Coast to Coast

[eddie coffin]

Yeah andy I've done a decent amount of training I think/hope. About 30 miles 3 times a week then longer 70-80 mile rides on weekends. Although my riding has been slightly hampered by a dislocated toe.

How the hell did you manage to dislocate a toe?

 

[Sonofpear]

How the hell did you manage to dislocate a toe?

I kicked the bes post pretty damn hard. Have to admit I was slightly under the influence at the time. I dunno what hurt more. The actual dislocation or popping it back in.

 

[Sonofpear]

You will enjoy it, as someone else said the middle bit is hard going. I found the climb out of Garrigil a real killer. But once your over Crawelyside its all down hill.

sounds like your riding is going well, especially as your new to road biking.

Have we spoken on another forum?

Yeah I'm really enjoying the road riding, feeling so much fitter and getting quicker all the time. You gave me the link to the clarion site and I joined the forum where I introduced myself. I've seen the lads out a good few times on a Thursday night and I plan to try and come along but at the moment I don't think I'm upto that kind of speed yet, I'm not too far behind though. I saw somebody's garmin upload from the training run and I'm just not fast enough to keep up yet. I also bumped into an old friend on Sunday who does triathlon and he told me about some short TT's that they do and said I'd be welcome along anytime. Also spoke highly of the clarion and said they are a good club with good guys in it.

 

[addictfreak]

Yeah I'm really enjoying the road riding, feeling so much fitter and getting quicker all the time. You gave me the link to the clarion site and I joined the forum where I introduced myself. I've seen the lads out a good few times on a Thursday night and I plan to try and come along but at the moment I don't think I'm upto that kind of speed yet, I'm not too far behind though. I saw somebody's garmin upload from the training run and I'm just not fast enough to keep up yet. I also bumped into an old friend on Sunday who does triathlon and he told me about some short TT's that they do and said I'd be welcome along anytime. Also spoke highly of the clarion and said they are a good club with good guys in it.

Yes they are a good bunch of lads. Dont be too put off by the speed thing, theres a group of 5 or 6 who have started racing this year. So they are keen to push it along a little. Unfortunately theres no way of knowing who will make it along on a Thursday night. Sometimes we can get 3 groups on the road , which caters for all abilities. But it all depends on other commitments, I think I have only made it along once or twice.

The 'normal' Sunday run is much more sedate and very rarely gets above a 17mph average. I will be good to see you out one day.

Hope you enjoy the C2C, hope the rain holds off. The Pennines can be a miserable place in the wet! Im off to Portugal tomorrow so hopefully I wont see any rain for a week.

 

[Sonofpear]

Yes they are a good bunch of lads. Dont be too put off by the speed thing, theres a group of 5 or 6 who have started racing this year. So they are keen to push it along a little. Unfortunately theres no way of knowing who will make it along on a Thursday night. Sometimes we can get 3 groups on the road , which caters for all abilities. But it all depends on other commitments, I think I have only made it along once or twice.

The 'normal' Sunday run is much more sedate and very rarely gets above a 17mph average. I will be good to see you out one day.

Hope you enjoy the C2C, hope the rain holds off. The Pennines can be a miserable place in the wet! Im off to Portugal tomorrow so hopefully I wont see any rain for a week.

Yeah I've been having a little browse ob the clarion forum and seen that there can be different speed groups, I've seen the loop they do and they manage around 20, I do a similar loop and 18 is about as fast as I can do it at the moment, and that is really pushing myself. I think I could probably hold my own on the Sunday rides, like you said it's hard juggling things with work and family commitments. I'll defo be coming along sooner or later, so will hopefully meet you.
Ive had a little look at the weather for the weekend and it's not looking the best. So I think we'll be getting a bit wet.
Enjoy your holiday and the sunshine.

 

[Judderz]

Did this in 96' with 4 friends, on a Townsend MTB, no suspension, bike was heavy as hell, took 5 days, did the St Bee's Head to Whitley Bay route, met the most hospitable people along the journey, including:

1st night stop, woman who ran the campsite, in the morning, she invited us into her home and cooked us breakfast...at no charge

3rd night stop, just the other side of Alston (forget the village name), we found a field to camp in, until some guy in a transit minibus came to us, told us there was a outdoor activity centre at the top of the hill we could stay in.....for £3 for the night....with breakfast...and shower..

4th Night stop, just coming into Co. Durham, my back wheel decided it was to give up, as riding along, the spokes were snapping 1 by 1, wheel well and truely buckled. Some guy came out of his house, pointed us in the direction of a field we could camp in, and said he would call on us in the morning and drive me to a bike shop for repairs...he duly did...so hats off to him.

All in all, was a good few days, with really friendly people, that made it all worth while

 

[moxey]

Maybe see you on route moxey, have you had a look at the weather forecast, don't think it's gonna be the best.

Checked today and it's still looking like it's going to be a wet weekend

But on a plus note it looks like a tail wind both days.

Have a good one

 

[Sonofpear]

Yip it's gonna be very wet I think. Like you say at least we have a tailwind.

Have a good one aswell mate

 

[moxey]

How did you get on ? We were all soaked through on the saturday morning but then not too bad as the day went on, showers sunday morning but then we managed to avoid most of the worst of it and even had some in the afternoon. Our group had a few punctures and the odd mechanical but we all managed to get through.

Hope you had a trouble free weekend

 

[Mrs Brown!]

Hello I am new to Cycle chat, interesting read about the coast to coast I am planning to do it last week of August with a couple of friends....its on my list of things to do before i am 40 in January. We are planning to do it over three days so am looking into route and where to stay. I am trying to step up the training but need to do more hill training. Good luck with your Coast to Coast .

 

[Sonofpear]

How did you get on ? We were all soaked through on the saturday morning but then not too bad as the day went on, showers sunday morning but then we managed to avoid most of the worst of it and even had some in the afternoon. Our group had a few punctures and the odd mechanical but we all managed to get through.

Hope you had a trouble free weekend

Yeah we got on pretty well. Was a hard slog at times and taking a wrong turn out of the train station didn't help. We got soaked early on Saturday but it cleared up. Found Hartside a bit tough as we had been in the saddle all day and my legs were feeling it. Managed to get up it though and was pleased to get to the top. The downhill into Alston wad awesome. Descending was scary at times though with wet roads and my brake pads took a right hammering.
Had a great night at the hotel, lovely meal, drinks, good nights sleep and quality breakfast in the morning. They dried all our clothes and stuff which was nice. Sundays ride I felt much better. Some tough climbs but I really enjoyed them. Weather was a bit better too. Crawleyside was a bit harsh but after that it was all downhill. And the sun came out aswell as. It was an awesome weekend and I enjoyed pushing myself to the limit.
Which route did you take? What kinda bikes were you on, road MTB or what? How many days, 2 or 3
I loved it and would defo do it again.

 

[Sonofpear]

Hello I am new to Cycle chat, interesting read about the coast to coast I am planning to do it last week of August with a couple of friends....its on my list of things to do before i am 40 in January. We are planning to do it over three days so am looking into route and where to stay. I am trying to step up the training but need to do more hill training. Good luck with your Coast to Coast .

My mate did it over 3 days last year but reckoned we could do it over 2 this time. Like I said in my other post at times it was hard going and I really had to dig deep but I really enjoyed it.
I'd say get plenty of training in before you go, especially on hills, we saw people of all ages shapes and sizes doing it and with a bit of training and will power anyone can do it. Also I'd get accommodation booked up ASAP as we struggled to get somewhere as it was a kinda last minute spur of the moment thing for us. Enjoy it and let us know how you get on

 

[moxey]

Yeah we got on pretty well. Was a hard slog at times and taking a wrong turn out of the train station didn't help. We got soaked early on Saturday but it cleared up. Found Hartside a bit tough as we had been in the saddle all day and my legs were feeling it. Managed to get up it though and was pleased to get to the top. The downhill into Alston wad awesome. Descending was scary at times though with wet roads and my brake pads took a right hammering.
Had a great night at the hotel, lovely meal, drinks, good nights sleep and quality breakfast in the morning. They dried all our clothes and stuff which was nice. Sundays ride I felt much better. Some tough climbs but I really enjoyed them. Weather was a bit better too. Crawleyside was a bit harsh but after that it was all downhill. And the sun came out aswell as. It was an awesome weekend and I enjoyed pushing myself to the limit.
Which route did you take? What kinda bikes were you on, road MTB or what? How many days, 2 or 3
I loved it and would defo do it again.

There were 24 of us on a mixture of road, hybrid and mountainbikes. We did the Reivers route from Whitehaven up to Workington onto Carlisle and stopping in Newcastleton overnight at The Old Bailey Mill after 85 miles. Sunday was a mixture of quiet country roads and cycle tracks although there was a section through Kielder forest that was too rough for the road bikes and we got a bit lost through there too which didn't help. A few climbs but I think it's a flatter route than you did. 95 miles and we were on the Quay side at Tynemouth.

 

[Sonofpear]

Think we did the classic coast to coast route. Think the route you did goes a bit further north? There were a couple of off road sections which were canny rough for us on road bikes and caused a few punctures. Like I said there were some big climbs, something I'm not that used to but we made it. Got to Tynemouth about 6 on Sunday and went straight for a celebration pint. It was a great weekend. Although my bike has taken a battering and is in much need of some TLC.