Guys,
I asked quite a few questions about the coast to coast which I completed over the BH weekend in a team of 28 Cyclists so I'll write up my thoughts to hopefully help others.
I'm 41 and fairly fit though most of my fitness is from football and gym work, I did cycle occasionally, 10 miles max per week. 3 months ago i increased my training to about 25 miles per week and over the last few weeks was doing 50miles a week with the odd 35mile training ride. My main concern was my gearing as i was struggling on the climbs near where i live with my Trek 1.2 on a 39 small cog at the front. I changed to a 34 a week before I did it as i would never have got up some of the climbs on a 39.
So here's how it went :-
Day 1 - 5-30am start to get to collection point at 6-30am and load gear on carriers etc then bus up to Workington for 10am. Weather was horrible, wet and blustery at the start and after finally getting everyone off the beach we started around 11am ( this was too late in my eyes). Be Warned it's very unclear how to actually get out of workington on the route so we lost about 30mins trying to get out of the town on the correct route. In 2 years i've never had a puncture yet got one before we'd even hit cockermouth after 10miles, be prepared, i wasn't as my kit was still in the support vehicle as i planned to grab it at cockermouth. I believe we must have taken some of the off road section to get to Bassenthwaite as it was simply unrideable on a road / hybrid bike, even some of the MTB's had to walk down the steep moss covered rock face - very dangerous and i was non too impressed with that part ! On to Keswick was fairly easy but the traffic on Bank Holiday Saturday in Keswick was a nightmare and I nearly got taken out by a dizzy woman in a 4x4 on her mobile - be careful !! From Keswick the section to Penrith was simply wonderful, some amazing scenary and quaint villages like the lovely greystoke. We arrived at Penrith very tired after a long but exhilarating day in the saddle. We ate in Penrith but after just one pint I was done in and headed to bed
Day 2 - After the obligatory full english we set off on the 'infamous' day 2, i'd purposely not looked at the profile for fear of what i'd see
...it was to be the correct decision as the climbs on day 2 were incredibly tough in places. I'm pleased to say i never walked once and cycled up every one of them but would never had done it on a 39, even on my 34 it was hard keeping the pedals moving at times. The Hartside pass is meant to be the killer but for me it was ok just a long slow slog, the 60mph wind at the top didn't help !, it was freezing up there and with the wind chill probably close to 0c. The descent was bonkers - i was locked on the brakes most of the way down the other side as it was dangerously fast with a blasting cross wind. Not ideal on a light road bike....the MTB boys loved it though. One thing you'll need to come to terms with is having worked so hard to climb the hills you then have to give all the altitude back and repeat the process 5 or 6 times. One climb out of garrowgill is the steepest piece of road i've ever cycled up. Be prepared if you are not in granny gear at the foot of the hill you've no chance. Most of the group i was with werent and paid the price. Even amongst other groups doing the C2C I was one of the few who cycled it, it does ease off a tad but the 1st section is a killer. Another nice climb awaits out of Allenheads but for me this was easy in comparison to some of the others. The Final descent of the day into Rookhope is incredibly fast on superb road....i was freewheeling to 40mph but 50+ would be easy with the correct gearing. The group was split at this stage for the overnight stay. I stayed in the fantastic cross keys at Eastgate where we had a superb lamb shank with a few well deserved pints of guiness
Day 3 - after a good rest and far too much English b/fast we set of on what i thought would be an easy day...how wrong i was, the climb out of stanhope was probably the hardest of the entire C2C, not only was it incredibly steep but also very long....this was a tough one for even the easy geared MTB's....my legs were burning like mad trying to keep my pedals turning but i managed the climb eventually and nearly saw my full english a couple of times before the top.
After the climb the rest of the day was fairly easy but a lot of it on gravel tracks and not ideal on a road bike, amazingly i didn't get a puncture or a bent wheel but beware the front wheel shook itself very loose in the forks. To be honest the last section to Sunderland is a bit drab and a slog (a horrible head wind all the way didnt help) Most of the hazards are broken glass and pikey kids with rough dogs on the old railway track. The final mile or so along the estuary towards the beach is very pleasant and the seafront is a very welcome sight after 3 long days in the Saddle. It's hard to describe the sense of achievement, it's something people have to experience for themselves but for me it was the most satisfying thing i've ever done
The team spirit and camaraderie to get 28 riders from one side of the country to the other was simply incredible. I was on a high with all the other riders for hours afterwards.
In Summary i'd encourage anyone to do it, yes it's hard, yes there might be sections where some might have to walk, yes there's times when you wonder why the hell you are putting your body through it but ultimately the sense of achievement is worth all the pain and more
Finally one or two gloom merchants on here will try and scare you making it out you need to be Mark Cavendish and have done 1000's of miles training to complete it - well that's rubbish, yes you do need to be fairly fit and have put the hours in with a certain level of training but i'd say it's within the capabilities of most moderately fit people who have the drive and support of the other members in their team to get through it. As a group we think we've raised about £10,000 for our local hospital so the experience for us was doubly rewarding.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and i hope you gain enough from it to motivate you to try 150 wonderful miles
Mike.
I asked quite a few questions about the coast to coast which I completed over the BH weekend in a team of 28 Cyclists so I'll write up my thoughts to hopefully help others.
I'm 41 and fairly fit though most of my fitness is from football and gym work, I did cycle occasionally, 10 miles max per week. 3 months ago i increased my training to about 25 miles per week and over the last few weeks was doing 50miles a week with the odd 35mile training ride. My main concern was my gearing as i was struggling on the climbs near where i live with my Trek 1.2 on a 39 small cog at the front. I changed to a 34 a week before I did it as i would never have got up some of the climbs on a 39.
So here's how it went :-
Day 1 - 5-30am start to get to collection point at 6-30am and load gear on carriers etc then bus up to Workington for 10am. Weather was horrible, wet and blustery at the start and after finally getting everyone off the beach we started around 11am ( this was too late in my eyes). Be Warned it's very unclear how to actually get out of workington on the route so we lost about 30mins trying to get out of the town on the correct route. In 2 years i've never had a puncture yet got one before we'd even hit cockermouth after 10miles, be prepared, i wasn't as my kit was still in the support vehicle as i planned to grab it at cockermouth. I believe we must have taken some of the off road section to get to Bassenthwaite as it was simply unrideable on a road / hybrid bike, even some of the MTB's had to walk down the steep moss covered rock face - very dangerous and i was non too impressed with that part ! On to Keswick was fairly easy but the traffic on Bank Holiday Saturday in Keswick was a nightmare and I nearly got taken out by a dizzy woman in a 4x4 on her mobile - be careful !! From Keswick the section to Penrith was simply wonderful, some amazing scenary and quaint villages like the lovely greystoke. We arrived at Penrith very tired after a long but exhilarating day in the saddle. We ate in Penrith but after just one pint I was done in and headed to bed
Day 2 - After the obligatory full english we set off on the 'infamous' day 2, i'd purposely not looked at the profile for fear of what i'd see
Day 3 - after a good rest and far too much English b/fast we set of on what i thought would be an easy day...how wrong i was, the climb out of stanhope was probably the hardest of the entire C2C, not only was it incredibly steep but also very long....this was a tough one for even the easy geared MTB's....my legs were burning like mad trying to keep my pedals turning but i managed the climb eventually and nearly saw my full english a couple of times before the top.
In Summary i'd encourage anyone to do it, yes it's hard, yes there might be sections where some might have to walk, yes there's times when you wonder why the hell you are putting your body through it but ultimately the sense of achievement is worth all the pain and more
Finally one or two gloom merchants on here will try and scare you making it out you need to be Mark Cavendish and have done 1000's of miles training to complete it - well that's rubbish, yes you do need to be fairly fit and have put the hours in with a certain level of training but i'd say it's within the capabilities of most moderately fit people who have the drive and support of the other members in their team to get through it. As a group we think we've raised about £10,000 for our local hospital so the experience for us was doubly rewarding.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and i hope you gain enough from it to motivate you to try 150 wonderful miles
Mike.
I did the C2C 2 years ago & boy was it hard, not being used to hills, then tackling them on a loaded bike was murder, but I really enjoyed the ride. I did it solo, but I'm sure it would have been easier with company. 
