Sunday 21st October 2001

Trip Time & Ave Speed include all stops during day

After a comfortable night at the Allenheads Inn and a good breakfast, we set off at about 9.30am looking forward to a good days cycling.  We knew that we had a climb to get out of Allenheads, but the weather was very good, and the climb was enjoyable.  It was nice to see the encouragement that somebody had painted on the road halfway up the hill - 'C2C Nearly There'.

At the top of the hill (1680ft), we passed through a disinfectant point, put the cycling shoes back on, and started the run down into Rookhope.  Light rain started to fall, but did not slow us down.  In Rookhope, the alternative route looked OK, but we were later told that it was closed.  We had decided to stay on the road route. The section on the A689 into Stanhope was quite busy with traffic, and certainly seemed longer than the 2.25 miles that the sign stated.

Looking for the stamping point, we stopped at a newsagents on the corner.  He told us how to find the stamping point - 'at the top of the killer hill'.  We decided to walk again.  The climb was initially very steep, but levelled off nearer the top.  The wind was light and easterly, and the top of the hill was a pretty bleak place in the rain which had increased considerably.  We stopped and took a photo at the top of the last hill - definitely one for the album.

Around 11.45am, at milepoint 99, we went off road to the stamping point which was situated in a caravan in the yard of a farmhouse undergoing conversion/renovation.  We could not have wished for a better welcome.  Bikes parked, we were invited in and offered somewhere to dry off and hot drinks & snacks.  The couple are living in the caravan while they are working on the house, and seemingly provide a welcome to cyclists almost around the clock.  The lady of the caravan works for Sustrans, and we spent a pleasant half hour getting warm and discussing our travels.  I am sure they have heard all the stories before, but seemed to be genuinely interested in ours.

We can recommend the genuinely home-made soup, and would rate the caravan as a pleasant surprise and would suggest that any C2C'ers call in.  While we were there, we were joined by two groups of cyclists who had come up from Tyneside/Sunderland on daytrips and obviously call in regularly.  It was a shame to leave, but we had to crack on with the ride.  We put our SPD's back on and found that it was so cold outside that we considered leggings.  However, we stuck to shorts as it would not take us long to warm up again.

The run down the Waskerley Way was fantastic, top gear for long periods, maintaining 20-25mph.  Only occasional gates were slowing us down.  We were starting to get wet from spray and dirty from coal dust from the old rail line - good fun.  The route was entirely off-road to Consett, which we reached at 12.45 and rang home to arrange lifts.  It was 25 miles to Sunderland, and we asked to be collected at 2.30-3pm.

In Consett, we got slightly lost in the town, but by following the GPS, we quickly recovered the route and were back on track.  It was all downhill to Annfield Plain.  The beauty of this part of the ride (100 miles onwards) was that you were only losing altitude slowly, therefore could maintain a good speed without needing to climb again.

We made another slight error at the roundabout at milepoint 115 but were soon back on track and flying through Stanley and on towards Washington.  By now the time was approx. 3pm and we were later than planned.  It was very strange going close to areas in Washington that I go to for work, but not feeling that you were in an industrial area.  We enjoyed the sculptures that mark the route in this section, but did not have time to stop and photograph them.  Also, we were so muddy that I would have worried about the camera!

Approaching Sunderland, we went under the A19 and past the A1231 before catching sight of the River Wear which built up our hopes as we were now keen to reach the end.  The cycle route seemed to keep dropping down towards the river, only to bring you climbing back up to the road to avoid obstacles.  In retrospect, I think we may have been better staying on the main road as it was fairly quiet.  Past the Stadium of Light we knew we were within spitting distance of the end.  Finally, the magical final waypoint number came up on the GPS (347) and we arrived at the Marina.  We got our tickets stamped, and finally met up with the girls who were waiting for us at the beach.  The weather was now quite foggy, but I am sure that our mood did its best to lift it! 

We dipped our wheels in the water (and most of my legs) and took the commemorative photo - we were finished.  We loaded the bikes onto the car, threw the filthy bags in the back and stripped off our shoes and socks.  Sitting on towels, we left Sunderland and headed home.  The sense of achievement was fantastic, and we would recommend it to anybody who enjoys cycling.  Personally, I felt that having done the C2C once, that would be enough for me.  After a few days, you start thinking of what you would do differently if you did it again.  It must be addictive!