C2C in a Day

C2C in a Day...

C2C in a day aka a masterclass in what can be achieved with little to no preparation. 

So, the big day arrived, Saturday saw my C2C in a day attempt. All I say to anyone planning this is make sure you prepare better than I did. Plan a route, winging it is fun but it can lead to a few difficult moments. Usually just when you don't want them. Also eat right, don't make the mistake of not eating the correct foods or not eating at all. Basically plan the day well and the rest will fall into play, as they say proper planning prevents poor performance! 

So I set my alarm for a 5am start and went to bed after a tea of crackers, cheese and crisps. What better preparation could one ask for. Then I got up and thought about downloading a route to my Garmin so I didn't get lost. I woke up and my alarm hadn't gone off, so I decided that since I was up before my alarm I might as well set off... it was 0545 - apparently I hadn't set my alarm properly and I was running late. By the time I arrived at the start of the route it was half 6 and I was already an hour and a half late. 

The weather was epic, a beautiful Cumbrian day and the views were fantastic (this is not true, it was cold and wet and miserable - but the views were fantastic). I got into Keswick around 8am and looked for my first food stop - reference my initial advice about planning the route - at no point in my 5 minute planning session did I ever imagine that shops or cafes wouldn't be open when I wanted to eat. 8am is not a good time in Keswick to get food. By this time I was pretty hungry, running late when I left the house I skipped breakfast to get on the road. 8am in Keswick this seemed like a bad idea. 

I rode past the stone circle and hoped the ice cream van would be there, but it wasn't so I sulked a little and pressed on to Penrith where I found myself a Greggs. I gauged on a healthy breakfast of a bacon butty a coffee and a bottle of water... #Athlete! 

Beyond Penrith we started the fun part of the ride, the slow raise up to the top of the world in the Penines. This is where I discovered that the route I had downloaded was probably not sufficient. Advice time from me again, if you do download a route, that's great, if you don't that's ok too, but if you do download one you don't have to follow it blindly you can go off piste from this route AND FOLLOW THE C2C SIGNS. There are loads of C2C signs and there are a few different routes - I arrived at one such set of signs and they said C2C road route left C2C off road route right... my Garmin said go right so without questioning it I went for it and had what I can only describe as the most miserable climb on a road bike in the rain I can possibly imagine up Hartside! As shown in the photo below; 

It was bleeding hard work and not at all what I needed. I think the road route will be a bit better for next time. The terrain was so interesting that I was overtaken by several guys on motocross motorbikes out for a jolly on the track! The puddle shown in the photo above was a lot deeper than I expected it to be, it came up to my knees! And in case you were wondering I can confirm it was as cold and wet as you're imagining it is! 

I reached the top of Hartside and pressed on, lots of climbing later I arrived in the lovely village of Allenheads. I stopped in a cafe called the Hemmel Cafe - it was warm, they did good food, good coffee and good cake. So I set myself up by the open fire, called my wife and called it quits. 81 miles into the journey and 40 miles to go I was very wet and very grumpy and totally fed up. C2C in a day attempt 1 - fail! 

Lots of Learning for attempt 2 though! 

Next time I will use a bit more common sense and go on the road... or use a more appropriate bike... or plan to do the journey in the summer so the weather is a bit more friendly. 

The pictures below sum up how I was feeling during the day! How I was feeling about my ride, my life choices and my bike! 

Also, why is the Northumberland sign so much nicer than the Cumbria one? 

Cumbrian Cycling Challenges

Total Warrior - Lake District

Last month Mark Beaumont completed his cycle around the world - he achieved this amazing adventure in under 79 days, a new world record. The whole thing was also captured on Strava, so on top of his Guinness World Record he was also safe in the knowledge than the ride counted, as we all know, if it's not on Strava it didn't happen. 

Mark averaged well over 200 miles a day and showed what a great adventurer and athlete he is. Alongside Cumbria resident Sean Conway who attempted to break the record for cycling across Europe earlier in the year we felt inspired to get out on our bikes and go on an adventure. We wanted to start local and build to something epic.  

We thought we'd list the best Cumbrian cycling adventures that we can find, whether you're a roady or a MTB rider, we think you'll agree there are plenty of rides and events to chose here in Cumbria's playground. We hope you're as inspired as us, who knows... maybe we can travel the world next... from Cumbria of course. 

How many of these have you done? Are there any other ones we have missed? Get in touch, let us know and most of all - Get Outside and Live! 

1) The Coast to Coast C2C 

Start: Whitehaven / Workington 

End: Sunderland

Distance: 140 miles 

Terrain: Cycle Tracks and Roads (approx 50/50)

Route: http://www.c2c-guide.co.uk/the-route/ 

The C2C is probably the most popular cycle route from Cumbria, thousands of people each year cycle the width of Britain to or from the West Cumbrian Coast. The journey is usually completed West to East, this way you have the winds behind you for those big climbs when approaching the Pennines. Tradition dictates that one should start the journey with dipping your rear tyres into the West Coast sea on departure and on arrival to the East Coast dip your front tyres to complete the journey... although if your Owen from Go Cumbria tradition dictates you should slide down the slope in Whitehaven Harbour in your cleats all the way into the sea to begin your journey with wet feet. 

The journey can be completed over a long weekend with friends and family or can be completed in a day if you're completely bonkers. Much like Go Cumbria's Paddy, who will attempt to complete the C2C from Workington on Saturday October 7th - even he isn't sure why he is doing it, but he said he would, and he's nothing but true to his word... and stubborn... and determined. 

2) Reivers Cycle Way / Hadrians Cycle Way

Reivers Start: Whitehaven

Reivers End: Tynemouth

Distance: 173 miles

Terrain: Cycle Tracks and Minor Roads

Route: http://reivers-route.co.uk/the-route/

Hadrians Start: Ravenglass

Hadrians End: Sunderland

Distance: 174miles

Terrain: Cycle Tracks and Minor Roads

Route: http://www.hadrian-guide.co.uk/the-route/

A variation on a theme, the Reivers and Hadrians Cycleways are two more Coast to Coast rides with slightly different routes. The Reivers Route takes on the path taken all those years ago by our good old friends the Border Reivers on their way out to cause mischief and the Hadrians Cycle Way follows the path of Hadrians Wall along the old Scottish Border. 

The Reivers Cycleway was my first bike packing adventure. My Dad and I started the route over a weekend when I was about 15, we still remember the ride now and talk about it to this day. I'll never forget my Dad bodging a fix on a flat tyre and stopping every 20 minutes to pump his tyre back up... every 20 minutes for an entire day. It was a long day, a very long day, and we didn't talk a lot during that day. But the rest of the ride was great and much like the C2C the route can be done in one go for the ultra mad or at a much more leisurely place. 

3) The Fred Whitton

Start: Grassmere 

End: Grassmere

Distance: 112miles

Terrain: Minor Roads & Hills (Mainly Hills)

Route: http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.co.uk/the-route/

Arguably the most famous Cumbrian cycle challenge, a must on the bucket list for anyone keen on cycling it attracts riders form around the UK and World each year. 'The Fred' takes on all of the Lake District's famous passes. The brutal 112 mile route takes on Kirkstone, Honister, Newlands, Whinlatter, Hardknott and Wrynose racking up a staggering 3950m of climbing along the way. All in all it is one of the most difficult cycling challenges around and most riders set of looking to complete the ride before they start crying. 

Paddy completed the Fred earlier in the year, he made it all the way to Cold Fell before he stopped talking to himself and almost 3/4 of the way to Hardknott before he started to cry (properly cry, the previous efforts were just something in his eye). You can read about it here in our blog http://gocumbriaevents.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/the-fred-fred-whitton-2017.html

4) Lakes and Dales Loop

Start/Finish: The route goes all the way around the Lake District, you can start or end wherever is most convenient for yourselves. We're doing the route next March and are starting from Cockermouth. 

Distance: 196 miles

Terrain: Mixed

Route: http://www.lakesdalesloop.co.uk/map-elevation/

The near 200 mile route can be done in a variety of ways, ranging from the nut job day long attempt to a week long journey around the Lakes the route winds around the outskirts of the Lake District around Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales. There are also various options to do parts of the whole loop in smaller day long sections too, so if you're up here for a day why not give a section a go and let us know how it goes. 

The Lakes and Dales Loop is all set to be a great Go Cumbria adventure in the not to distance future. We're heading off on the Loop early next year and I can't wait to get started and do some practice recce runs. 

5) South Lakes 100 (#Jennride) 

Start: Stavely

End: Stavely

Distance: 100miles or 200km

Terrain: Off Road MTB

Route: http://www.selfsupporteduk.net/routes/Lakeland200.html 

The Jennride is a 100 mile / 200km bike packing adventure (not a race) from Stavely to Dungeon Ghyll and back. The majority of the ride is off road and places are limited so if you fancy it you need to register early. The event was arranged by Richard Munro and can be completed as a oner or over a longer period if you want to camp out on the journey. 

The approach you take all depends on how much luggage you're willing to carry and how far you want to cycle. The trade off being the more luggage you take the more comfortable your nights sleep will be, the less you take the easier it will be on the legs! 

The route takes on some great tracks, bridleways and climbs... the rewards are some amazing views, great descents and also a few pubs and cafes on the way. 

6) Lakeland Monster Miles 

Start: Keswick

End: Keswick

Distance: 65miles or 49miles

Terrain: Cross Bike

Route: https://www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk/events/lakeland-monster-miles-adventure-cross/ 

The Monster Miles is a cross bike event, it includes long sections of road and also bridleways and off road sections. Kicking off in Fitz Park, Keswick the Monster is a very tough Adventure Cross event, offering a wide range of challenges during the full loop. 

Whether you're after mud, trails, climbs or descents, the Monster has it all and is definitely not one for the feint hearted. Why not get out and give it a go.. set yourself the challenge and work up to it for next year! 

7) Grizedale MTB Challenge  

Start: Grizedale Forrest

End: Grizedale Forrest

Distance: 40miles

Terrain: Off Road & Singletrack MTB

Route: http://www.gmbc.co.uk 

I rode this event in 2016 and was really looking forward rot the return of the event in 2017, unfortunately due to low numbers the event was cancelled, I hope the event returns in 2018 and if it does please get yourselves down, the event is great fun... it's bleeding hard work but worth the efforts to get to cycle some places you don't normally get the chance to. The route went the wrong way round some of the North Face track and around a few off the beaten tracks of the Grizedale Forrest resulting in some epic riding and some amazing views. Check the website for details. 

8) Trail Centres for MTBing

We also have some trail centres and a bike park, as well as the masses of Mountains and Lakes to go exploring on and around on your bikes - trail centres are a great way to get out on your MTB and improve your skills. The Whinlatter and Grizedale centres are great for longer rides and days out, while the GNAR centre is a progressive bike park which is a fantastic way to get out and hone your skills, progressing from roots, ruts and mud through to some massive drops and jumps it has something for all skills and experiences - practice at GNAR and then get out and enjoy the Lake District. 

Whinlatter Forrest

Grizedale Forrest

GNAR Bike Park, Penrith

9) Get Out on Your Bike

There are so many different options for cycling. Road, MTB or Cross Bikes. For the beginner or the expert, a nice family ride or an epic challenge to make your legs scream. Cumbria has it all and the best way to get involved is to get your bike out the garage and see where it takes you! That's what we do here and the people you meet and the rides you experience will lead you to your next adventure. 

Join a cycle club, there are loads of local ones to suit your style of riding and ability. If you're after some hints or tips, or want us to promote your event here, then get in touch and let us know. We want to make it easy for everyone to get out on their bikes and Go Ride. 

Anyway, we're totally inspired by Mark and Sean - so we're off out on out bikes.

Coffee and Cake Ride - Kirkstile Inn

Coffee and Cake Ride 
Kirkstile Inn, Lorton

Our latest quest to find Cumbria's Best Coffee and Cake Stop in the World took me on a ride on the back roads of West Cumbria taking in Eaglesfield, Dean, Branthwaite, Lamplugh before heading towards Lorton where I stopped for a rest at Kirkstile Inn. 

It was a lovely Thursday afternoon, my last day of my fortnight holiday.  I made the decision to go for a la'al pootle on the bike nothing to strenuous but just getting out and about enjoying a fine Cumbrian afternoon (without the kids for a couple of hours!).

What's great about cycling within Cumbria is the variance, while the majority of the time there is always some sort of hill to deal with, whether the small ones or the large passes!

And as soon as you turn off onto one of the quitter roads you can go for miles without seeing anyone!

On rides like this is great fun to turn off down lanes and roads that you would never normally go down if you are on a fast ride.  It allows you to find new routes that can add to a journey. 

The ride was just 26.6miles long according to the trusty Garmin with 1,970ft of elevation gain.

Leaving Cockermouth via Brigham, swinging to the back road into Eaglesfield.  A tight right hand bend will take you towards Greysothen and then onto Dean.

If I'm on a short hard blast of a ride (or my chain has broken and I haven't taken anything to fix it), you swing through Dean and head back towards Cockermouth.  This time I went the other direction towards Branthwaite, which has a great short sharp climb to really get those legs pumping.

Another turn towards Lamplugh, this is lovely quite road and I think I only saw 2 cars for a few miles.  From Lamplugh heading towards Lorton means going down Fangs Brow.  If you have chance to look up from the descent the views are amazing over Loweswater and the fells behind.  Or head down and go as fast as you can.

At the bottom of this descent is the Kirkstile Inn, between Loweswater and Lorton and is a fantastic location.

Coffee and Cake Review - Kirkstile Inn, Lorton:

...........

So before we start this review, minor confession! This is not a coffee and cake review, as I stopped at a pub it became a pint and peanut review!! Sorry!


1 - Seat Comfort: It is a pub and I was sitting outside because of how nice the weather was, so seating for obvious reason is pretty limited.  I was on a pub table and bench which was fine, I could stretch my aching legs out.

2 - Bike Friendliness: Not really geared up to be a bikers pub, it is great for fell walkers but the gravel paths are difficult in cleats.

3 / 4 - Cakes & Cake Choice: Rather than cake and cake choice I'm doing pub snacks (there were cakes on offer).  Minor issue with some pubs no idea what pub snack is on offer as it is not visible to the customer, but went for a good and straight forward salty nut and bang they had it and a nice bag it was!  Obviously salty nuts to replace the lost salt from all of that sweating I did, cycling to the pub.

5 - Coffee / Tea: Beer instead.  Great selection of beers, a lot of local ales as well.  I went for a Loweswater Gold and was fantastic! 



Overall Rating: Overall I've given Kirkstile in 3 chain rings, not ideal for cyclists granted, but a warm summers day sitting outside watching the world go by is just priceless and well worth a visit whether on foot or bike.

From the pub was a short ride via Thacktwaite into Lorton and back into Cockermouth.

A cracking summers ride!

Cheers

Owen

Total Warrior

Total Warrior - Lake District

This month saw Mr and Mrs Paddy take on the Total Warrior Course at Shap Abbey. 

For those of you who don't know much about it, it is basically a 10km run. Simple, kind of, in amongst the 10km of running around the hills and fields surrounding Shap Abbey there are a handful of obstacles thrown in. 

30 obstacles to be precise, spread out over the course they ensure there is no rest or let up. It's a great fun way to get wet, tired, cold, warm and covered in mud. I liken it to being a kid and playing about in a massive park... but that makes it sound easy, which I can assure you it isn't. The obstacles range from jumping into mud holes, running through rivers, climbing over fences and walls, plunging into an ice bath and jumping over a fire pit. It's not all bad though, there is also a big slip'n'slide and a section where you have to carry a log! 

You can find out more (and sign up for next year's event) here http://www.totalwarrior.co.uk we might even put in a Go Cumbria team if enough of you want to join us. Let us know! 

The first couple of times we've done the event I've been a great husband and left Nic to it, in a race with my brother (who is 15 years younger than me) the husbandly duties were dropped in preference to getting one over my younger brother (incidentally I failed on both fronts, he always beats me). Last year I ditched Nic at the start and clocked up a time of 1 hour 20 and Nic came in at 3 hours and 7 minutes. 

Once Nic had calmed down and started talking to me again she suggested that 'rather than leaving me, why don't you do it with me'. At least that is the polite version of what she said. I can't print what she really said as there are too many choice words. So after a gentle, kind, loving conversation, I applied some ice to a totally unrelated black eye and agreed that in 2017 we would do the event together. 

Nic set herself the aggressive target of 2 hours, she wanted to take a whole hour off her previous best. I thought this was optimistic and may be a stretch but Nic started training each week with with her Netball team after games and I was under strict instructions to shout at her and give encouragement throughout the event... I knew I could manage at least half of that request. 

The big day came and we set up on the start line, we started off and it was a lot of fun. When I'd previously been racing (chasing) my brother I'd forgotten how much fun it is to run through Cumbrian hills and it was great to run alongside Nic. We set off slow, paced ourself well and made sure we had plenty of energy for the monkey bars at the end (making sure we hung on and didn't fall into the ice cold water). 

Half way round we were on 44 minutes and it looked like we were definitely on to beat Nic's target of 2 hours, I expected the pace to drop off in the second half but it didn't. All Nic's netball, running and interval training over the spring and summer did the trick and we finished in 1 hour 36 - a whole hour and a half faster than Nic's previous PB and twice as fast as she had done before. 

Well done Nic, amazing work, and it was great fun running together. We even managed a plank on location! I'll sign us up to a half marathon next :-) 

Photos from www.mybibnumber.com 

You can read about our Plank Challenge here https://gocumbriaevents.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/the-plank-challenge.html 

The Plank Challenge

August Plank Challenge

After Owen's bonkers Press Up challenge in July which saw him complete 200 press ups each day of the month - a whopping 6'200 press ups in a month! August see's something a little more doable for us normal folk. 

The challenge for August is to do a plank, each day, for as long as you possible can. Try to beat your best time and let us know how you're getting on. 

If you're not sure how to plank, or what it is, we're not talking about lying facedown strange places and taking pictures we're talking about core strength exercises. It is a great way to build core strength using your own body weight, and everyone can do it. The idea is to basically put yourself in a push up position, resting on your arms or elbows and raise your body off the ground. Then hold that position for as long as you can. 

This little guy here can show you how it should be done better than I can explain it in words.

The best thing about planking is you can do it at home or on the go... we took our planking challenge on the road with us this weekend here is a shot of Owen and I planking at the top of Newlands after cycling up from Buttermere. 

Go on, give it a go and let us know how you're getting on via Facebook or Twitter. We can all have super 6 packs and rocking abs before we know it! 

My best time so far is just over two minutes, but the top of the leader board so far is my 5 year old daughter, I'm not sure on the exact time but she managed to stay like this for the full length of Boss Baby! I was pretty impressed. 

Update: 

So, mid way through the month and we're both improving, Owen has clocked over 2 minutes now and Paddy has a PB of just over 3 minutes. Though that said the last couple of days have seen us both struggling to get beyond 90 seconds.

#GoCumrbia

Coffee and Cake Ride - Siskins Cafe Whinlatter

Coffee and Cake Ride 
Siskins Cafe, Whinlatter

Our latest quest to find Cumbria's Best Coffee and Cake Stop in the World took us on a ride alongside Crummock Water to Buttermere, from here where we headed over Newlands into Braithwaite and up the Whinlatter Pass where we stopped for a rest at Siskins Cafe. 

It was a lovely morning on Sunday as we headed out on the bikes, who's have thought when we set off that the heavens would fall upon us later in the afternoon - but the only obstacles we needed to overcome in the beautiful morning Cumbrian Weather was Cumbrian traffic... Sheep. The road to Buttermere is always full of our wooly friends and this morning was no different. 

Crummock Water is always lovely, and with the weather so calm and quiet it made quite the backdrop for a photo with my lovely bike. 

We headed up Newlands next, where Owen and I both completed a personal challenge, I managed to beat my best time to the top from Buttermere in just over 11 minutes and Owen for the first time got up without stopping. All these cake rides must finally be be doing us some good! From the top of Newlands we headed down towards Braithwaite, the road was very slick in places with some of the inclement weather we've been having, it didn't stop me pushing on (I got to 44mph at one point) but it did lead to squeaky bum moment as I slid sideways towards a wall. My smugness for reaching such a good speed soon disappeared as I tried to remember if I'd packed spare pants! 

Wall avoided, we headed through Braithwaite and up the Whinlatter Pass to the visitors centre. We pulled off to pass into the car park and headed to the cafe for a well earned rest and bite to eat before heading home.

Coffee and Cake Review - Siskins Cafe, Whinlatter Visitors Centre:

...........

1 - Seat Comfort: There was a range of seating available in the cafe, and at the time of the morning we arrived we had the whole place to chose from. As we were hot and sweaty from a bit of climbing we opted to sit outside... bad choice, it was a bit breezy so we went back inside fairly swiftly. Chairs are functional here, but not the cosiest on hard working cycling bottoms. Although I did award an extra point for spotting a man with tools walking around levelling chairs and table legs... as an Engineer I really appreciated that. 

2 - Bike Friendliness: Full marks, this spot really caters for cyclists. Situated on the C2C, Fred Whitton Route and home to it's own trail centre it is probably not a surprise but not only are there bike racks and places to lock up bikes but the staff are great too. We had a good chat with the folks behind the counter about our morning efforts and were duly rewarded with good cake and coffee portions. The kind of portions I'm sure Chris Froome gets after his jolly's in France. 




3 / 4 - Cakes & Cake Choice: Great Choice, Great Cakes. I'm not sure I can say anymore, they had a Victoria Sponge, a Coffee and Walnut Cake and a choice of Scones - there was plenty more on offer, but to be honest they had me at hello. Winner Winner Chicken Dinner, I opted for the Coffee and Walnut Cake and Owen had a Chocolate Brownie thing. Both were lovely, just what tired legs needed to get us back on the road. 






5 - Coffee / Tea: I had an Americano, which was good, Owen had an Espresso. Both good, just what the doctor ordered. 



Overall Rating: Overall we've given Siskins 4 chain rings, get there early though, it gets really busy at lunch time and if you're there with family you don't want to be queued up for a long time with grump kids.

If you have any suggestions of any coffee and cake stops we should make let us know, we are always willing participants!

Paddy and Owen