During the Winter of 1995/96 I decided to ride the length of the Cumbria Cycleway. In the previous couple of years I had become a keen cyclist. In September 1995 I had bought a Dawes Galaxy Touring Bike. It cost me £500 which I thought was quite expensive but it was worth it to get a really good bike which would last me a long time. The only bike higher in the range was the Super Galaxy which was around £750.

The Cumbria Cycleway follows the perimeter of the County of Cumbria, the largest County in England. The west side is bordered by the Irish Sea, the East by Northumberland and Yorkshire while in the South the route nips into Lancashire for a short while.

DAY 1

The first leg was from my hometown of Barrow-in-Furness to my first nights stop at Seascale on the coast. Unfortunately the weather was not very good. It was an overcast day, and worst of all, very windy. I joined the route at a roundabout which is only about 200m from my house and continued trough Barrow, Askam, Broughton, skirting past Millom and then along the west coast. This bit was very windy and I got a bit fed up here.

DAY 2

I cycled from Seascale to Silloth. Not the best of scenery, past the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant, Egremont then onto St Bees. St Bees is the start of the popular Coast-to-Coast walk and is a nice little village. The hill out is rather steep though ! Now into West Cumbria with the towns of Whitehaven and Workington. As it was a Sunday it was quiet and not very pretty. The cycleway uses a cyclepath around here but I got lost and missed it. I eventually rejoined the way in the middle of Workington. Maryport was next and then it was a nice flat piece of road along the coast towards Silloth and my bed for the night.

DAY 3

The next day was the shortest overall. It was also very flat which was welcome as I was tired at this point. What I found most interesting about this day was going past the NATO communication station at Anthorn. A large array of masts used for sending messages to submarines (see pic). I didn't actually know that this place existed until I bought the cycleway guide book a few months earlier. As I write this (Oct 2000) it may be closed down. Day 4 was a rest day in Carlisle where I took the oppurtunity to visit Carlisle Castle and the Tullie House museum as well as visiting the shops.

DAY 5

A rainy start as I set off through Carlisle. Soon into countryside and on toward the edge of the Pennines. The cycleway skirts the Pennine hills on it's Southerly route giving some pleasent, if not spectacular scenery to view. Nothing sticks in my mind about this day other than being very tired as I neared my B&B at Dufton. It proved to be a large farmhouse. the room itself was quite big with a full-size bathroom en-suite which was good.

DAY 6

The penultimate day of the trip was the worst. It rained for much of the day and it coincided with a very steep climb up the Eden valley. Spirits were low here. The village of Appleby was negotiated and I was very tired by the time I got to my next stop of Kirkby Stephen. It helped give me the opinion that touring on a bicycle is best done in a group with frequent stops. As I was on my own I was reluctant to leave my bike and go into a cafe or visit a shop as I could lock my bike up but the contents of my panniers would still be vulnerable.

DAY 7

The final day and the longest one milewise. It was 60 miles which was a bit too much really. It started off OK with nice weather and scenery as I got to Arnside and then Grange-over-Sands which was familiar territory. Grange to Ulverston was hard work and then the Coast road to Barrow had me suffering with fatigue. I was totally knackered but at least I knew I wasn't far from home. when I got home I collapsed into my chair and had a long rest. I felt a sense of achievement but I also knew it hadn't been totally enjoyable. I've never done anything like that since and I would only consider it as part of a group. I had read books by Josie Dew who has cycled all over the world on her own but I guess it didn't suit me.