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Kate's Story

Friday 19th July, 1996

Jon and I left work and came home for some lunch. Stopped at mum and dad's to get a blanket for the bikes (to keep them warm). Then madly tried to pack our panniers and fill in some forms from the Halifax for our mortgage! Eventually got going at 4ish. Up the A1 - came off earlier than expected after much shouting and toured the Leeds ring road because of the queues on the A1. Met C&M at the Little Chef at Burley-in-Wharfdale. Nice dinner, lovely chochy pancakes. Set off again up to the Lakes. The Lakes looked really beautiful, the sun was lovely and glowing. Eventually got to Lowca at 10ish - E&A and C&M all there before us. Jon and I had the four-poster bed!

Saturday 20th July, 1996

Breakfast at 8.30. Eventually all got going at 9.30ish after getting all the panniers on and taking photos. Set off for the short journey into Whitehaven. Got to the harbour and saw the sea (miles away), took photos! Eventually found the beginning and set off proper on the old railway route. A group of 3 (two men and one woman) also set off around the same time. Very hare and tortoise - we kept overtaking each other - they kept shooting off and stopping and we would catch them and go past. One of the lads had really loud squeaky brakes - we knew when they were around. We talked and they were a nice bunch - nice to see familiar faces en route. Stopped for our first stamping stop at Cleator Moor - J,M & E went off the route to stamp the map. The scenery was beautiful, past Loweswater particularly. Starting to get hilly now! Very hot weather, good job we had lots of water. We stopped at High Lorton at the Post Office, but it was closed for lunch. Eileen knocked and asked if we could buy some suckers (Andy translated, ice lollies). The lady kindly opened up and let us buy a sucker each and also filled up our water bottles. Much needed refreshment. Started then for the long climb up Whinlatter Pass through Grisedale Forest. The first bit was OK but it started to get really tough. Had to keep our moral up through the rough forest track near the top. A wonderful treat to get to the visitor's centre and eat our packed lunch. Gorgeous double sandwiches - cheese and onion and ham and salad in one. We also had fruit, wagon wheels and a chocy biscuit (and a drink) - our best packed lunch. Andy tried to teach us all the wagon wheel song (from the advert). We went to the loo and filled our water bottles (not simultaneously) - very nice people. We also had 2 cups of tea. Eventually got going again at 4.00 - a bit of a late lunch. Just set off for the descent into Keswick through the forest and this couple stopped their car outside a house and nearly knocked Celia off her bike, and then had an even better go at Eileen. Michael said "that's not very helpful" and the stupid woman turned round and shouted "we bloody well live here, stupid C to C er's". What a laugh! She had obviously decided already , quite maliciously, to be a cow and get in our way and almost cause an accident. We did laugh. Had a brill run down into Keswick - really steep descent through the forest - lots of burning rubber. Into Keswick - no bloody signs. Good job I knew where the route was. Stopped at the war memorial and J,A & M went off to stamp the maps. On their return we spoke to the 3 from Liverpool again - they were heading Threlkeld direction from Keswick, and we were heading to Dockray. We had a chat and wished them luck - they were doing it in 3 days! We had a drink and set off up past the swimming pool onto the old railway out of Keswick. Headed off and out under the A66 and down a bit where we all nearly lost our bikes - very steep descent through a wood. Carried on the track for a while and then realised we had missed the turn off to Castlerigg. BUM - Michael worked out a different way and headed off and crossed the A66 and went down a road to St John's in the Vale and to the bottom of the Old Coach Road. 6.30 and we were confident - only 5 more miles to go. Little did we know!! After 30 minutes we thought it had flattened out and we were nearly there - it was as rough as a badgers arse! Not rideable at all. We all got a bit disheartened after seeing no end in sight. We split up into our pairs at this point - each for his own! Eileen's swearing kept her going! C&M in front, then Jon and me and then E&A. Eventually decided, sod it, and got on and rode our bikes even though it was like a BMX track - awful bike conditions. Eventually got to the end of the track and saw the sign on the road saying Dockray - 1 mile. We did a really fast mile, all downhill to the hotel. At the village we weren't sure of the hotel, so we stopped outside and checked and this lad told us where C&M had gone. Met C&M and found out we had 25 minutes to get ready before we could no longer have a meal! E&A appeared 5 minutes after us. Got changed really quickly - lovely room and down to dinner real quick. I felt awful - really knackered and bad asthma. Sat down to dinner and had to go out into the fresh air and use my inhaler. Felt really rough. Ate my dinner and felt less shakey, but still too tired to eat properly. Left dinner and walked outside and went to have a bath. Got ready for bed and thought I'd phone mum and dad but E&A had already done it. Saw C&M and they sat with us for a bit - I was too scared to go to sleep because of my asthma. Watched a bit of the Olympics. Went to sleep in the end. Not sure if I can carry on and finish, will see how I feel in the morning.

Sunday 21st July, 1996

Breakfast at 8.30. Nice breaky. Mum rang to see how I was. Feeling a bit better, not so scared. Got going a bit earlier. Set off out of the hotel and up our first hill. (wheezy so stopped and walked). Set off through Troutbeck and crossed over the A66. Saw a professional team helper in a van, they were doing the C to C in one day!! Wow. Off the A66 and up a nice country lane. Michael raised my handlebars - felt much better. Lovely cycle along the country lanes through very pretty villages (Greystoke - lots of tarzan impressions). Spoke to a gentleman in a village about the C to C and he said that his wife and daughter had completed the last bit in 1 day from Garrigil. (Jon said, yes but did you see his wife and daughter throwing boulders to each other in the yard!!) On into Penrith. Stopped in the square and got a drink from the pub. Jon and I decided to carry on - past the point of no return!! Climbed out of Penrith up Fell Road - Ei took this literally and fell over! Andy and Michael pushed my bike up because my asthma was bad. Nice big houses at the top. Left Penrith feeling refreshed - hills not too bad yet. On up to Langwathby where we stopped for lunch on the village green. Ei went to the pub to check if we could fill our water bottles - OK. All nice people. We sat and ate our lunch and bought a drink from the pub. We then went back and bought a cup of tea and some chocolate - lovely. Funny when Andy threw away the remains of the tea and then jumped up when it dribbled back down the slope and burnt him. We all thought he'd gone mad! It was a nice break, an hour earlier than the first day! We set off again for the climb up to Little Salkeld, past the stone circle. Lovely country roads. Decided to divert here and follow the road up to Hartside, so we carried on to Gamblesby - a good run downhill. Short stop here by the village stocks for a drink and rest before the big climb. Jon laughed his head off when a big lorry came into the village and Ei and Andy ran off to hold on to their bikes and the lorry turned off before it reached them. Hard climb up the road - Michael came back to help me with my bike and cycled off on it and one of the spokes popped out! Quick repair job which gave us a break! At the top off the steep climb out of Gamblesby we turned onto the main road over Hartside which bends in order to get a gradual climb up the hill. This meant that we were actually able to cycle up here. I was last up. I had to keep stopping as my breathing was too hard. Andy and Ei got there first. We all met at the bottom of the short rough track up to the Hartside café. We had to push our bikes up this bit. At Hartside café we managed to get a cup of tea and I had a lovely caramel slice - really perfect. Loads of blokes on motorbikes up there - flash bikes. It was now 6 o'clock. About to minutes after we got there another couple came up on their bikes - 2 more C to C er's. We set off down the other side of Hartside (Pennine country) - a really fast great run down - over 30 miles an hour. At the bottom we had to head right along the valley to Garrigil. This was a bit of a hard slog - more ups and downs for about half an hour to Garrigil. So pleased to be there - breathing still bad. Put bikes away and rang mum and dad to stop mum from worrying. Had to take it in turns in the bath here - C&M first, then Ei, then Jon and me and then Andy. Managed to all get out in enough time to get to the pub. (George and Dragon - two doors away) to order a meal before 9.00. Boiling hot and all laughing at nothing!! I had corn on the cob for my starter - really lovely. Nice food, but a bit smoky in the pub. We had a short walk around the village, very pretty. The couple we had seen at Hartside also ate in the pub - they were stopping in a campsite - they were lugging their tent all the way!!! Argh - they were desperate for a bath. Eventually got into bed - Jon spent the next quarter of an hour swotting insects in our room, quite funny to watch! Not the nicest of places to stay but OK. Got a bit of sleep - too hot really.

The cafe at Hartside (1903 feet above the sea)

Monday 22nd July, 1996

Early breakfast - OK but not the best. Nice woman though. A father and son team also staying there (C-Cing). All packed up and away for 9.00. A bugger of a climb out of Garrigil towards our next destination of Nenthead. A really hard steep climb, pushing most of the way. We passed the couple with the tent a quarter of the way up the hill cooking their breakfast! Stopped a lot up this one. Jon made us all crease up with laughter when he suddenly sailed past us all as if a stranger and said "Morning, C to C, lovely" and carried on cycling past us quite a way up the hill. We were all laughing too much to carry on! Jon made us laugh a lot, he would always say something just when you were cycling up a steep hill gritting your teeth and you would have to stop because of laughing so much. A small flat stretch and then an incredibly steep run down into Nenthead - Andy and I got off towards the end as we just didn't feel safe, it was too steep to feel safe with breaking. In Nenthead we stamped our maps again in the Post Office and filled our water bottles in the Miners Arms. Celia had a go on the really good swing in the park here! Another steep climb out of Nenthead - more pushing. We turned off the road and headed left and uphill again - we could cycle for this bit. At the top a wonderful sight - the sign for Northumbria - a new County at last! A big phot shoot now and Michael flashed his bum! The couple with the tent and the father and son team passed us here. (No photos for them.) We drank more and got back on for the run downhill again - good run down with lovely scenery, but we soon had to head back up again and then down again into Allenheads . It felt really hard cycling along the flat here!! At Allenheads we stopped for a break and had tea and cake and ice cream to keep us going. The couple with the tent also stopped for a break. We set off before them as we wanted to get a bit further before stopping for lunch. Another climb out and along and down to Rookhope. Stopped here for lunch at the war memorial - very hot. I started to feel a bit peculiar! The couple with the tent cycled past us while we ate - this was our last sighting as they were heading for Newcastle, not Sunderland. Funny meat/pate sandwiches! Ei went off to scout ahead - whether to take the road to Stanhope or the proper route up a rough track. Shorter, but memories of the Old Coach Road worried us. Ei came back and said the road looked best. We all got back on and cycled past the bottom of the track. I stopped and said it didn't look too bad, Michael agreed, so we decided to give it a go. It turned out to be OK - not too bad a climb and not as hard pushing as the OCR. Ei stopped for a pee in a shed and walked round to where we could all see straight through it! She then went out of our sight but a pilot flying over must have had a good view! At the top of here there was an old ruin and we stopped and admired the view - lovely scenery. We got back on and had a really good run along the brow of the hill - we didn't need to pedal at all - it was quite amazing. We carried along with just wind assistance - absolutely brilliant. We then headed on to the road, lovely stretch again. At the end of the road we got a bit confused, we thought we should be heading right to the Waskerley Way, but the sign said left along the road. We went with the sign and we were glad because it was another lovely run downhill with hardly any traffic, only sheep to worry about. Andy and I went over 30 miles an hour. (The others must have done too, but I was level with Andy and the speedometer!) We then found the Waskerely Way and joined that (an old railway). It was very deep gravel and here Jon fell off his bike - he didn't hurt himself too much, it was just the depth of the gravel that knocked him off. We cycled along here and saw a building that we thought might be where we were staying, but the path circled away from it. It ended up being the place we were staying as we eventually got back to it. The farm was about 10 minutes away from the Waskerley Way, our starting point for the next day. Got there and parked our bikes in a big shed. Bee Farm Cottage turned out to be lovely. We stayed in the main farm house. They made us a pot of tea and homemade biscuits and we took it in turns to shower (x2). Really lovely place. Dinner at 7. Gorgeous food. I had soup, chicken cordon bleu and banana split - really wow. We then spoke to the lady serving as she was a Sunderland supporter! We then moved into the lounge and had tea and cake - really wonderful! A lady and boy came in and spoke to us and they turned out to be from Bingham! Small world eh? The boy took a shine to us, very chatty, to Ei in particular. We then went for a short walk round the farm, lots of lovely cats. Back in and C&M and J&I decided to play cards. The boy shouted up at our window that there was going to be a thunder storm - we couldn't get away from him! Before this he had played cowboys and indians with Jon and Andy! He was right though, we had a great thunder storm, nice and cooling. Jon and I had the twin room, but it was still nice. Slept very well.

Tuesday 23rd July

Up early. Breakfast at 8. Happy Birthday Michael! Really wonderful breakfast, lovely selection and well cooked. The boy (James) came down with us and tried to sit with us, taking Jon's seat! What a laugh. Ei told him that that was Jon's seat and explained where his was. All packed up again for our last day - James told Eileen his address - both Beano fans! It had just finished raining so we cycled off with our sweatshirts on and rainwear at the ready. (well, a couple of Tescos bags for Andy!) 10 minutes down the lane we were all too hot and the sweatshirts came off. We stopped for our stamp in Consett and carried on the Consett and Sunderland railway path. It turned into a really hot day now. Before Consett we hit the Hownsgill viaduct - I swore all the way over - it was really high and it had a drainage grill down the middle so you had to cycle nearer to the edge than was comfortable! Scary stuff! From Consett to Sunderland was the most depressing part of the journey - after 3 days of beautiful countryside the railway path was disappointing. The only bright spots were that it was all flat and it did have some interesting sculptures as points. When we got to Sunderland it was quite rough and there was lots of glass all over the place and we also got lost and ended up doing a bit of the quayside that we didn't need to do! We then had to push our bikes back up to the Wear Bridge and get back on the route to Seaburn. We were all a bit low at this point - but we made it to the Seaburn Centre - our final stamping point!! We signed the CtoC visitors book to say we had finally done it and we read the names there of the 3 some from Liverpool who had made it in three days as they said they would. We went and sat on the sea-front and ate our lunch. Ei and Andy ran down to the sea to dip their toes. It was very busy, lots of kids on the beach. E&A had offered to go for the first train as we couldn't all travel back together. They left and we sat and watched everyone for a bit longer and then decided to head back ourselves. We were really glad not to see E&A at the station as this meant they had got on their train OK! We bought a cup of tea and stood and drank that. Our train came in and we got on it with no problems at all! Amazing. Except I forgot the routine we'd already decided on and put my bike on with its panniers still resting on it! Set off, back to Whitehaven - nice journey but I kept nearly falling asleep. We met back up with Ei and Andy in Carlisle. Great to all be back together and we asked if we could get off at Parton - the nearest stop to Lowca. Yes, no problem. We all got off at Parton with the station right next to the sea. We set up our panniers for the last time for the short but incredibly hard ride uphill to Lowca. We got to the end at last! We made it. We got changed and washed and walked up the road to the pub for a birthday meal to celebrate the end of the CtoC but mostly Michael's birthday. We were the only people in the restaurant and it was really nice, lovely food too. We set off for the walk back to the B&B, congratulating ourselves on completing the CtoC without injury when I promptly slipped over in my sandals and grazed all my right leg and foot - really painfull and what a twit! Hobbled back to the B&B and we went to our rooms. Jon and I watched the Olympics for a bit and went to bed - very, very pleased with ourselves for finally making it - a real achievement!

Congratulations and thanks to all the CtoC team. - Yoh!!