Well today started with a rude awakening. Actually it was Ronald banging on my door and asking if Phil should start cooking my breakfast! I had set the alarm for 7.30, for breakfast at 8.00 and then slept through it. The only day I wasn't up half an hour before the alarm and it had to be the day Ronald had a ferry to catch. After a sleepy stumble downstairs, a rushed breakfast and a hasty repack of my stuff, we just about made our scheduled start time of 9 am. I was in such a hurry that I didn't stop to consider the significance of the need to tighten the fit of my helmet...
We had hardly turned the pedals when my bike computer's climb assistant screen popped up to advise that the first mile of our route would be a 100 metre climb at an average gradient of 8%. Well that woke me up. There were 3 climbs over the first 10 miles, 2 were steep and the third was really steep (17% in places), but we made good time and arrived at the only food stop of the day 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Halfways up the final hill, the sweat from my forehead running into my eyes revealed the reason for the earlier helmet adjustment - I had left the helmet's removable sweatband drying on the radiator in my room.
After a coffee and scone recharge, the remainder of the ride passed by without much to note, except that it was a gentle descent down the many miles of railway paths we had ascended just 4 days before. We reached the ferry turn-off in South Shields at 2 pm, giving us an hour to cover the 3 miles to the end of the ride at Tynemouth Pier, immortalise the occasion on film (or in pixels) and then return to the ferry.
We searched in vain in the car park above the pier for the sign to herald our arrival and applaud our efforts. A lady sitting in a nearby car reliably informed us that there was no official sign and offered to take our photo. "Did you do the C2C in 2 days with the one overnight stop" she asked. I replied that no we hadn't as we had in fact completed the C2C2C, praying that she wouldn't ask if that meant 2 overnight stops.
So after 260 miles in the saddle and climbing the equivalent of Ben Nevis 5 times, what stays with me?
The country we live in is a beautiful place, with breathtaking scenery.
People are nice - spend a week meeting strangers and be surprised by the genuine warmth of their welcome.
People are kind - the 2 charity run cafés we visited, dedicated to helping and empowering those with learning difficulties, were so inspiring.
The hill climbs you fear turn out to be not so bad once you get there.
When you pack in a hurry, you invariably leave something behind.
The locals in Whitehaven and North Shields are well used to C2C cyclists, but our herculean efforts left them unimpressed.
And there ends our adventure.Read more