# C2C Workington - Sunderland on a Secteur, 14-15 April 2012



## DCLane (18 Apr 2012)

I’d planned this trip as one of several events in 2012 to maintain my fitness and keep the weight off. It was all booked in February hoping that it all worked out. 
The few days before my C2C had the weather forecast showing wintry showers all weekend – as it got closer the forecast improved but I’d already packed on the Monday due to my work schedule for the week. Despite the weather and pulling a thigh muscle the previous Saturday I wasn’t about to cancel a pre-paid trip ...

The bike to be used for this was the Specialized Secteur rather than my Carrera Virtuoso or the Python Impact MTB. I’d fitted a rack and decided to use the 25mm Specialized tyres that came as standard on the Secteur’s DT Swiss wheels rather than my Fulcrum 5 wheels with 23mm Conti 4000S tyres. This meant using a 12-25 cassette rather than an 11-28 one since I’d switched them round to use the 11-28 on the Cheshire Cat and other events, although I knew it would make some of the climbs harder. More of that later ...

Set off from Dewsbury railway station on the Friday lunchtime having booked a bike space on both trains to Carlisle. The one from Dewsbury-Manchester had no record of the booking and I ended up in a doorway. The train from Manchester-Carlisle at first wouldn’t let me on, but I found a space in the end. Both trains were very full, it being a Friday afternoon.








Friday night was spent at Morven Guest House (http://www.morvenguesthouse.com/) ; not somewhere I’d recommend for the £40 B&B price. Yes, they had a store to lock the bike in but it was very cold and dated  . It looked as if there weren’t many other guests, 2 at the most. Also, whilst they advertise as being close to the C2C they’re not that close to the start point – about a 15 minute ride away. Breakfast was OK. However, the evening meal at The Bounty on Finkle Street was good.

Saturday morning loomed bright and clear, if cold. Set off to the start point about 8.30am and duly got the photo. It looks like Workington Council are building a proper start point rather than the C2C painted on the end of the pier. They had a couple of diggers moving earth to the sea – which would be sensible.







I’d decided to stick as close to the trail as possible, which meant I was going to be using trails hence the reason for the 25mm tyres rather than 23mm ones. The first bit was OK; a nice steady uphill until the turn-off near Camerton, although the sign was faded plus the direction instructions at the top sent you the wrong way!  

Followed the route into Cockermouth, although if anyone’s doing the route on a road bike I’d suggest using the roads rather than the paths through here. They’re not suitable  . The road then went up towards Bassenthwaite – again before the drop down at Wythop Woods anyone on a road bike shouldn’t attempt to ride along the path and/or the steep descent. It’s not suitable for a MTB let alone a road bike  ! I ended up carrying it down. Again the signs were wrong and I went back up through Wythop Woods rather than a path which wasn’t signposted – about 20 minutes later after a rocky hill path I re-found the route.

Came down here;






Went down here!






Off towards Keswick and it started to rain a little – so time for a tea stop, which was at the Portinscale Tea Rooms & Gift Shop whilst the rain dissipated. Suitably re-invigorated I rode through to Keswick and up out towards Threkeld. The route takes an odd turn after this, which sent me through numerous farm gates and via Mungrisdale. This seemed to take an age and I’m still not sure why and/or if it was any benefit.  

Getting tired going towards Greystoke (about 1pm-ish now) I spotted a sign for a Cyclists Café a mile away. I do like an incentive ...  

The Greystoke Cycle Café (http://greystokecyclecafe.co.uk/index.htm) was definitely ... erm ... interesting. Park the bike round the back, rather than at the main front sign, with the front garden leading to the kitchen. They had a Beekeeping workshop on, one of many workshops they hold during the year. They're friendly and definately a recommended stop point if you're anywhere near. Beans on Toast, coffee and much more were available  . They’re really geared up for cyclists (drinks bottle refills, maps, etc) and particularly good were the blankets and hot water bottles. Whoever thought of this deserves a medal  . Other cafes take note; this is a very good idea. A few other riders were there; an older couple taking 5 days on the C2C plus a group of MTB/hybrid riders taking 4 days. They set off just after I arrived, leaving me a hot water bottle to warm up since it was cold. 

Re-energised I decided to stick with the route into Penrith rather than the road and chase the others, with the route being perfectly fine for a road bike. Taking me through the agricultural college I went through Penrith, passing the MTB/hybrid riders there and the older couple on the climb to Langwathby. After stopping for a coffee at the Watermill café in Little Sakeld (http://organicmill.co.uk/) I started the climb through to Alston. Somewhere around Renwick I realised that the bike, with all it’s gear, was turning the day into tough going. Having met some triathletes coming down from Hartside for a chat I set off hoping the café at the top might still be open. Note: I like café stops!

Hartside was tough. End of. Riding fully loaded at the end of a long day, with a 25-ring on a compact double hurt. I rode it, but needed to stop a couple of times. If it had been the second day I probably wouldn’t have stopped, but I knew there was a long day following. What was more, the café at the top was shut!  

Hartside. Needed to stop for a photo, not to catch my breath, honest! 






Riding down into Alston was a relief, with a pleasant B&B stop at Highfields in Alston (http://www.c2c-guide.co.uk/accommodation/alston/highfields) . I can recommend this; £37 for B&B with a huge evening meal  . Nice welcome and they made a lot of effort, even though I was the only guest. An even larger breakfast the next morning was too much  ! One note of caution though; if you don’t like ‘trinkets’ then don’t stay – they’re everywhere! Otherwise I’d definitely recommend it.

The Sunday morning offered a cold but bright start and I set off to Nenthead re-invigorated. A clear, if icy ride up out of Nenthead was enjoyable – although a stop was needed to walk over some ice right across the road (hence the photo).













Down into Allenheads and I was wondering about stopping ... too early maybe? So I carried on and saw some MTB riders with rucksacks. The slowest wasn’t too far away so the incentive of catching them pushed me up the hill and I’d passed all 9/10 of them by the time we got into Rookhope. More of them later. The climb out of Rookhope to Stanhope wasn’t shown on the map as being steep. The map’s wrong – it was and I stopped at the top to catch my breath.  

Baby lamb photo at the top:







Down into Stanhope and I decided to push on to reach the Parkhead Station café (http://www.parkheadstation.co.uk/) . Mistake. The climb up Crawleyside needed a stop to catch my breath just after the steep bend and I couldn’t get the bike re-started. So a brief push later and I’m moving, assisted by going into someone’s driveway to find a flat bit. Some roadies passed me and sadly declined the offer to swap bikes for that bit.

Got to Parkhead Café and decided on an early lunch. During that in come the MTB riders from earlier, who were on a 3-day C2C supported by some drivers. I ended up being described as passing them ‘like a bat out of hell’ down the hill into Rookhope. They set off from Parkhead at the same time as I did along the Waskerley Way trail, just as a heavy dose of hail came down. I kept having to stop to clear the hail away since I couldn’t see  – which wasn’t good on a trail unsuitable for road tyres. The hail was on and off for an hour, with most riders braving it although the lady in very short shorts and a sleeveless top had to have been brave. Hang on, this is the north-east; it’s normal winter clothing.

Going into Consett the MTB riders and myself kept swapping places as I stopped to either clear hail away or to wind up my map on the un-ingenious rotating map system I’d set up in my bar bag. Through Consett although the directions were again wrong; at Delves Lane the C2C route just disappeared. Apparently it’s been like this for years but ... anyway  . A path and a walk through a field later and I’m eventually back onto the correct route, following the trail through Stanley and Washington. Unexciting places these, sorry! There’s a minor diversion as well near Beamish due to a bridge being repaired, which takes you through mud and again wasn’t suitable for road tyres. The melted hail had combined with the track and riding was getting difficult since the Crud Roadracer mudguards were clogged, slowing progress up considerably.

The last 10 miles into Sunderland seemed to take forever; I’d not stopped and was getting tired. However, I wanted to see the sea and have an ice cream! Made it through Sunderland onto the sea front by about 3.20pm; it took 15 hours riding in total to do the C2C including detours, with 150 miles covered. Yep, I ended up doing lots of detours. Occasionally if something interested me I tended to ride off to have a look! The lady drivers from the MTB group took my photo (thanks), a ‘99’ was had and it was back onto the train to Dewsbury. You don’t hang around in Sunderland ...







Would I do it again? Yes. But if you are following the trail path fully it’s more suited to MTB/hybrid or cyclo-cross bikes rather than a road bike. 25mm tyres were probably too thin. Dividing the route into quarters the first and last quarter are more suited to off-road bikes and the middle two are suited to road bikes. I also didn’t need all the gear. The winter clothing was needed in the end but I’d lugged a 1.5kg lock with me and hadn’t used it. The Bryton Rider 35 GPS ran out of battery life part-way through day 2 as well. No punctures though and no mechanical faults.

I’d like to do it again sometime; either just on the road and avoid the worst trail bits in just 1 day or on the trail with a cyclo-cross bike or MTB across 2 days.

My next event? After the Brian Robinson Kirklees Sportive on the 29th April I’m planning to do the Way of the Roses on the weekend of the 27th of May. The slight downside is that I’ve got to do a 3 Peaks of Yorkshire walk as part of the qualifying walks for a 3 Peaks of the UK in 24 hours in July (http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/elim3peaks ). So I’ll be doing Morecambe to Settle on the Friday afternoon, the 3 Peaks on the Saturday and then going to Bridlington on the Sunday/Monday. Should be fun ...


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## theloafer (18 Apr 2012)

.. congrats DC bad luck on the cafe at heartsidedid it 2010 and its all booked for this june 3 of us over 3 days whitehaven-penrith penrith- parkhead station parkheadstation sunderland the straighthome via sedgefield .. i meant to advise you about the mungrisdale bit .


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## Nearly there (18 Apr 2012)

well done but id have recommended starting from whitehaven its a much better route imo workingtons a dumpIf I knew you were doing this I couldve given you an alternate route missing out wythop wood altogether I was born and raised in workington and hate it but now reside in cockermouth since 2000


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## Fubar (18 Apr 2012)

Good read, thanks for posting.


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## DCLane (18 Apr 2012)

theloafer said:


> .. congrats DC bad luck on the cafe at heartsidedid it 2010 and its all booked for this june 3 of us over 3 days whitehaven-penrith penrith- parkhead station parkheadstation sunderland the straighthome via sedgefield .. i meant to advise you about the mungrisdale bit .


 
Thanks ... it would have helped to have known! However, I've learnt if and when I do the route again.



Nearly there said:


> well done but id have recommended starting from whitehaven its a much better route imo workingtons a dumpIf I knew you were doing this I couldve given you an alternate route missing out wythop wood altogether I was born and raised in workington and hate it but now reside in cockermouth since 2000


 
Workington was a dump, yes. But I think Sunderland's worse. And Consett  . Given I live in Dewsbury, these 3 were worse than where I live 

I did look at the guide and something told me to avoid Wythop Wood, but I ignored commonsense. I'd probably use the road down from Wythop Mill next time unless there's a better route?


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## Cush (18 Apr 2012)

You should have taken the alternative route from Consett and finished at Tynemouth much better route.


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## DCLane (18 Apr 2012)

Cush said:


> You should have taken the alternative route from Consett and finished at Tynemouth much better route.


 
If I do it again it'd be the Whitehaven start to Tynemouth, which would cover the main starts/finishes.


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## Nearly there (19 Apr 2012)

DCLane said:


> If I do it again it'd be the Whitehaven start to Tynemouth, which would cover the main starts/finishes.


If you ever do it again and you start in Jamland(whitehaven)you miss wythop out altogether


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## G-Zero (19 Apr 2012)

DCL,

An excellent write up with pics and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Well done on completing it and especially well done for no punctures. Pretty amazing considering the amount of broken glass and detritus that I regularly see around the built up areas between Consett and the coast. If you're considering doing it again, so soon after this one then you must have enjoyed it.

I regularly train on the Lanchester Valley route (NCN14) which intersects with the C2C just east of Hownsgill Viaduct at Consett, and my route usually takes me to Parkhead Station, before turning round and following the C2C through Consett and leaving the route before it reaches Washington, thus my earlier CC advice of the Beamish closure.
I'd forgotten you were doing this in April, otherwise with hindsight it might have been nice to ride alongside you for a few miles from Parkhead.

You are so NOT wrong about Consett and although there are nicer parts, the route certainly doesn't go anywhere near them. In fact most of this latter part of the route is via run down industrial areas and after the splendour and remoteness of the majority of the C2C, it just can't compare.

I've never had the pleasure of doing the northern alternative from Consett to Tynemouth, so can't comment on how it compares.


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## colly (19 Apr 2012)

Good read David.  Well done too.


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