Has anyone done the above?

I’ve spotted a charity run via some friends that are intending to do it for the RBL and it’s a good cause.

What sort of fun will I be in for?

I’ve done Workington to Sunderland on a bike if that helps!

Took me 15.5hrs incl stops, with about 9’500ft of climbing involved.

Something ive always fancied doing, but never got round to doing it on the mtb, …. so last summer i decided to do it but slightly different ?….. i rode it on my motorbike !!
I did St bees to Robin hood bay 🙂 …..
was a great ride on the motorbike but would still love to ride it on the mtb 🙂

have a look here for more info http://www.c2c-guide.co.uk/

We’re planning to do it in 3 days I believe, Fri/Sat/Sun so will mean about 45 mile a day from what I can gather?

Did the Hadrian’s Cycleway NCN 72 on 31st Dec – 1st Jan. Blinding route!

I live in Sunderland and have done it. The start and finish are a bit grim in places, but it’s still a good route.

We have done 3 coast to coasts over the last few years. In 2010 we did the C2C from Whitehaven to Tynemouth. In 2011 we rode the Way of the Roses (Morecambe to Bridlington) and last year we rode the W2W from Walney to Whitby. All of the rides were over 3 days and varied between about 155 miles and about 180.

For me, the key to these rides are the banter and so its crucial to ensure good accommodation with good food, good ale and good mates. Plenty of people do it in 2’s or solo and take tents but that really wasnt for us!

Of the 3 rides we have done i’d say that the later (Walney to Whitby) was the best and Way of the Roses possibly the less great option (but still good). There are plenty of sites out there dedicated to the routes.

I did the Whitehaven to Sunderland route.

As above the route goes through some rough parts of town at either end but its a nice route overall. You quickly get out of Whitehaven and towards the lakes on an old railway line. If you’re fit / have plenty of time I’d recommend going towards Buttermere and going through the Newlands valley or over Seatoller, steep but more scenic IMO but then Whinlatter is no push over.

I’d recommend the off-road section near Rookup(?) as otherwise its a down and up diversion on the road. The off-road bit is steep in places but all rideable and its great once you’re on top.

Once you start the Waskerley way its a fairly steady (if not a bit boring) ride along a disused railway with the odd feature along the way and some interesting parts of town around Consett. Tynemouth / Sunderland is better than you’d think.

I started at lunchtime on day 1 and finished near Threlkeld. Finished day 2 in Alston after a bit of back and forth looking for campsites then day 3 near Sunderland.

If you’re camping then the Lakes has plenty of options but once over Hartside pass options run out a bit. There is a campsite behind the tip in Alston, but its really weird and I beat a hasty retreat to the YHA. There wass a campsite in Rookhope at a pub but its not on a map. There are 2 campsites near Consett but neither of them particularly good. South Shields might be a nicer place to finish at the end.

As has been said, the start & finish aren’t much fun, but the middle bit is good. Depending on where you usualy ride you might find the hills in the middle quite a challenge. I certainly wasn’t used to that sort of climbing when I first did the C2C. You also need to know that if you are doing it on a road bike: There are bits which aren’t that nice on a 23mm tyred carbon race bike. I’d say 28mm minimum for comfort. I did it in 25’s and some of the off-roady bits were a tad unpleasant & led to pinch flats.

Don’t stay at the bunkhouse in rookhope, the old lady that owns it is as mad as a box of frogs and there are 2 cockerels on site. Also she tried to rob me of a fiver.

Is it the Whitehaven -Sunderland that takes in Rossett Gill, High Street etc? I wouldn’t recommend a road bike in that case. It’s a great route, 143 miles if I remember rightly. Some really good riding, and though the last 40 is an anticlimax, you’ll be ready for a rest by then anyway. There used to be lots of interesting sculptures along the railway – you could even ride the Lambton Worm earthwork to keep yourself amused, though I’m not sure that’s what Andy Goldsworthy intended.

6 of us did this in 2009, went over hartside summit, whinlatter, rookhope on to sunderland etc.. stayed in the bunkhouse which after 6 pints of guinness in the rookhope inn wasnt too bad!

the woman who owns it is definately not all there…

good crack if theres a few of you!

‘we’ attempted to do the whitehaven > robins hood bay C2C last September as part of a record attempt. We were following the tim woodcocks route which was around about 215 miles, 95% off road. Took us over some serious climbs, descents etc. Unfortunately, it was attempted around about the time the lakes had the most rain ever so we walked about 7 hours of the ride. We were attempting to crack 26 hours but after 21 hours and only 120 miles we realised it was game over. Final straw was descending at an average of 5.5mph because of the amount of erosion/mini lakes that had been caused.

Might attempt again next year during summer……………. might!!!

We’re doing it off road apparently which is why I’ve volunteered as I don’t have a road bike. I was hoping to stick some Schwalbe Rocket Rons on the keep the rolling resistance low and use the full sus so I was comfy for the all day riding.

I’m not aware of a recognised Whitehaven > Sunderland off road route

tim woodcock

I’ve done the Tim Woodcock one twice now but Whitehaven > Sunderland has always been pretty much Tarmac AFAIK

yeah, thats the easier version. TW takes you into robins hood bay rather than sunderland. The road version is only 145 miles i think, maybe 8-9 hours riding!!

is only 145 miles i think, maybe 8-9 hours riding!!

Only if I takes motorbike 🙂

The end isn’t that bad. Not been to the start yet, but I’m very familiar with the eastern half, and there’s some blinding scenery. But do be aware that it’s very exposed in parts. It’s about as remote as you get in this country.

And of course, I’ll need to know what tyres are going to be best for it 😉

If it is mostly road then I’ll run some semi slicks…

http://www.c2c-guide.co.uk/

The link above is a great resource.

I did the route with three mates. Whitehaven to Penrith. Penrith to Allenheads. Allenheads to Sunderland. We used a company which moved our luggage from digs to digs and returned us and our bikes back to Whitehaven. The accommodation gets booked up quick on popular dates so plan ahead

It rained every day of the three days and was blowing a chuffing houley on the top of Hartside. It was blowing so hard we had to pedal down the other side of Hartside. At one point on another climb we went into cloud/fog,wet and hungry when we passed a sign for a cafe at the top . It was a caravan/ portakabin but it was warm and I’ve ne’er been more pleased to sit down and get warm.

Enjoy and get some miles in your legs

jekkyl – Member
Don’t stay at the bunkhouse in rookhope, the old lady that owns it is as mad as a box of frogs and there are 2 cockerels on site. Also she tried to rob me of a fiver.

+1 and the guy is just as creepy. The first buidling as you enter the village from the west side of the country? We had to rescue two girls we’d met from there as the guy just would not leave them alone. Weird as folk.

Also why are you aiming to finish in Sunderland? Its the fourth most depressing place in England. I lost 5 years of my life to that place, and the finish, the last 10 miles or so from the junction where it splits off to Newcastle or Sunderland should have taken about 45 minutes, instead took 3 hours, so many punctures, so many wrong turnings (stolen signs and pikies ON the track), eventually got to the finish post, stank of piss, nearly stood in a giant human poo right next to the post, then on the way back to the joke of a train station one entrance was closed so missed the last sunday train back to civilisation (for 2 hours), missed connecting train, cost a fortune, epic **** up.
DO NOT GO TO SUNDERLAND YOU WILL NOT LEAVE ALIVE***

***albeit the last 10 miles through north shields & Wallsend is just about as grim, and the finish post on Tynemouth harbour wall also stinks of piss.

+1 for semi slicks if doing the c2c route, there’s no techy stuff at all. There is a lot of hills so if packing panniers with tents & stuff you will struggle. also +1 for taking the offroad route out of rookhope. We took the road down out of the village & we missed the turn off a little further on, which is left just before Stanhope. We cycled on for 3 miles before realising & turned round. When we got back to the turnoff we were confronted with a MASSIVE hill, which was so steep we had to climb by zigzag. So make sure you take the offroad 🙂

Workington to Sunderland last summer. Did off road sections inc Whinlatter, Rookhope etc.

I was riding on-one 456 with Slicks and glad I did as reduced so much drag, especially up road to , etc.

I’m doing Barrow to Whitby this year and toying with CX bike and if did Whitehaven/Workington – Sunderland/Tynemouth again would do it on CX bike.

Over 3 days, pretty easy for someone who rides regularly!

Mike

We did Whitehaven to Tynemouth over a easy 3 days, great weather and views, food and ale etc.

A big plus was that we had some cracking food and ale along the way….

2 of us on bikes, 2 girls in a support vehicle.

The lady at the bunkhouse was totally bonkers and non stop talking…it took us 30 mins on the morning to explain how much we had paid and how much was left to pay….mad !!!

Overall we had a great week!

Some great opinions here thanks.

Sounds like a good team will be key along with some slicks.