting overnighter in Peak District I assumed that I would need more than standard three days so I booked a week off.

This time I would have to think about logistics as I would have to drive to the starting point, park the car and then come back to the car by train. What I ended up doing was to drive to Whitehaven from Barnsley on Saturday 17th September, stay in Summergrove Halls overnight and then set off on Sunday morning. As long as you stay at least one night at Summergrove Halls they allow you to park the car for the duration of the trip. I would come back a few days later by Newcastle-Whitehaven train.

On the way to Whitehaven, I popped into Keswick and bought a few pieces of clothing made out of merino wool so that I wouldn't smell too bad on a train after cycling in the same set of clothes for a few days.

Summergrove Halls appeared pretty much empty. I honestly felt as if I was the only person staying there even though there were a few cars at the car park. Well, maybe they simply belonged to other people doing C2C?

Since I arrived in Whitehaven relatively early I decided to cycle to the official start of C2C route from the hotel on the same evening. This could be treated like cheating as on Sunday I would be setting off directly from the hotel but does it really make any difference? If anything I added 5km to my mini-adventure as this is the distance between the hotel and the metal sculpture on the seaport slipway. I managed to dip my hand in the water but I would advise against it as the slipway is very, very slippery.

It was already dark when I was coming back to the hotel and my cheap basic front light from Decathlon wasn't bright enough. Another item got added to the list of improvements required.

There is a shared kitchen in the hotel so I prepared a meal and wandered around the place only to reinforce my conviction that I was the only guest.

I got up early on Sunday and around 8 am I was already packed and ready to set off and enjoy crisp autumn air.

For navigation, I was using my Samsung smartphone with Viewranger app. C2C is quite clearly signposted but I found a few places on the way where my sat nav app became useful.

Alongside the planned route I marked a few campsite locations and the first one was just to the west of Keswick. I would only have to cycle 50km to get there but at a time of planning, I didn't know if I would be able to cover more than this.

Surprisingly crossing Lake District isn't as demanding as it might seem. The only challenge between Whitehaven and Keswick is Whinlatter Pass which requires you to climb 230m in 3.3km. Still, as I'm a poor climber I ended up getting off my bike and pushing it during steeper sections.

Despite this to my surprise, I reached the campsite around noon and decided it's way too early to stop and carried on. Well, I had a meal first in The Chalet restaurant in Portinscale Village just before Keswick. Being convinced that bigger meal means more strength I actually ordered two meals which only resulted in feeling too heavy later on. The lesson is that if you have an opportunity to get food go for it but do not overdo it. Shortly after that I came across Kat's Kitchen of Keswick vegetarian restaurant and made a mental note to visit it sometime in the future.

It was strangely pleasant and liberating to cycle through the centre of Keswick where I was shopping just a day before. Emerging out of Keswick I cycled past Castlerigg Stone Circle which was one of the first locations I visited in the Lake District a good few years back. Again I already felt some sense of accomplishment just because I was travelling on a bicycle rather than by car this time. The weather was still good, dry and sunny. For quite some time I could admire Blencathra on the left. With my pace being slow it was hard to believe I would ever leave this impressive mountain behind me.

At this point, my focus switched to reaching Bank House Farm campsite located in the village called Little Salkeld about 10km after passing Penrith.

I ended up covering 88km on that day which I didn't think I was able to do. My bum was sore from an unsuitable saddle, my bike was making creaking noises I was unable to identify but my adventure was happening.

I was the only person staying at the campsite. When you google C2C you are immediately given the impression it's a very popular route but certainly not at the end of September. I had a few freeze-dried meals with me and one of them became useful as there was no shop nearby and I failed to buy anything in Penrith.

I was to sleep under Terra Nova Southern Cross 1 for the first time. The tent seemed to be solidly made and kept me dry during the night but some things started annoying me even after this first night in it. One of them was lack of space. Of course, I knew it was one man tent when I was buying it but I wasn't able to sit down in it without touching side walls with my head or shoulders. Nevertheless, the tent kept me dry and warm during a wet and chilly night.

I knew that on Monday I would be climbing to Hartside Pass which would be harder than Whinlatter Pass and I was hoping it wouldn't rain. I set off from about 100m above sea level and would be reaching 580m elevation. Climbing was slow and involved pushing again. Luckily enough there was no rain, just clouds. I was one of the lucky ones who got rewarded at the top of the pass i.e. I got a chance to visit the Hartside Cafe which would burn only half a year after my visit. I celebrated reaching the pass with a big veggie meal of course.

Descending to Alston was exhilarating. I stopped only once to put on some extra clothing as the wind chill factor kicked in.

The rain was forecast for the afternoon but after this following days would be dry and sunny. This contributed to a sensible decision of cutting the day short and waiting out the rain. The suitable campsite called Haggs Bank Bunkhouse and Campsite was located not far before Nenthead. So after cycling and partly walking only 33km, I was putting up my tent.

The rain did come and since Nenthead is England's highest village it became also adequately cold.

Again I was the only guest at the campsite. Crowds of people cycling C2C where are you? Do you really only cycle in July and August?

The campsite owners were busy tidying up after some kind of event they hosted during the weekend.

They gave me a lift to Nenthead so that I could pop into the North Pennine Cycles shop. I wanted somebody to have a look at my bike which was making faint but annoying clanking noises. Sadly we didn't manage to locate the source of clanking but the owner made a few adjustments that I even failed to notice were required. In the evening I was driven to a nearby hotel where I had a meal and read a book on my Kindle. Walking back to the campsite helped to prepare me for the cold night to come. The temperature must have dropped close to 0°C at night. There was quite a lot of condensation in the tent and when it's almost impossible to move inside without touching the walls it is easy to get your sleeping bag wet.

Wanting to make best out of fine weather on Tuesday I got up early when it was still dark. It's so unpleasant to get out of the tent when it's cold and damp. Air temperature quickly rose though and sunny weather brought optimism.

Around 9 am I reached Northumberland and took advantage of dry conditions and dried my tent. I was simply standing and holding it on the side of the road allowing the breeze to do the job.

I had my second breakfast (porridge being the first one) in The Hemmel Cafe in Allenheads village. It was pleasant to sit outside in the sun even though morning chill had not quite gone away. To my surprise, they were serving vegetarian breakfast despite being involved in gamekeeping. Riding through North Pennines was probably the best part of the trip. I liked the open space and the lack of traffic.

In Rookhope there is a choice of routes: offroad which would bypass Stanhope and single file road leading to Stanhope. I went for the tarmac. The initial climb was hard but the views were rewarding. On the way up I spoke to one of a very few cyclists I saw during this trip. It was some older, scruffy looking but friendly guy. He wasn't on a tour though, just taking a day trip.

Getting out of Stanhope was hard work again. Progress up Crawleyside Bank was very slow but finally, I found myself back in the hills. This was to be the last climb of any significance on C2C.

The route I prepared in ViewRanger would lead me to Consett. I opted for stopping in Edmondbyers for the night instead which sadly meant I bypassed apparently gorgeous railway path crossing the moors. This diversion from the official C2C route happened mainly because I thought the campsite in Edmondbyers would be better than the one in Consett. I stayed in the campsite provided by Lowhouse Haven Hostel which also has its own bar called The Baa. I don't know what I expected but I was the only person sleeping in a tent that night. No sign of any cyclists.

At least there were a few people in the pub. I finished pitching my tent around 4 pm so had enough time to make an excursion to the shop in Blanchland village. The hint as to where the nearest shop was located was on the door of the closed shop in Edmondbyers. After cycling 7km to the historic village what I found was another closed shop.

At least I was cycling without my panniers. Hungry, I came back to Edmondbyers and had a meal in a pub after which I stayed up until late reading a book.

Wednesday would be a varied day as I would have to first complete the C2C then cycle to Newcastle train station, catch a train to Whitehaven and then drive back home. In result, I was up early and on the road around 6 am when it was still dark.

Edmondbyers detour meant a couple of extra climbs before I could join the main C2C route that would now run only downhill. Well marked roads and cycle paths including Keelman's Way took me to the River Tyne where environment became industrial.

The choice is then between cycling on the northern or southern side of the river. I went for the southern part and was planning to use the northern side when cycling back to the Newcastle train station. I didn't expect that one could cycle for such a long time through Tyneside conurbation.

I was planning to cross the river via Tyne Pedestrian Tunnel but it turned out it was closed. Luckily enough there was a bus replacement service provided.

The bus driver must have been the grumpiest man I had ever met. The bike ended up on a trailer and there was a bit of waiting but I crossed the river. The bike was still there, with the rear mudguard bent but usable.

Now, it was the case of quickly cycling to Tynemouth. Sweaty and tired I arrived to King Edward's Bay. For some reason, I decided this was the end of the route. Only now, writing this blog entry two years after the event I've realized that I was supposed to cycle to Whitley Bay! Well, instead I pushed my bike across the beach in King Edward's Bay and dipped my hand in the North Sea.

I'm happy enough about this. I added a vegetarian burger in Crusoe's to my celebration and started about 15km long cycle to Newcastle train station. After a bit of confusion in finding an entrance to the station, I managed to buy a ticket and cycling part of my mini-adventure ended.

Thinking about taking the bicycle on a train for the first time was stressful but there was no need to be worried. Everything went smoothly. It could have been because there were no other cyclists and therefore there was space for my bicycle on a train. Closer to Whitehaven I was getting the more clouds would gather. Eventually, it started raining and the Irish Sea looked really rough.

I cycled from Whitehaven station to the hotel car park in the dark, put my bike at the back of the car and set off home.

Looking back at that trip, it gave me confidence that I definitely could cycle on a loaded bicycle for more than 40km a day. It also resulted in a list of improvements to the set of equipment including a need to purchase a proper touring bicycle. Terra Nova Southern Cross 1 tent did not stay with me for very long after the trip.

Summary:

Day 1: Driving from Barnsley to Whitehaven, cycling from Summergrove Halls to C2C start and back, 10km, altitude gain 240m

Day 2: Cycling from Summergrove Halls to Bank House Farm campsite, 88km, altitude gain 1606m

Day 3: Cycling from Bank House Farm campsite to Haggs Bank Bunkhouse and Campsite, 33km, altitude gain 820m

Day 4: Cycling from Haggs Bank Bunkhouse and Campsite to Lowhouse Haven campsite, 42km, altitude gain 970m, cycling from campsite to Blanchland and back, 15km, altitude gain 220m

Day 5: Cycling from Lowhouse Haven campsite to Tynemouth, 55km, altitude gain 752m, cycling from Tynemouth to Newcastle train station, 20km, altitude gain 298m, cycling from Whitehaven train station to Summergrove Halls, 4.8km, altitude gain 117m, driving from Whitehaven to Barnsley

Distance in total: 268km

Altitude gain in total: 5023m