The Coast 2 Coast challenge was AWESOME!! Bloody hard work, probably one the hardest things I have done so far. So sit back and relax.......................here goes.
Day 1:
Started out of St.Bees at 08:30am and made our way along the Rowrah Way Cycle Network to Ennerdale Water, Andre, bless him got himself all over excited when he saw some off road and took us up Murton Fell for a few miles until he realised that we were actually heading in the wrong direction (only day one) So we had to turn back and make our down the valley to the waters edge of Ennerdale. The trail took us by Ennerdale Bridge, through Ennerdale Forest (which was beautiful) and through to the Black Sail Youth Hostel where we had our first Wayfayer, prepacked lunch of Beef Stew and Dumplings....all cooked on our camping stove and eaten out of Hash Tins....ah...luxury. Black Sail YHA also had cake and a nice brew to offer too...which went down a treat.
It was only when we arrived here that we began to realise the enormity of what lay ahead, our first real assent was Black Sail Pass which was 1968ft, it truly was an eye-opener as there was no way we could ride our bikes up it. We literally had to carry, push, pull and drag them up and over the top. The downhill on the other side however was a completely different kettle of fish...talk about steep, rocky and very fast...in the end we had to walk most of it as it was just un-rideable. From here we proceeded south onto Wastwater crossing over Wasdale Head, where we had the pleasure of watching a Rescue Helicopter...ooer!
We headed up and over Burnmoor Turn, the decent on this was awesome riding and we really managed to cover a lot of ground in very short space of time, we even saw plenty of wildlife, which will all be listed later. We then headed through Eskdale Fell when "POP!!" my knee gave out..."ouch!!" (said Ian in a very polite manner). From here we had one final downhill stretch to our first stop-over in Dalegarth where we had a dinner of Cumbrian Sausage and Mash and a pint of Yorkshire Bitter.....hick!!
Day 2:
Early start, woke at 5am and headed East towards Hardknotts Pass which topped 1289ft, not the highest but certainly the steepest, in fact, its Cumbria's steepest road with a 25% incline all the way to the top, which, as you can imagine was incredibly hard work, needless to say, we walked...lol. Fantastic decent though, which Andre just loved, he shot off like a rocket with the added security of longer wheel base and disk brakes, I on the other hand found it quite difficult and scary at times as the speeds were just ridiculous....the scenery was wonderful.
Then is was up and over Wrynose Pass where I could not help but chat up a few girls that where passing by, they even took my picture...lol After that we headed off to Ambleside which unfortunately became the worst day of our entire trip.....
It all started with Andre's seat pin breaking, both our brakes needed replacing and spares bought. After what seemed to be lots of arsing around trying to find bikes shops, getting something to eat etc. we eventually left Ambleside 3hrs later! Which ultimately put us back by half a day...GRRR!!!
On our way to Kentmere and our second stop-over point, a lovely bluebell meadow overlooking a lake we came across an awesome downhill mountain bike racer who was training on the rocky trails....this guy was fantastic, the speed in which he came past us was just amazing...the guy must of had balls the size of fists!!
Day 3:
Could not believe it when we woke this morning, our Bivvi Tents, sleeping bags and drinking water were covered in a layer of ice!! The temperature had dropped quite dramatically during to night. To wake and find that your sleeping bag was frozen was quite worrying....all we could do was laugh and say....."cuppa?"...oh and the though of what the hell are we doing?!.....lol
Today we made our way up and over Mosedale. The route up was brilliant, we found a natural spring waterfall in which we filled up our water bottles and in true fashion, had a water fight!..lol. Local farmers must have though..."bloody gay southern bikers!" Mosedale itself was really picturesque with rolling hills and great trails to ride. We came across the Bothi of Mosedale Cottage, an open shelter for hikers and bikers with a stove and flatbeds, basic shelter if needed.
We then made our way up and over Shap Fells and after some more great downhill sections we finally arrived in Shap village where we picked up some supplies, energy drinks and bars. We then made our first real stepping stone and crossed over the M6 motorway and into Crosby Ravensworth which was a tough bit of cycling as we were both really starting to feel it by now.
At this point we were only 10miles from Kirkby Stephen so we decided to push on. Andre had a funny moment with two young Bulls!! They could not decide whether they were going to charge him or not and they kept egging each other on...it was really funny, if kept expecting him to just drop his bike and leg it across the field....lol What a great video it would have made.
Found a campsite in Nateby, just outside Kirkby, very posh with a miserable staff to go with it, typical bloody caravan park. Although the showers WERE fantastic. This turned out to be our best day yet regarding mileage with 12hrs of cycling.
Day 4:
Headed up onto the Yorkshire Dales National Park which was very bleak and with Andre's fantastic map reading skills we ending up off course and had to clamber down a rock face and cross a river to get back on track..lol. Then it was on to Tan Hill Inn, highest pub in Great Britain at 1732ft a.s.l and the set of the film American Werewolf in London.
From here we headed south on the Pennine Way and into Swaledale which was stunning...beautiful valleys, rivers and waterfalls, not mention more great downhill riding sections.
Reached a small village called Reeth at 7pm and realised that we were only 14 miles from Catterick which just happens to be where my Aunt and Uncle live, so we blasted out of Reeth at a rate of knots, crossed the A1 (milestone 2) and spent the night on the living room floor of my families home.....BONUS!!
Day 5:
Headed for Osmotherley and the start of the North Yorkshire Moors. Followed the Cleveland Way and met a lovely couple who donated £10 to our charity. Came across a BMX jump track which Andre "gingerly" attempted.....lol
Continueing along the Cleveland Way we came across an amazing disused railway line which wounds its way around the valley and turned out to be, for me, the best piece of cycling of the whole trip, Andre had a hard time keeping up with me in fact....I just blasted off and missed two tracks which we should have taken...lol We decided to cut across Westerdale Moor to make up some time which turned out to be rather challenging.
Rejoined the trail and headed over Denby High Moor. At this point it was getting very late in the day and we really needed to find somewhere to camp down for the night and with no real woodlands on the moors, however, Andre did happen across probably the best camping spot in the entire Yorkshire Moors National Park........EVER!!
Ray Mears influenced Andre into building us a full on, roaring campfire which cooked our food and kept us warm all night. With amazing views of a valley below us and calm weather, we could not have asked for a better night for our last spot.
Day 6:
Final Day....WooHoo..!!!!
The last big push to Robin Hoods Bay. Headed over Glaisdale Moor, Andre made yet another error reading map, which turned out to be the best and fastest 1mile stretch of downhill riding ever!! Dropped from 1184ft to 574ft in about 3 minutes....Shit it was fast..!!!
Final push to the finish saw us arrive at 12:15......
Then on to Whitby for fish and chips then the long train and car journey back to Norfolk. Finally arrived home at 06:30am Saturday 24th May.......very tired!!
Wildlife List:
Ring Ozel, Curlew, Merlin, Buzzard, Skylark, Golden Plover and Chick, Crested Tit, Crossbill, Oyster Catcher, Golden Eye, Coal Tit, Lapwings, Storechats, Weaters, Raven, Yellow Wagtails, Pied Wagtails, Shorteared Owls.
