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We (David, Ben and Hugh) are going to be cycling coast to coast from St Bee's to Robin Hoods Bay, this is in the lake district. The route is 210miles and we are doing it over 7days to average 35miles a day. We have chosen to do the ride for multiple sclerosis.

We start on the 26th August departing from Basingstoke railway station, arriving at St Bee's at 17.47 and that's where it all begins. We are going to be staying in youth hostels and camping a couple of nights. We are cycling around 20miles on the first evening to reach the first youth hostel which is a barn. We are cycling from St Bee's to Ennerdale on the first night. The second day we will be travelling to Eskdale this will only be around 20miles but dont be fooled by the short distance, most of the terrain is unrideable and we are climbing about 1000ft.

27th - Ennerdale to Eskdale - Around 20miles. Staying in a youth hostel

28th - Eskdale to High town , passing through ambleside - 29miles. Staying in a youth hostel

29th - High town to Kirby stephen - 36miles. Youth hostel

30th - Kirby Stephen to Grinton 30miles - Possibly youth hostel

Then the last two days we havent booked yet so we cant plan our route as we dont know where we plan to stay yet. We may end up camping these nights, just hope we have good bike locks!

I will be updating this page tomorrow with full details on the route.

What happened:

St Bee's to Ennerdale

The train journey up from Basingstoke to St Bee's wasn't as easy as we thought it would be. The train was full, most people on there were going to Reading festival. As soon as we got our bikes onto the train, there was only one bike space to fit three bikes as the other side the bike space was occupied. Luckily before the guard on the train came to check tickets the person with the other bike had gone but the guard told us if we cant fit all our bikes in the spaces we have to get off at the next station. So we quickly thought to twist our handlebars around so we just just squeeze in our bikes. We arrived at St Bee's at 17.47 and we quickly got changed into our cycling gear once we got off the train. Then we cycled down to the coast to get a picture of us all by the sea.

We cycled back passed the train station and came across our first hill, at the top was a coast to coast bar so we stopped off for another picture. We carried on cycling but we then became LOST already! Was this a sign of things to come..? As we followed the wrong cycle route. Also the fact that we didnt have a map for St Bee's. Eventually after a mile or so of riding down the cycle route we had no idea what turning to take at a crossroads so we tried to find a car. Once we did they told us we were too far South for where we were meant to be. We followed their directions until we managed to find ourselves on the map that we did have.

Now we knew where we were we took a quiet country lane until we found the bridleway, by this time we were all getting very excited as we knew this adventure had just begun.

We were now near Ennerdale, and there was a nice bit of off roading that we could do. Now we came across a T junction we assumed that we could just carry on along the footpath that we had been going along. Also because it looked shorter than going around that would be an extra couple of miles. By this time it was around 8pm and the light was closing in. We thought it would be a nice path along the side of the lake. It was all going well until we hit a very narrow path that was hard enough to walk along let alone cycle and push the bike. With the amount of rain there had been it was very slippy and brambles were everywhere. Every step that we took our feet would sink in mud that covered our ankles. All we could see around us was water and brambles, no sign of anybody or any buildings. Eventually after a while of pushing our bikes through everything we found a road. Now it was coming up to 9.30pm and the YHA would close at 11pm so it was a race against time now to make it there. It was so dark not even our bike lights were helping much. There were so many pot holes on the road by the time we saw them it was too late to avoid so it was a bumpy journey. I didn't have a front light so I was trying to stick alongside with Ben and then Hugh didn't have a rear light so when he raced off in the distance we couldn't see him until eventually he slowed down and waited for us at a turning. We eventually came across a building that was the YHA, so Hugh went in to talk to the man at reception and gave us the key to the barn, and said that we could dry our clothes in the main building and sit down in the lounge. We had a look at the barn and it was all to ourselves but we asked if we could stay in the main building with proper beds and heating and he was fine with it as long as we had breakfast. We took our clothes into the drying room about 10.30 then woke up the next morning just to find out the heating gets turned off at 11pm! so everything was drenched.

Day 2 - Ennerdale to Eskdale.

Got our bikes out of the bike shed to realise Hugh had a slow puncture, but we decided to carry on until it got any worse. We got about 1-2miles down the route until Hugh realised he left his spare tyre in the bike shed. Ben and I decided to go back and get it while Hugh fixed his puncture. Just as we got back to Hugh he had just about fixed his tyre and put the slime in it to prevent punctures.. We cycled for about 4miles from the YHA then we came across black sail pass. It looked massive and very challenging. Even at the start of the mountain it was so steep we had to push the bike up and take frequent breaks as it was just so steep and rocky. The amount of boulders there were, that made us having to lift our bikes up and over it was unbelievable. Someone could have warned us that it was so much work having to use our arms instead of legs! But Hugh was clearly up to it as he was powering ahead and then we came across this massive rocky area that we had to carry our bikes on our backs. From above it looked more like a cliff edge as it was so steep. From then on we were taking our panniers off our bikes and carrying them up separately to our bikes are the weight was just too much to be lugging up together. The further up we went the steeper it got and the winder it became. It would start raining and by the time we put our rain jackets on it would have stopped. It must have taken us at least 2hours to climb this if not longer, as it was only the 2nd day it came as a big shock to us and we were seriously wondering what we had got ourselves into. The gradient of how steep it was must have been at least 30% which we encountered later on, and to do this climbing 1500ft it was very challenging. Even going up it we had to lug the bikes up and put the brakes on so it wouldn't roll back down. Once we reached the top we stocked up on food and took a few pictures and we were ready to enjoy going down the mountain. But the path down couldn't have been much better than going up it, the only plus side was that we didn't have to put all our effort in getting the bikes up the mountain! The path down wasn't ridable at all, the amount of boulders there were along the path made effort just going down. And what made it worse for me was that my brakes weren't working that well! I was pulling as hard as I could on the brakes and the bike was still trying to get away from me. It didn't help by the fact it had been raining as it made the ground so slippy and Ben and I had cycling trainers on, and they have very little grip at the bottom.

By the time we found a little stretch of path that we could just about manage to ride on it was fairly narrow so our panniers would be hitting the sides of the rocks and on the uneven path that made it very hard to handle the bike. But then it was back to pushing the bike. After a while we managed to get half way down the mountain, but then we had the task of crossing a waterfall, by this time it was getting annoying that we couldn't actually do any riding and all we were doing was taking the panniers off and carrying them and then the bikes or pushing. We had jumped down with our bikes and panniers about 2 metres, then we had the challenge of crossing it. Hugh crossed the other side I stayed on a rock right in between both sides with water rushing past me, I would be lying it I said i was getting a tad nervous and Ben was on the opposite side to Hugh. As we had taken the panniers off the bikes Ben started throwing the panniers to me and then I did the same to Hugh but we soon realised if we don't catch it we are going to be one pannier lighter by the other side! So Ben and Hugh just leaped onto the rocks and made it to the other side just to come back for the bike. Whereas I thought if I jump and slip its not going to end up too well as the rocks were so slippy from all the water on them so I just walked through it with the water nearly up to my waist. But I just didnt want to get my panniers in the water, even though they are waterproof, they cant be 100% espically with the side pockets not being waterproof and that I had electrical's in such as my ipod and camera for easy access. Eventually we made it across to our relief, now we loaded our bikes back up and set off down the rest of the mountain. This track was rideable so we set off and kept going for about an hour until we finally reached the bottom and now we were in the valley.

We kept going and a couple of miles down the path we came across one shop in the middle of nowhere, but we stocked up on lucozade and chocolate bars and took a 10minute rest before we set off again. We cycled for about 5minutes then came across a slight problem, cross a massive river or go through a field of cows that were looking quite angry at us, so we thought take the field. Even going through that because it had been raining so much the field was waterlogged so we were getting nowhere fast, but we made it. We carried on and passed some walkers but then we came across the river that we were hoping to avoid as on the map it showed we could but obviously we couldnt. We got off our bikes walking up and down to find a bridge, but we found nothing so we started looking for the most shallow bit of water we could find, but nothing was exactly "shallow". Next thing I turn around and see Hugh just bricking it and going across it, luckily the water was just beneath the panniers. Then i attempted to cross but hit a rock half way across it so it forced me to stick a leg out and hope the bike didn't fall over, thankfully it didn't! but now I was used to my feet being so cold I could barely feel my toes so I didn't mind crossing the rest of it. Ben had clip ons so if he lost balance or anything he would be on his side with his bike so he was asking us if we thought he should walk or cycle, so Hugh and me obviously said cycle! Would be so funny if he was to accidently "lose balance" and surprisingly he took our advice and tried cycling, but to our disappointment he made it across without any problems but as soon as he crossed the river he lost his balance on all the rocks. But we carried on, came across a few more mountains, by this time going up our third mountain of the day it was starting to get really tiring on the legs and even more on our arms. Some of the paths that we had to take up we were climbing up a 45incline, this was proving vertially impossible to do for much longer. We were seriously thinking what have we let ourselves in for, and who an earth made up this route!!! We reached some flatter ground so we were able to start cycling again. It seemed to be never ending every corner we went around we saw a massive path to climb again. And having the wind against us didn't help either. About 1-2hours later we reached the top, now it was around 6pm and we were out of food and water. There was a nice downhill that we went down then it was just flat ground, but we had never found it so hard to cycle on most flat ground as we were running on low. We were now cycling along the cycle path but it was nothing like one. We kept coming across fields that had been seriously waterlogged so every step we took our legs would just plunge down in the mud. The only thing I liked about it was that it was nice and refreshing on my feet with the cold water. But it was effort just to lift our bikes out of it and not knowing what was in front of you with every step we took. This sort of terrain must have carried on for about 5miles and we were going very slowly. Now the light was closing in and we thought Eskdale was just the other side of the mountain we just came down but we were wrong. We kept going and going through everything. Now like the first day we hit a field of brambles and this went on and on what seemed forever. We stopped again and checked the map once more and this time we were certain it was just over the next hill so we powered on through them, our legs were bleeding cuts everywhere. Ben had fallen off three times because he was trying to cycle when we were going so slowly and he just came up against pot holes that we couldn't see because we couldn't see where our feet were going. By this time we were thinking of a last resort, what if we cant make it to Eskdale tonight? Do we camp and make up the extra milage tomorrow? But Hugh was just going for it, we saw him waiting at the top and we thought we must be nearly there. But we could see for miles around us and we were STILL in the middle of nowhere, but we could see some cows and sheep now so we thought we must be near a farmer or something. As we got down into the valley again Hugh shouted out to me "WATCH OUT!" I pulled as hard on my brakes as I could and feet on the ground trying to stop my bike not knowing what he was on about. But then i realised i was 2-3 feet away from a small crack that was leading to the river. Luckily I stopped otherwise I would have gone straight into it and had a nasty accident. Once again for the 7th time today we had to take out panniers off and cross a river. This river was really deep so we just had to walk across it as there were no rocks to jump onto. The water came up to around our thighs so it was hard to get our bikes, but the water wasn't that fast so it was safer than the ones we crossed earlier that day. We loaded the bikes up again and moved on heading towards the field.

Then we saw a house just the other side of it but the gate said Private land do not enter, but we thought there's no other direct way to get across without going really out our way and it was getting quite late. We crossed but the cows were looking tense as they were protecting their young ones, but the amount of fields we crossed with them in we were getting used to it by now. Now we just followed a road down and came across the village. We had never been so relived to make it as we were thinking of stopping and camping earlier. We saw two pubs along the way to the youth hostel, and then we saw it in the distance. We booked in dropped our stuff off and ran to the pub, well tried to run to the pub but our legs were so weak we ended up just walking as fast as we could. It was 8.55pm and the pubs stop serving at 9pm, but we made it just before they stopped serving and had a nice pint to chill out after a long days riding. Just thinking if we had a rest for 5-10mins the pub wouldn't have been serving food and we would be going on empty with just chocolate bars that had filled us up during the day.

Day 3 - Eskdale to Windermere

This was the first day that we had to cover a lot of mileage compared to the first two days. We stocked up on maltesers and bars of chocolate at the youth hostel as we had no food left from the previous day and we had no idea if we would come across anywhere that sold food. As we set off we could feel we had been cycling the previous day as our muscles were so stiff but after 5mins of riding we soon forgot about it. Then we came across Hardknott pass, this was a massive mountain with the steepest road in Britain with a gradient of around 30% and we had to go up it! We started cycling for about a minute then thought we cant do this so we ended up pushing the bikes up and cycling on the flat ground. But even cycling on the flat ground was hard enough because by the time you got the rhythm going we had to get off and push again. Dozens of cars were passing us and every person in the car we just saw laughing, probably saying to themselves they cant be going up there or their mad. Anyway we were, by the time we reached the top we soon realised wow how far we actually had climbed up. Now was the fun bit we were going down the mountain.. Ben and Hugh raced off, catching up with cars whereas I was just letting my bike take me down it as my brakes weren't working so I didn't want to build up speed and not be able to stop on a sharp bend. It was really fun going down it, but as we got down we had another mountain, near enough identical to Hardknott pass, this was Wrynose pass. They are about 1300ft in height. At the bottom we met these builders and talked to them for a bit before we set off, It took a while to go up, but once we were near the top my legs were feeling stiff as it was so cold and raining. As we reached the top there were a few cars going down on the decent, and we were picking up so much speed the cars were actually pulling in to let us overtake them, we must have been going between 40-50mph in some parts. As we were half way down the mountain we were all cycling near enough next to each other and Hugh said to me "how are your brakes doing" and by this time we were coming up to another car and nearing a bend and i was shouting "I cant stop!!", it was really really fun going down but I was really nervous in case I couldn't stop and the rain wasn't helping either as it was making the road slippy when we went round corners. But we made it to the bottom and we had only been cycling for under 2hours and we had covered about 1/3 of the distance we set out to cover that day. We checked the map and then set off again, now there were a lot of hills on and off, as we were going up we stopped off for something to eat as we had loads of time. As we were in the lay-by we saw the builders again in their van drive past us, probably suprised on how quick we had gone. After eating the snacks we carried on for a while, and went down lanes, we were nearing a village that would mean we were half way there, so it was a good feeling to know we would make it with plenty of time to spare compared with the night before. After about an hour of cycling we were on a main road and that builder passed us again for the 3rd time, which we found quite funny seeing the same person so many times at different points along the journey. Going along the main roads was a bit annoying at times as drivers would get quite close to the bike especially with the panniers on. We reached the town around lunch time and now we just wanted to get to our Youth hostel so we kept going, up and up and up a hill that never seemed to end and when it did it became off roading again, more lugging our bikes up. It was so draining on the arms as it just kept going and going. We got to the top and then we had a long stretch of flat ground but the amount of gates we had to open and shut made it annoying. At the end we reached a point of taking a direct route that was flat or a route that just went out the way and was climbing. But the direct route was a footpath only and cyclists werent allowed down it so we had to go around. Eventually we could see the town and we made it by 3-4pm. This meant we could go and explore the town and had a decent meal.

Day 4 - Windermere to Kirby Stephen

Started the day fairly early, surprisingly our legs didn't feel too bad, whether it was to do with putting deep freeze on or just getting used to doing the mileage but it was good. As soon as we set off riding we had a nice downhill, but the downhill meant we were down in the valley and we had to go up the mountain. Soon as we hit the uphill it was back to pushing our bikes again as it was too rocky to cycle over. We just kept going and going, until we reached near the top a while later. At the top there was a nice downhill section which Hugh and Ben cycled down but I walked it as my bike couldn't handle it as we hadn't come across a bike shop to buy new brakes and my tyres were going everywhere as they were thin. At the bottom while they were waiting for me Ben slipped over on a rock he was standing on, twice! As we made it down we fixed our bikes and set off, this time up short bursts of steep hills. After a couple of hours of doing this we reached the start of another mountain. And we werent half way there yet. It was more of the same over the rest of the day, gruelling hills that didnt seem to end. Then we were wondering how we were going to cross the M6.. Did we have to join and do a loop over a bridge or something to get to the other side, we didnt know what to expect. Now we had been cycling a good hour on the roads and I was eating as many lucozade tablets as I could to keep my energy up. As we turned off and up a short hill we were all starting to feel our legs and it was starting to get fairly late, around 6-7pm. Carried on for another 20mins until we saw the M6, we made our way towards it and then we thought where is this road leading to, onto the M6?! It was a nice stretch of flat/slightly downhill bit of road and we were really starting to go as fast as we could. As we approached a corner we realised there was a road going under the motorway, soon after we passed it I had a problem. My bolts that was holding my pannier onto my bike had come undone. Im guessing its because of all the rocks and bumps we were going over they became lose over the days. But despite buying 4 spare bolts a week previous I forgot to bring them on the trip, so we had to use zip ties to strap the bottom of the pannier to my bike, as my pannier was so loose it was sending my bike in every direction possible and it was actually on the wheel, so it was slowing me down as well. After we got that sorted out Ben and Hugh tighten up theirs as well and Hugh's were fairly loose as well just lucky not to lose a bolt. 

Day 5

The morning was very nice cycling, we were just cycling at a leisurly pace through country lanes. We came across the White Swann pub, and this now was only 60miles to Robin Hoods bay, it felt so good to feel we had down a good 160miles and we were nearly there. We stopped off and checked the map, then kept going. We came across a road that had a gradient of 14% down and 20% up. This was easy compared to what we had be doing. So we started going, came across a long downhill trying to pick up as much speed as possible then as we were getting near the bottom a car just pops over the other side so we had to slam on the brakes and stop. At the start the gradient must have been in excess of what Hard Knott Pass was, but as we got nearer the top it equalled itself out. Keep going down and up and then flat road. Eventually we came to a downhill section that seemed to go on forever, it was worth going up just to go down this. I easily went the fastest i had been on the trip, my legs couldnt pedal fast enough to keep up. As we reached the bottom there was another hill, but as soon as we reached there the weather decieded to rain very heavy. In the space of a minute we were soaked. We had the option of staying in a YHA that we previously booked but cancelled, or staying in a B&B that we also booked. The YHA was just down the road from where we were, or the B&B was a good 10miles away. But we all wanted to carry on cycling and make as much progress as we could otherwise we would have to do another 10miles the next day. The rain just wouldnt stop though and it was really demoralising. Trying to go up a mountain when its chucking it down with rain and the further we went up the wind was even stronger. So strong that it was making us move left when we were trying to go straight on. Didnt help that with the wind the rain was coming directly into our face which felt so painful with the rain just pounding us in the face like stones being thrown at us constantly. We couldnt stop and take shelter as it was too cold so we had to keep moving to keep warm.Eventually after an hour of what felt like torture we made it to the top just to cycle another 5-6miles. But 2miles later we came across what was the best bit of off roading we had come across over the whole trip. It was so much fun but it didnt last long. Then we stopped because Hugh had a puncture, as we were repairing it he was like is that the sea? And it was, we were so happy that we were nearly there. Ben had cycled off enjoying the off roading then we were waving him down to come back. He did, just to find out that Hugh wanted Ben to give him a tissue. Ben wasnt too happy but we all saw the funny side to it. As we set off again Ben fell off for the 7th time, but so did I for the 3rd time. Soon after we made it to the B&B, which was good to be there, but we had starting wishing we had stayed at the YHA. The landlord of the local pub drove and picked us up so we could go to his pub and get some food.

Final day - To Robin Hoods Bay

We set off thinking itsthe last day!! We could see the sea the previous day, it was exciting that we were so close. We only came across two or three challenging hills. But we could take it so slow as we were so close and enjoy the final day of the ride. When we finally saw the sign across Robin Hoods Bay, we were so pumped it was unbelievable. It didnt feel like we had been cycling for a good week now. Stopped off went down a little hill and stopped off by Wainwrights bar and dipped our tyres in the sea. WE MADE IT. But now we did that we had to cycle all the way back to our YHA what was just the other side of where we were but it was high tide so we couldnt just nip across.

Will update the page later on this week.

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