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Old May 4th 05, 08:37 PM
vernon levy
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Yes - did the whole lot from Derby to Berwick in May 2004 - a great ride!
Below is the text of a message I sent to David Gray of Sustrans - contents
are pretty self-explanatory. Overall observation - tough going from
Hadfield to Colne in the south section - after that nothing too daunting
other than the odd places detailed in the message. Go for it !



I'm not too phased by the climbs - I have ridden from Land's End to
Penistone and done the C2C and I'm familiar with the energy sapping grinds
through the Peak District..

I hope to slot in the ride at the end of the month, I'd have had a go at the
entire route but I've got several things to do during the week I have off.
I'm favouring the notion of cycling out to Skipton from Leeds and picking up
the trail from there with the idea of completing the ride in 3-4 days.


10 Many of the facilities marked on the maps no longer existed - for
example, several pubs had become private houses (we were told) and the

cafe
marked in Harbottle had closed ten years ago!


This conversion is accelerating. There was an excellent pub in Clapham
(Flying Squirrel) that shared a grid reference with a campsite and served
the most amazing rabbit pie....it's gone down the conversion route.
Apparently there simply isn't enough money being spent in the rural pubs to
make them viable when they are not sheltered by the profits of other pubs in
a large chain. I was heartened to see a reversal in Horton in Ribblesdale
where the Red Lion was, for a while, a school hostel.

11 After the wonderful and remote 20 miles or so from Once Brewed to
Bellingham the superb "Rod's Snack Bar" in Bellingham deserves a special
mention - a large slice of quiche, a slice of carrot cake and coffee for 3
quid!

This is the territory that interests me the most....despite being brought up
in the north east this area was the least explored by me when I had a motor
bike

12 The least obvious refreshment point was the butchers shop in Norham
that sold tea and coffee - and excellent cheese!

Can't wait to get there ...

The other criticism is about the contour markings and profiles - the

shading
gave no sort of reliable indication of the terrain and the profiles were a
bit of a "blunt instrument" - again an experienced map-user can see (and
feel) from the normal contours on the OS maps and get an idea of the ups

and
downs (and thus make some sort of estimate of timings etc).


The profiles are at best indicative. Nothing could prepare me for the crawl
up the aptly named Crawleyside Bank at Stanhope on the C2C

I'm getting quite excited by the prospect. I'm already getting my gear
together. My bike's set up. Just need the end of the month :-)


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