Discussion
Quite fancy a goal to aim for this year which got a friend and I thinking about the C2C.
I'm keen to rack up a 100 miler in a day and we wondered whether the C2C was doable in a day ? We'd be taking a fully road route and not be too fussed about a little bit of night riding if necessary.
I typically cycle 2-3 times / week in the summer with a couple of 20milers after work and a 35 most weekends with the odd 50 every now and again. Biggest ride to date was a solo lap of the Isle of Wight last October which was 65 miles and approx 4500ft of climbing (i'd forgotten how hilly it was) so roughly half of the C2C. Averaged about 14mph over the ride so nothing fantastic but had set off not feeling too well so was pleased to get round.
The challenge here is to finish it in a day not to race around it.
So.....has anyone done it all on road and has anyone done it in a day ?
Whats the route like by road ? I'm not overly keen on main roads (my local rides are all pretty much on country lanes). Theres a short DIY documentary on youtube of a guy who did it solo in a day and i wasn't too keen on the bit where he's crawling his arse up a hill on a pretty busy main road with lorries coming past.
I've also started to look into alternative C2C options and found this route from Morecambe to Saltburn by the Sea:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Coast-to-Coas...
Has anyone tried this route or ridden parts of it ?
I guess the key thing will be to train up for more distance as well as plenty of hill training - were thinking end of September but want to book it up and put in the training.
Cheers
PotOdds
I'm keen to rack up a 100 miler in a day and we wondered whether the C2C was doable in a day ? We'd be taking a fully road route and not be too fussed about a little bit of night riding if necessary.
I typically cycle 2-3 times / week in the summer with a couple of 20milers after work and a 35 most weekends with the odd 50 every now and again. Biggest ride to date was a solo lap of the Isle of Wight last October which was 65 miles and approx 4500ft of climbing (i'd forgotten how hilly it was) so roughly half of the C2C. Averaged about 14mph over the ride so nothing fantastic but had set off not feeling too well so was pleased to get round.
The challenge here is to finish it in a day not to race around it.
So.....has anyone done it all on road and has anyone done it in a day ?
Whats the route like by road ? I'm not overly keen on main roads (my local rides are all pretty much on country lanes). Theres a short DIY documentary on youtube of a guy who did it solo in a day and i wasn't too keen on the bit where he's crawling his arse up a hill on a pretty busy main road with lorries coming past.
I've also started to look into alternative C2C options and found this route from Morecambe to Saltburn by the Sea:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Coast-to-Coas...
Has anyone tried this route or ridden parts of it ?
I guess the key thing will be to train up for more distance as well as plenty of hill training - were thinking end of September but want to book it up and put in the training.
Cheers
PotOdds
Pot Odds said:
Quite fancy a goal to aim for this year which got a friend and I thinking about the C2C.
I'm keen to rack up a 100 miler in a day and we wondered whether the C2C was doable in a day ? We'd be taking a fully road route and not be too fussed about a little bit of night riding if necessary.
I typically cycle 2-3 times / week in the summer with a couple of 20milers after work and a 35 most weekends with the odd 50 every now and again. Biggest ride to date was a solo lap of the Isle of Wight last October which was 65 miles and approx 4500ft of climbing (i'd forgotten how hilly it was) so roughly half of the C2C. Averaged about 14mph over the ride so nothing fantastic but had set off not feeling too well so was pleased to get round.
The challenge here is to finish it in a day not to race around it.
So.....has anyone done it all on road and has anyone done it in a day ?
Whats the route like by road ? I'm not overly keen on main roads (my local rides are all pretty much on country lanes). Theres a short DIY documentary on youtube of a guy who did it solo in a day and i wasn't too keen on the bit where he's crawling his arse up a hill on a pretty busy main road with lorries coming past.
I've also started to look into alternative C2C options and found this route from Morecambe to Saltburn by the Sea:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Coast-to-Coas...
Has anyone tried this route or ridden parts of it ?
I guess the key thing will be to train up for more distance as well as plenty of hill training - were thinking end of September but want to book it up and put in the training.
Cheers
PotOdds
Quite a few mates have done it and a I might be riding with a mate who's doing a charity ride to support him. I'm keen to rack up a 100 miler in a day and we wondered whether the C2C was doable in a day ? We'd be taking a fully road route and not be too fussed about a little bit of night riding if necessary.
I typically cycle 2-3 times / week in the summer with a couple of 20milers after work and a 35 most weekends with the odd 50 every now and again. Biggest ride to date was a solo lap of the Isle of Wight last October which was 65 miles and approx 4500ft of climbing (i'd forgotten how hilly it was) so roughly half of the C2C. Averaged about 14mph over the ride so nothing fantastic but had set off not feeling too well so was pleased to get round.
The challenge here is to finish it in a day not to race around it.
So.....has anyone done it all on road and has anyone done it in a day ?
Whats the route like by road ? I'm not overly keen on main roads (my local rides are all pretty much on country lanes). Theres a short DIY documentary on youtube of a guy who did it solo in a day and i wasn't too keen on the bit where he's crawling his arse up a hill on a pretty busy main road with lorries coming past.
I've also started to look into alternative C2C options and found this route from Morecambe to Saltburn by the Sea:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Coast-to-Coas...
Has anyone tried this route or ridden parts of it ?
I guess the key thing will be to train up for more distance as well as plenty of hill training - were thinking end of September but want to book it up and put in the training.
Cheers
PotOdds
Morcambe to Bridlington is popular .. a I know a few have done Lancaster to Scarborough which is 144 miles. Personally I'd be looking to ride in the lighter months giving you maximum sunlight and allows for mechanicals. Fixing stuff in the dark isn't fun I can tell you!
Whilst you're not looking to race around, you'd need to step up your training as here are some examples of a ride pulled of Strava for that route.
Distance - 144.1mi
Moving Time - 9:15:36
Elevation - 8,177ft
Elapsed time - 12:14:56
Ave Speed - 15.6mph
That said, if you can ride 80 - 90 miles then you can ride 144!
I'm planning on a C2C with a mate this year. The most I've done before is 65mi and we don't regularly do long rides so will need a fair bit of training to get over the comfort issues I suffered last time. Our C2C is planned to be a short version of the Hadrian's Wall route starting with a train to Carlisle then on bikes to Bowness-on-Solway and ending in South Shields. According to the route I planned it's 112mi and 4500ft climbing - http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/968104909. Annoying bit is getting to the start from York which is looking like 3h30 by train to Carlisle which sucks, but I'd rather go west to east for the theoretical wind advantage.
Just mapped out the route you linked to and it says 5800ft climbing. Think I will give that a miss! http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/989466311
Just mapped out the route you linked to and it says 5800ft climbing. Think I will give that a miss! http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/989466311
Defo doable in a day.
I did the Seascale-Whitby route with opencycling.com (http://www.opencycling.com/coast-to-coast-in-a-day) in 2013.
As above once you're over Hardnott & Wrynose in the Lake District it's prettty straightforward, and the last ~15km is downhill
Took me ~11hrs elapsed, ~9.5hrs moving:
https://www.strava.com/activities/63611281
I did the Seascale-Whitby route with opencycling.com (http://www.opencycling.com/coast-to-coast-in-a-day) in 2013.
As above once you're over Hardnott & Wrynose in the Lake District it's prettty straightforward, and the last ~15km is downhill
Took me ~11hrs elapsed, ~9.5hrs moving:
https://www.strava.com/activities/63611281
Defnitely possible to do it in a day. Me and a mate did it last year, east to west tynemouth to Whitehaven on a slightly shortened Hadrians Cycle route with the worst head wind I've ever faced. The following day we did west to east back from Whitehaven to tynemouth. We did it on normal road bikes and followed the normal C2C route with only minor detours in the roads for some of the fiddly bits in the lakes. It was an achievement, but I'll be honest and say it was too far in a day to enjoy it. Unless you desperately want to do it in a day, take 2 days to do it and enjoy the scenery en route. Or if you want something different, do the way of the roses, morecambe to Bridlington in a day, and then bike back home to York the next day? The stretch from morecambe to ripon is stunning, through the Lancashire and Yorkshire dales. The stretch from ripon to Bridlington is a bit less exciting, but a lot flatter and more easy going. I've done the c2c a few times now, and every time I notice something different and enjoy it massively, but there is a lot more climbing in it than the WOTR. I'll definitely do WOTR again, maybe attempt it in a day next time.
The advice on doing it in June/July to make the most of the daylight is sound. The last C2c was meant to be a leisurely 2-dayer, but due to mechanical difficulties (shredded tyre and 3 punctures!) it ended up being a long first day. If you had problems like that on a 1-day attempt, it would be really bad unless you had a day with ~14 hours of daylight.
If you want the routes from my strava, let me know and I'll try and send you a link?
The advice on doing it in June/July to make the most of the daylight is sound. The last C2c was meant to be a leisurely 2-dayer, but due to mechanical difficulties (shredded tyre and 3 punctures!) it ended up being a long first day. If you had problems like that on a 1-day attempt, it would be really bad unless you had a day with ~14 hours of daylight.
If you want the routes from my strava, let me know and I'll try and send you a link?
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