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Hi (sorry for another conditions type thread but...)
My wife, some friends and I were planning to ride the NCN C2C route this easter weekend. It was obviously planned in a period of no snow with the expectation that the weather woud be warm by now! Everything has been booked in advance and we are meeting tonight in the pub to discuss what to do ie carry on regardless or replan for a less snowy weekend.
Does anyone on here have any idea what the conditions on the ground are like for the route of the C2C? can anyone advise if it is currently cyclable?
Cold and reasonable snow we can cope with, but if the paths are sheet ice or the snow is consistently deep we are going to have problems. Any advice appreciated!
Cheers
MON
A surprisingly large amount of the route is on quiet country roads, but I suppose that doesn't help for the sections that aren't.
Given how far 'Oop North' it is, I'd guess that the first few miles from Whitehaven, the section between Keswick & Threlkeld, the RookHope Incline (avoidable is you enkoy a 3 mile, 17% road climb) and the section from Consett to Sunderland (probably the longest non-road bit) are going to be unpredicatable, due to the fact that they're not accessible by snowplough.
Some of the quiter roads may be snowed in, but I suppose you could avoid those by taking diversions.
There's not a great deal of 'flat', so you may spend a lot of time not having enough traction to get up, or not being able to stop coming down.
All in all, I'd say that it's going to be a bit of a mission, and not too enjoyable.
Very little snow in Newcastle... In fact no snow is a more accurate description! I drove across the A69 from the M6 on Sunday night and the road was clear and dry, however friends have been out skiing near Hexham.
do it, what the hell, it'll be an experience. If you're doing it over 4 days there'll be no rush.
this is the problem i'm having at the moment. the amount of snow seems to vary greatly from place to the next!
Conditions here in shropshire are not too bad, nothing to put me off going anyway. All the roads and pavements are clear, only really grassy areas still covered.
looking at webcams of the Lakes (whitehaven and Keswick) these areas look fine too, with the snow only on the higher ground, given a lot of the route is through the valleys and lower down i am tempted to give it a go, but this is only one area of the route!
In the NPennines it's really localised like you say, and as its the wind that has caused main problems it's not the highest or most exposed that are necessarily worst – some higher areas are relatively stripped of snow whereas some lower areas are badly affected by the drifts. It's also supposed to continue snowing on and off and coldish for the rest of the week (though warming to around 0 with less wind).
As far as I know several roads that you'd ordinarily use remain closed or blocked (not quite the same thing if you're riding a bike or live up them – though you can't tell from the signs alone), but if the snow and wind for this week remains light (as today and as forecast) then the larger roads should be cleared and give you options to complete some kind of route after a fashion. It won't take much to block them if conditions pick up again though.
I'd hold of deciding for as long as possible and hope to go for it for now at least. But I'd be happy to not ride the exact route in favour of whatever is possible. And I'd take a bike I'm not arsed about getting filthy with salt. And warm stuff as going W-E you'll likely have a cold headwind. And I'd be happy to call it off if it wasn't fun as I'm not travelling a few hundred miles to get there. Although, I'd probably not choose to be biking, I'd go skiing (and roads are clear as far as the ski clubs).
There's been snow around the Consett/Stanley area, though to be fair nowhere near as much as the worse areas that have been on the news. The roads are all fairly clear, including the back roads and estates that the council never bother trying to clear.
A colleague of mine was also up in Alston yesterday and got around fine on back roads, though couldn't comment on any of the off road tracks up there.
Lots of snow over the hilly bits in the middle, suggest you look up bike shops on route and give them a call