In their own words David, Judith, Cath and Adam recount their Walney to Whitby trip starting at Grange over Sands then via Whitby and finishing at Scarborough

Day 1 was a bit wet n windy, easy start, nice lunch at Low Sizergh Barn, the bit after Kendal seemed quite arduous with short,sharp hills , the Lune Valley was lovely and a tail wind pushed us into Tebay where we stayed at the Cross Keys, a good, basic pub

Day2 was a gem, the Orton fells gave wonderful riding and the traverse of the pennines was a highlight. Before Tan Hill I was attacked by a lapwing much to the amusement of the other three, it repeatedly came in at high speed, if I accelerated or slowed it had no effect and on one pass I felt it's wings on my back; glad I was wearing a helmet!
I rejoined the pack and Adam went in front to be attacked by another lapwing;memorable. Tan Hill Inn was a great place to recover, meeting the lambs basking in front of the fire. The descent got us our top speed of 43mph, the views throughout are magnificent. We stayed at the Ancient Unicorn in Bowes, rooms OK, food fabulous. Bowes is an interesting village.

Day 3 started in good form then after Barnard Castle we left the Wear route and headed east. This part of the route really dragged with fairly dull roads and nothing much to see. Between Barnard Castle and Hutton Rudby is a food desert; it was Monday and we found only 1 pub open (no food) and a Spar. As we expected there are no cycle signs on this part of the route but some road junctions also have no road signs so the map came out a lot, we went through every village listed on the site but we might not have picked the best route between them. Then after Hutton Rudby the route suddenly regained it's interest and the distinctive Roseberry Topping guided us into Great Ayton. We stayed at SusieD's, the best accommodation of the trip and highly recommended.

Day 4 was another tough one with typical North York Moors banks to climb but great scenery and Moor to Sea signs. The wonderful Castleton Tearooms opened early for us; treacle tart and ice cream -yum. We took the off road option from Danby Beacon, this is easy riding with panoramic views but the track is a bit loose - it was fine with suspension though. The point where the NCN1 cycle track crosses the road was totally unsigned though the bridge is indeed there and so on to Whitby and then south on the railway track, this is no longer the W2W of course but the section into Robin Hoods Bay was glorious.

Day 5 was an easy run down into Scarborough and a short train ride home.

We loved the W2W and found it comparable to the C2C in many ways. I was concerned about the amount of road mileage but some of the roads are as narrow as good tracks and just as quiet. I hope North Yorks do their signing soon (do they pay some lucky person to go round this beautiful county just to stick signs up?), we saw plenty of day cyclists but no-one else touring.

David Bell
May 2007