Mondays Route

Mondays Story

Monday morning came round too soon and after we had a hearty breakfast in a dining room with a variety of nik-naks from the sublime to the ridiculous, we set off. We had established at this point that the rain was unrelentless.

The ride out of Whitehaven is not the best signposted route and don't be surprised to take a few wrong turns - we did. The first hour was spent riding through a very built up residential area, so don't be too surprised when you find yourself travelling down a number of cul-de-sacs and back alleys. Eventually you hit the cycle track strewn with modern art and signposts galore - watch out for the dog walkers (so speed has to be minimised).

We took our first wrong turn around Lorton and ended up heading the wrong way towards Cockermouth. Fortunately for us there had been a crash on the main road and a kindly Geordie truck driver took pity on us and gave us directions as to how to get back on track. With another hour wasted we hit more torrential rain whilst hitting the incline into Keswick. The only distraction at this stage is the Kangol factory shop which you pass on route and can offer a bargain for the habitual shopper.

We stopped for lunch at a pub just on the outskirts of Keswick with lovely warm fires and a comforting menu to match. Today we learnt the first rule of Sea to Sea - pack spare everything daily (including underwear). We were soaked right through and even a change of T-shirt and bottoms could not compensate for wet underwear. Rule number 2 do not be afraid to go commando !

After re-fuelling we trekked on and met a couple of guys at Greystoke who had decided at 4pm they could make it to Allenheads before nightfall (optimists!). We got through Penrith at around 6:30, rang our hotel to tell them we were on our way and then faced the sheer hill up to them. After giving up and pushing our bikes we arrived at our luxury accommodation, bedraggled, very wet and looking very unsuited to our surroundings. After hot showers and a change of clothes we retired to the bar for sustenance, our wedding anniversary meal consisted of tomato soup, a cheese sandwich which was a real shame as the menu looked absolutely gorgeous but we were too tired to appreciate it. At 9pm we were tucked up in bed, fast asleep with half our kit on the radiators in the room and the rest of it kindly positioned on the hotel boiler to ensure everything was dry for the morning.