Day Two: Tuesday 9 September 2008

A good hearty fry-up at the Kings Arms Hotel was the precursor to a lactic acid inducing climb in the rain and wind from Tan Hill to the off-road track to Sleightholme. This section of singletrack had clearly had a recent savaging at the hands of the storms with sections of it boggy or flooded while other bits resembled a rock garden with loose gravel and drop offs. It all made for an 'interesting' descent to the farmers gate where I skidded to a halt, brake rotors steaming wondering how i'd managed to stay upright!  A big grin was the order of the day before taking a deep breath, release the bike clips and allow the adrenaline to come pouring out.

Continuing on I met up with Pete again in Bowes where we had lunch and I managed a comical complete clothing change in the gents while we waited for the food. The rain, ably assisted by the strong wind, was so penetrating  it had successfully soaked me to the skin and I was starting to feel the cold. Amazing what a plate a warm food and dry clothes can do and in no time the rain had stopped and I was off once again, feeling good, but unknown to me, heading in completely the wrong direction!

On getting back on course via Yarm I changed yet again in the carpark at Great Ayton but also bought a pair of winter leggings from the Pro-Bike shop there in preparation for the crossing over the Moor to Whitby. By that time the weather was beginning to close in again.

I set off on the climb out of great Ayton over the North York Moors with both front and rear lights on due to the poor visibility as the kids were walking home from school. The tarmac immediately began to tilt upwards in a series of challenging climbs as the road twisted and turned to Commondale where the route reaches a very steep section (I din't know it possible to do only 3.4 mph on a bike and still stay upright). 

That climb took me up over a couple of cattle grids onto another section of off-road riding where the weather really closed in, the wind directly off the sea strengthened and the stupidity of venturing out onto the Moors without a compass hit home. I realised that I must have missed a turn somewhere when I hit the tarmac roads again and Pete wasn't around. No phone signal meant I couldn't get guidance from him so I turned into the head wind and hoped it hadn't changed direction.

Luck however was at least partly on my side and I came upon a sign showing Whitby 15 miles (A171), I say partly because the run into the town was accompanied by a howling gale into my face together with stinging horizontal rain!

I arrived on the beach at Whitby with a sense of relief and satisfaction to the welcoming site of union jacks being waved by the reception party assembled there, which included a couple of random but curious Australian tourists who wondered if the ride was a warm up for a real coast to coast Oz style.

The best bit though was yet to come - the fish and chips from the Magpie chippy, probably the best ever.

Mission Accomplished!

Day One: Monday 8th September 2008.

Photo: Me at the start, 7.30am Walney Island near Barrow in Furness. What you can't tell from looking at the photo is that unfortunately, at that stage my brakes had completely failed. This made the first mile or so to the bike shop in Barrow somewhat entertaining!

A full 2 hours later than planned, I set off, navigating my way through Barrow constantly on the look-out for the blue W2W signs that picked out the route. The route at first is a pleasant mix of quiet roads and singletrack. The off-road bits however were badly affected by the recent flooding to the extent that some was well and truly off limits. Despite this I was able to find a way around the worst of it without going too far off plan.

The stand out segments of day one were for me the climb out past Bigland Hall, Grange Over Sands, and Cartmel. This is lovely, chocolate box cover perfect village - home of sticky toffee pudding and National Trust protected. We stopped there to stock up on puddings and also for a welcome coffee.

From that point on the lumps and bumps grew steadily and relentlessly. After crossing the A590 at Town End I  made a small de-tour after being asked to do so by a local farmer struggling with his flock of sheep. Soon afterwards I met up again with Pete for lunch at Sizergh Castle's National Trust Cafe. It was a warm day and I took the opportunity to wash and change as well as stock up on energy drinks before hitting the road again.

On leaving Sizergh the route skirts around Kendal and heads out towards the M6 and the big sky country beyond. The site of the still distant Howgill Fells looked ominous as I swept under the Ribbleheaed like viaduct of Lowgill.

The road from Lowgill to Orton (where we stopped for tea and a scone) was tough, constantly up and down 14%, 16% and 20% short, sharp shocks of climbs followed by the adrenaline rush of fast descents (increased by my inefficient brakes).

The miles continued to roll on by and the afternoon was a spectacular open moor run past Sunbiggin tarn, Soulby and Kirkby Stephen where we arrived at 5.30pm with still the biggest challenge of the ride waiting for me - the climb to the top of Tan Hill.

Pete and I chatted briefly about the fading light and time was against me but decided to press on as the top was only some 10 miles down the road.

Those 10 miles turned out to be the hardest 10 miles I can remember riding. One look at the profile of the hill tells why, 8 miles from bottom to the hotel at the top which at 1732 feet is the highest in England. Gradients of up to 20% for extended periods of time occasionally so steep the front wheel lifts off. However after much gritting of the teeth and groveling in the 'granny ring' a great sense of achievement was waiting at the top. Oh and a nice cold drink!

Route confirmed - raring to go!

I spent some time last evening checking the route from start with Peter who is an now an honorary member of Velo club d'RHADS. Pete, you may recall has kindly agreed to come along to lend mechanical and logistical support during the ride and to motivate me along if required. Sensibly he will be travelling the route in his car.

A colleague at work, Simon has come up with a novel way of proving successful completion of the ride for any doubting thomas that might require verification before coughing up the cash. It involves me carrying a small tracking device which then plugs into a PC via the USB port and the route downloaded onto Google Earth where it can be uploaded to here. I tried it yesterday on a 30 mile training ride after work and as you can see the results are very good. I will be taking it on the ride, it's easy to use and i think you will agree, the results are great.

Only two weeks to go!

Even if you are not really interested in cycling, the recent performances of the British Cycling squad in all disciplines cannot have failed to stimulate your interest. Particular awe must be reserved for Chris Hoy winning every single race he entered is something just a bit special I hope you will agree. For me the real thrill was the emergence of Jason Kenny and Stevie Burke from nowhere to World Class in two weeks is just fantastic and I can't wait until London.

Full of inspiration from the boys and girls in Beijing I continue to put in the miles to ensure a smooth ride when the time comes. I'm planning another long ride this weekend regardless of the wintery weather which continues unabated. I was hoping to run out with erstwhile club member (Velo club d'RHADS) - the only other member as it happens - Pat White. I think it will be another solo venture however due to the vagaries of the shifts and planning being too much of a hassle. Our 'club runs' are infrequent and but the cafe stops are to die for.

I've a new RIDO saddle on order and may be getting the first of the production examples long before they hit the shops, it will be touch and go whether they are released in time for the ride but I have promised to post a review of its performance on the ride if they get it to me on time.

Indian summer anyone?

Been out for a quick blast (for me that is) around the Epworth, Wroot circuit, it's roughly 25 miles and a good afternoon/ evening ride.

It always seems to be raining this summer. Has it been certified the wettest since records began yet? No. Well if not it's only a matter of time, at some point every year for the last few years, some weatherman from the BBc makes the claim.

Anyway, I should just stop complaining and get on with it. Although, having said that, being stoic is all well and good but in the long term I think it may prove to be damaging to the soul. Summer is meant to bring dry roads and trails in exchange for the joy of speed all this negates the body firing off endorphins to dull the pain in those lower limbs and butt cheeks. But when it's cold and wet the joy element is lacking and in my case so is the speed!

Bring me the sunshine pleeese!

Training update

The training has been going well and i feel confident now about the ride itself. A week last Sunday in fairly significant heat I  rode 123.2 miles at a 17 mph average speed which I was fairly happy with. The bum was a bit sore but other than that I rode comfortably all day. The route which took me out to Lincoln and then Kirton on Lindsey before returning through Epworth was pretty flat but significantly longer than either of the days on the actual ride. I hoped that by exchanging the extra miles for the lack of climbing, a fairly accurate idea of a typical day could be achieved.

I'm also trying out some new kit, the radical Rido Saddle (www.rido-cyclesaddles.com) which is really inexpensive compared to 90% of the market but claim to offer the most comfortable ride. I will report here on whether the claims are true!

All the accommodation is booked, my neighbour Pete has the maps marked up, the route is clear apart from two bridle-paths that are missing on the OS maps, i'm happy to wing those bits though. 

I'm out on the bike again in the morning to get a few miles in, just looking forward to doing it now. Fingers crossed...

Route final details

I have decided to complete the ride in two days. 

Day 1: Walney Island, Kendal through Kirkby Stephen finishing with the nice five mile climb up Tan Hill. Staying overnight in the highest pub in the UK, the Tan Hill Hotel.

Day 2: Tan Hill, Barnard Castle, Great Ayton, Whitby. 

I think that breaks down into two days riding 80 - 90 miles per day.

I'm now thinking that I might need to buy a lighter, faster bike than the MTB on slicks to comfortably tackle the distance. No time for training at the moment either due to Dad passing away, and Mum moving house at the same time. Oh well just grit the teeth and think about the cause...

Finally, a friend who was helping out with supporting me on the trip (Colin), has unfortunately been admitted to hospital himself and has undergone surgery. Get well soon Colin, hope you have a speedy recovery. Peter and I will manage on our own I am sure of that but you will be missed on the ride.

Dad's sad passing.

It is with a heavy heart that I have to record my fathers passing last night at around 3am, another victim to the C-Dif killer bug.

The ride will go ahead as planned but it will be a memorial ride in honor of my Dad - Frank Price 1929 - 2008.

Love you Dad.

Yet another hurdle in the path to recovery.

Yesterday we found out that not only does my Dad have to contend with recovering from a severe stroke, he also has to beat 'C-Diff' - a potential killer bug. 

C- Diff (Clostridium Difficile) is a healthcare associated infection, often acquired by people during an extended stay in hospital. The hospital say it's due to vulnerability caused by anti-biotics stripping the stomach lining away but it seems funny to me that this comes at a time when the stoke ward is being deep cleaned due to infection. In addition, Ward C3 where he is currently in isolation has been more than careless when it comes to carrying out basic hygiene precautions by nursing staff.

We can only visit for 15 minutes a day now and have to follow a strict regimen of washing, disinfecting, wearing a gown etc and upon leaving a similar process must be adhered to. It doesn't stop when you get home either, clothes have to be washed immediately and not mixed with any other clothing. During the visit there is no touching, kissing etc and the effects upon the patient are visible.

All this has caused added distress and concern to the family and I feel lets down the team of surgeons who did such excellent work at the Hallamshire Hospital initially. My fingers are firmly crossed that he will pull through this, but he has a fight on his hands, the most challenging marathon of the many he has run.

I want him to be healthy, and to project the light and strength of old again. I want him to come home.

Today was an exercise intended to help with the  planning for the actual coast to coast in September. With transport and assistance from my neighbour Pete we went up to Cleasby in North Yorkshire. I set off around 8.30am  (see pic) intending to ride to Whitby on the East Coast by sunset! The distance is about 65 miles, in actual fact it wasn't too bad, it took me 4 hours and 45 minutes, so with a short stop for 'elevenses' in Great Ayton I arrived at the old seaside town at 2.30pm.

The climbs were tough but none bad enough so I had to get off and push (quite a few 25% inclines), but overall I managed a 13.5 mph average. Not too bad given i'm on a mountain bike.

Anyhow, there's the update. I just need to go off and plan the ride properly now, work out the schedule, the stops, any B&B's required etc.

The Route

This coast to coast route is based heavily on the Sustrans W2W route the distance is approx 172 - 185 miles I can be a bit more accurate on this next month following a planned trial run from Barnard Castle to Whitby. I need to get a few miles in in training over the next few weeks, and I also need to estimate how many mile per day I can reasonably expect to cover on this type of surface.

I have done several coast to coast rides previously (I hasten to add when I was quite a bit younger), on those occasions they were road based events on the classic Morecombe to Scarborough route. If memory serves me correctly they were about 136 very hard miles which we used to complete in about 9 or 10 hours.

This year i'm riding a mountain bike and travelling on disused railway tracks, trails, quiet bits of back road and rough stuff. All a bit of an unknown quantity. There's the lengthy climb up Tan Hill, the highest point on the route at 1,732 feet above sea level and some of the best scenery the UK has to offer in Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales.

What am I going to do?

The challenge I have set myself is the Coast to Coast W2W mountain bike ride 175 miles of tough riding through some of the finest scenery the UK has to offer.

The beneficiary of the funds I manage to raise is the Neurocare Charity based in Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield.

Not for some random reason have I decided to do all this, my Dad was recently a patient at the Hospitals neurosurgery unit where he was fitted with a platinum coil to stop an artery leaking into a vein. Unfortunately, although the procedure was a success, six weeks after the surgery he suffered one of the rare risks of the operation, a stroke. In my Dad's case the stroke has proved to be a severe one affecting the left side of his body and his ability to move is totally diminished at the present time.

Anyhow to kick start the fundraising today I attended the Tom Simpson memorial site in Harworth Nr Doncaster where i'd arranged for the good ladies of the local church/W.I to have a bake off and sold the proceeds for the appeal fund. The plan was to entice the public with the gorgeous aroma of freshly baked sausage rolls and chocolate cakes and once they were hooked, get them to sponsor me as well. I am pleased to say that the combined effort raised £210. Not bad.