Day 1 started at 06:00 for me. Truth be told, I had very little sleep the previous night - worrying about things I had no control over or things that obviously hadn't happened. I had around 3 hours sleep. Davey and Andy had travelled down by the train the previous night to Carlisle and stayed overnight. So they had quite an early start too from Carlisle to Whitehaven by train.
Everything had been done. Everything was packed. So we headed to Whitehaven, leaving (to both my daughters disgust) at 07:20.
The journey took about 1 hour 40 minutes, getting us to the harbour at Whitehaven for just gone 09:00. It was trying to rain. I got my bike off the car, put my saddle bag on the saddle stem and put my cycle shoes on and was ready. I just waited for the call from Davey and Andy.
At about 09:20 I got the call - they were here. Just round the corner as it happens, so I got on my bike and headed round to the official C2C start point. Davey and Andy were taking shelter from the drizzle under a fixed canopy structure.
We got ourselves together, had some photos taken, put our back wheel in the water (as is tradition) and headed off. It was 09:45.
Myself, Andy and Davey
Megan, me, Sharon (trying to hide) and Cathryn at the start
The route out of Whitehaven is a mix of road, tarmac surface and decent off road track. The first 9 miles out of Whitehaven through Cleator Moor and Rowrah is a long steady climb. Nothing too taxing but it warmed us up. We stopped a couple of times for photos. The first time we stopped seemed to catch Andy off guard...and he didn't get his foot off the pedal and promptly decided to lie down with the bike on top of him. No damage done. A small graze on his calf. Little did we know this was a sign of things to come for Andy!
One thing I would say was we stopped when we felt like it - and therefore missed some nice photo opportunities. There are some great landscape photos and some nice structures which would've been nice to get a photo of but because we had stopped we didn't want to stop anymore...we just didn't know how long it was going to take to do the first day. So - choose your photo opportunities well.
Andy and myself having a break...with the Lakes looming in the background
Davey looking all pumped for the ride
It was road surface out of Rowrah and a fairly steep mile long climb to Kirkland followed by a welcome mile long descent into Lamplugh. From there it's a short climb out of Lamplugh and a nice long 5 mile descent to Loweswater and on to High Lorton. Of course, these downhill sections generally mean there's a climb coming up...and so there was.
I own all this!
It's at High Lorton we hit the climb to Whinlatter Pass. Now - looking at the Sea 2 Sea Cycle Route Map, I could be forgiven for telling Andy and Davey (when we reached a small plateau) that we had just climbed the worst of it. However, we got back on our bikes, turned the corner and the sight in front of us almost made us cry. It was as steep (if not steeper) than the section we had just completed, but seemed to go on and on and on. According to the C2C Guide Book, it's around 3.7 miles long. And it was. We were struggling to keep going. None of us spoke because our lungs were pumping just keeping moving.
The climb levels out and there's a right turn into a forest track. However, that way looked steeper than the road alternative so we stayed on the road. Also being on a road bike I was keen to stay on the road.
A little further on there was a very beautiful, welcoming pub - The Royal Oak. The sun was out, the sky was blue and we had worked hard...so we stopped for lunch. I guess the time must've been midday. 26 miles done! 20 to go.
We had a big lunch and a beer. That was our first mistake. We should've eaten small amounts and often...and definitely stayed off the beer. We just felt really heavy after that. Our next mistake was to listen to someone as opposed to sticking to my map! Some old codger told Davey the way out. So we headed off...and a couple of miles in we passed a sign with 3 markers on it. One showing Whitehaven, one showing Keswick and one showing Cockermouth...and we were heading to Cockermouth...BACK to the start of the C2C at Workington!
I called Andy and Davey back and explained the error...and we headed back. About a mile before the pub, I realised I didn't have my glasses (I got a fly in my eye!)...and Andy said he saw them fall but thought I had seen them and picked them up! So the lads offered to stay put and guard the junction whilst I cycled back a mile or so to pick up my glasses. I thought that was nice of them! Picked my glasses up, went back to them, back to the pub and off on the right road.
Now - at the pub at Braithwaite, BE CAREFUL. There is no sign saying to turn right down a small road (or we didn't see it!). But the turning is on the right just before the pub at Braithwaite.
We carried on and went through a small village were we saw the old codger that had given the directions. Davey thanked him in a strange kind of way and we move on.
We rode into Keswick at a nice steady pace. It was a very gentle climb into Keswick. Out of Keswick was a different matter. It was a rough "forest" track...not at all comfortable on my road bike. To be fair, Andy and Davey on their hard tail mountain bikes also said it was uncomfortable. That was about 3 miles long - to Threlkeld.
Andy and Davey on the route from Keswick to Threlkeld
Davey - because I'm worth it!
From there we passed under the watchful eye of the great hulk of rock that is Blencathra (aka Saddleback)...a mountain I had climbed twice with my daughters. Luckily we weren't going over it - we were going round it's base. You are off the main A66 road here...and even when you are on it, you are actually on a cycle/foot shared path beside it. You aren't ever actually on the A66. I passed Blencathra wondering if I would ever tackle Sharp Edge...
It was getting quite dim now. The light was definitely diminishing. We had about 10 miles to go to our first stop...Greystoke...just west of Penrith. We were feeling tired now - and saddle sore!
The route was downhill from Troutbeck and a slight incline into Greystoke. The trip from Threlkeld was pretty uneventful...we arrived at Greystoke at Beech House B&B around 17:30.
We had a shower and went off to the Boot and Shoe Inn for a beer and a meal. We were not the only cyclists staying/passing through Greystoke. The pub was rather busy.
We hit the sack about 10pm. It was a long, gruelling first day - but we knew there was worse to come. Day 2 was considerably harder...the first day was literally a warmup.
Day 2 will follow.
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