Arriving in Whitehaven, we picked up Keith, my father-in-law, who was to be our support crew. The weather was looking pretty unpleasant at this point so we quickly found a cafe and fuelled up on jacket spud and tea.
It brightened up over lunch and soon it was time to get the cycling kit on, get the bikes sorted and wait our turn among the surprisingly large crowd of other C2Cers having photos taken by the start sign. We dipped our back wheels in the Irish Sea, as is the tradition, waved goodbye to Keith and we were off.
The route took us away from the sea on an ex-railway track, which, with a decent tailwind behind us, made for a pleasant climb up past Cleator Moor, on a great tarmac surface. The Lakeland fells soon came into view after Lamplugh, with the route taking us along the shore of beautiful Loweswater. By now we were cruising along nicely in the sunshine.
Stopping a few times en route allowed the larger (organised?) groups of mountain bikers to pass us, but we soon got our revenge as the road kicked upwards towards the Whinlatter Pass, which was a breeze on the road bikes. We declined the forest track option at the top, instead keeping to the road for a nice twisting descent down to Braithwaite, pausing for a well-earned ice cream halfway down at a lay-by with a great view over Bassenthwaite Lake and Skiddaw.
We continued on to Keswick, busy as ever, where we joined the railway path at what must have been a really splendid station in its day. From here, we climbed gently but noticeably up the railway incline, over old rusting railway bridges and a surprisingly bumpy surface.
Leaving the Lakes behind us as we passed through Threlkeld, the views opened up and we enjoyed the ever-present tailwind to the village of Greystoke, our destination for the day. After a bit of faffing around trying to find our B&B, we discovered we'd got a complete self-catering cottage to ourselves, understatedly named "The Shed". Keith had kindly dropped off our bags on his return from Whitehaven, and now met us with June for a meal in the Boot & Shoe. Some very welcome pints of Black Sheep washed down a tasty meal, although we could hardly hear ourselves think due to the rowdy remnants of a wake that were clearly the worse for wear, swaying into us as they vigorously celebrated the life of their late friend!
It brightened up over lunch and soon it was time to get the cycling kit on, get the bikes sorted and wait our turn among the surprisingly large crowd of other C2Cers having photos taken by the start sign. We dipped our back wheels in the Irish Sea, as is the tradition, waved goodbye to Keith and we were off.
The route took us away from the sea on an ex-railway track, which, with a decent tailwind behind us, made for a pleasant climb up past Cleator Moor, on a great tarmac surface. The Lakeland fells soon came into view after Lamplugh, with the route taking us along the shore of beautiful Loweswater. By now we were cruising along nicely in the sunshine.
Stopping a few times en route allowed the larger (organised?) groups of mountain bikers to pass us, but we soon got our revenge as the road kicked upwards towards the Whinlatter Pass, which was a breeze on the road bikes. We declined the forest track option at the top, instead keeping to the road for a nice twisting descent down to Braithwaite, pausing for a well-earned ice cream halfway down at a lay-by with a great view over Bassenthwaite Lake and Skiddaw.
We continued on to Keswick, busy as ever, where we joined the railway path at what must have been a really splendid station in its day. From here, we climbed gently but noticeably up the railway incline, over old rusting railway bridges and a surprisingly bumpy surface.
Leaving the Lakes behind us as we passed through Threlkeld, the views opened up and we enjoyed the ever-present tailwind to the village of Greystoke, our destination for the day. After a bit of faffing around trying to find our B&B, we discovered we'd got a complete self-catering cottage to ourselves, understatedly named "The Shed". Keith had kindly dropped off our bags on his return from Whitehaven, and now met us with June for a meal in the Boot & Shoe. Some very welcome pints of Black Sheep washed down a tasty meal, although we could hardly hear ourselves think due to the rowdy remnants of a wake that were clearly the worse for wear, swaying into us as they vigorously celebrated the life of their late friend!
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