Day one began:- we met bright and early at 5:30 by the archway of the Church to load up the brand new van kindly loaned to us by the YMCA.
This year we had the Magnificent Seven riders -John Lambton, Malcolm Forster, Andy Slater, Maurice Lee, Dave Turnbull, Dave Armstrong and Darren Snaith and the Three Degrees support Team – Dave and Ian Fulton and Derek Farthing (so called because every time we left them they needed to know ‘When will I see you again?’)
Ian immediately proved his worth by being the only person tall enough to pass the bikes up to John who was arranging them on the top. Passing bikes up or getting them down became Ian’s job throughout the weekend.
We set off promptly at 6 am and had a good journey, pausing only for a lightish breakfast just outside of Carlisle. The initial signs were not good as we passed through some heavy showers in Carlisle, but by the time we arrived at our starting point of Silloth the rain had stopped, but the wind had built up.
We quickly unloaded and got ready to ride. We are finally getting better at this but we have had seventeen years practice.
We ceremoniously dipped our wheels in the water and set off passing through some nice little villages most of which seemed to be for sale.
Fact 1 – we passed Holm Cultram Abbey founded in 1150, it was closed in 2006 as a result of arson but has since had a major restoration project undertaken and reinstatement work is still going on.
Before long we were battling a very strong headwind as we rode around the very beautiful Solway Coastal Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, while keeping a close eye on the flood warning signs.
Fact 2 – As we passed Cardunock there is a transmitter site which has existed since the 1960s. It is used to transmit orders to submarines but also when you listen to the time ‘pips’ before major news bulletins on Radio 4, these sounds are coming from here . It also managed to stop everyone’s cycle trip computers from working until we were quite a few miles past the site.
We stopped for lunch in the village of Burgh by Sands and bought a cup of tea so that we could make use of the beer garden of a pub.
Fact 3 – Edward 1 ‘the Hammer of the Scots ‘was brought here to rest in state after dying at Burgh Marsh.
Fact 4 – Camper vans have poor turning circles.This fact came to light as we were having lunch and a loud grinding noise was heard. A large camper van misjudged the turn into the car park, caught the wall and ripped open the side- even worse was the fact that they had only collected the van an hour before.
Lunch and entertainment over, we set off for Carlisle.
Fact 5 – Most cities have rubbish cycle route signs and Carlisle is no exception as we struggled to find our way .Andy who works there brought his local knowledge to bear and asked someone for directions , and even then we still got lost! However before long we picked up the route again and soon arrived at our digs for the night.
When we do rides like this it is often difficult to get accommodation for a group and you often just have to rough it and make do with what you can get ; and this year was no exception. So after we had relaxed in the Jacuzzi, had a sauna and a swim we had the problem of whether to choose from the bar meal or restaurant before finally settling down for the night with a few beers in the bar. The only distraction was a wedding reception being held with, for us, memories of the Next 900 barbecue, a steel band playing.
We weren’t invited.
Day two; up bright and early for breakfast, a choice of Continental or Full English, or in our case, both. Then off past some lovely scenery, through Hayton and Brampton and then an impromptu coffee break at Lanercost Priory.
Fact 6 – as we were sitting having coffee, what appeared to be a Lancia Appia pulled into the car park. Followed by another, then another, upon investigation we had stumbled on the North East Lancia owners club who were having a mystery rally where only the lead car knew where they were going. A bit like our bike ride really.
We also met two guys on road bikes who were following our route and for a while we rode with them until they put a bit of effort in and disappeared into the distance.
Next year a road bike may be the better option!
We carried on to Haltwhistle for lunch via Glenwhelt Bank, a busy road with a 17% incline which is very steep to ride up; as a result a cycle track had been laid alongside the road. This had been severely washed out by the recent storms leaving gullies and massively eroded sections, some three or four feet deep, with only a narrow part of the path remaining, and only the brave or foolhardy would attempt to ride it in case they fell in.
After Dave Turnbull had retrieved his bike from the hole and wiped the blood from his knee!!! we continued
From Haltwhistle through Bardon Mill and then more signpost problems as the route appeared to be going back on itself into Bardon Mill. We wrongly assumed that the sign had been moved and so missed the nice gentle ride around the back of Vindolanda and instead found ourselves riding up the steepest hill we would encounter over the course of the ride, it seemed the route was designed to avoid this hill which was a real bottom gear crawl, but ultimately a bigger sense of achievement when you succeeded.
At the top, a great view overlooking the fort at Vindolanda followed by a small ride to Birdoswald where we met a lady in her late 70s, who cycles the four miles between the villages of Banks and Birdoswald there and back, every day. She wished us good luck for the rest of our ride and then we had a brilliant long fast downhill stage to Fourstones where speeds of 42 mph were recorded. This was followed by a gentle ride into Hexham, arriving as the bells were being rung for a wedding, not to welcome us as we thought.
Time for a shower and change before tea.
Fact 7 – Hexham seems to have a disproportionate number of Indian restaurants , in fact after we had passed possibly the 8th Indian and only one Italian (which was full ), we ended up having a Chinese Banquet which was very nice, a couple of beers and back to bed for a good night’s sleep.
Day 3 –another Full English breakfast (how we do suffer) it is amazing how we manage to keep ourselves in such prime condition!
From Hexham to Corbridge, Ovingham and along the very picturesque Wylem Waggonway until catastrophe struck. An inadvertent clash of wheels caused Malcolm to crash, and he hit the ground quite hard.
Malcolm at once realised that something didn’t feel right but decided to walk for a little while to see if he would be alright; but soon realised he couldn’t ride any further. We had to make an important decision about what to do, but luckily the Big Lamp Brewery was nearby, so we went for a cup of coffee.
This also gave us the chance to get in touch with the Three Degrees who arrived promptly in the van and took Malcolm to the drop in centre at Grindon to be assessed, while the now Magnificent 6 carried on riding past the quayside at Newcastle, where we had to pick our way past a fishing competition and the Sunday market, a slight pause to watch the daft people bungee jumping from a crane platform and then along the riverside to catch the Shields Ferry.
At this point Dave Armstrong left us to go up North, and the Magnificent 5 carried on to South Shields and the end of the ride.
Once we reached the finish we got in touch with the Three Degrees who brought Malcolm to meet us. Malcolm had actually sustained a broken arm which subsequently needed an operation, a plate fitted and a cast on.
Fact 8 – in 17 years of bike rides this is the first broken bone or serious accident to happen. On average there have been 7-8 riders and each ride has been approximately 150 miles long. This means that the cumulative total miles we have ridden is about 20,400 miles, or about the same as the distance from London to Brisbane Australia and back!
Our best wishes go to Malcolm for a speedy recovery and we hope to see him back in the saddle soon; and although this was an unfortunate accident we will be back on our bikes again next year and looking forward to another 20,400 miles of accident free riding.
Daz aka Darren Snaith