The English Coast to Coast Cycle Route (C2C)

The coast-to-coast (C2C) route from Workington/Whitehaven in the west to Sunderland/Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the east is Sustrans premier cycle route. The approximately 130 mile route wends its way from the Irish Sea through Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith in the Lake District, over the Pennines to Consett and County Durham, before arriving at the North Sea. Conservative opinion suggests that the route can be comfortably ridden in three or four days, or two for themore adventurous and physically fit. Despite my lack of physical fitness, Gary and I decided we would attempt to do it in two days, starting at approximately midday from Workington and finishing in Sunderland Marina at midday two days later. Admittedly we were slightly bending the definition of 'two days', given that we would have two nights sleep rather than one, but the fact it would take us four or five hours to get from Oxford to Workington in the first place meant it had a pleasing kind of symmetry.

It's probably important to note at this point that whilst Sustrans have a route map for the C2C based on Ordnance Survey maps, with appropriate signs along the way, we were in fact going to use the four OS maps that covered the route. With hindsight I'm particularly glad we did, for two reasons. Firstly, as became apparent during the Lon Las Cymru trip, a lot of detail, particularly concerning the route profile, are lost on the Sustrans maps. And secondly, Gary and I both have road bikes which are quite useless for some of the offroad parts of the route, which are Sustrans speciality. Having the OS maps allowed us to quickly find an onroad alternative. In addition we took with us a copy of The Ultimate C2C Guide by Richard Peace, also available from Sustrans, which contains schematic diagrams of the route, and has information on places to stay and attractions along the way, and tips on what to bring.

This chappie on the other hand seems to have done the whole thing in 17 hours. Manleeee or what... http://www.sprayfly.com/category/mountain-biking/c2c/