George Harris and John Leyland rode the route in July 2005 and this, in their own words, is what they made of it:



'We decided to ride the W2W as soon as we heard about it and had planned to take three days to do it. In the short term we could not arrange three consecutive days so we decided to tackle it in two as we had successfully completed the C2C in two last year. We took the train to Barrow on Friday July 22nd July 2005. As usual we carried all we needed for the journey on our backs.

We decided to attempt to make it to Tan Hill (85 miles) at the end of day one in order to leave a realistic mileage on Sunday in order to complete it in time to catch a train back to Liverpool. This, we knew, would mean starting a 5 mile, gruelling ascent to England’s highest pub after we had already cycled 80 miles. We started at 7:30 and reached the hill at 18:30. Needless to say we were tired.



From 1732 feet the start of day 2 was relatively easy although between the Tan Hill road and Sleightholme farm is a section of rough track which some riders with expensive road bikes may choose to walk.

We also opted for the northerly route through Hamsterley Forest which started with a section of energy sapping hills but we felt it was worth it. We reached Sunderland at 16:45.

The ride is easily as enjoyable as the C2C, should prove a worthy alternative and we have subsequently been recommending it to others. We would say that overall it is not as arduous as the C2C.



Bikes – We did the ride on a hardtail and a hybrid. The hardtail had its front suspension pumped up to maximum and was armed with Continental Travel Contact tyres which have a very smooth centre but a grip either side for wet, off-road conditions. Most of the route could be completed with a road bike although I would not be terribly keen on cycling the section between Tan Hill and Bowes with a road bike that I cared for. It consists of a few miles of consistently rough track.


Time – As the site advises the whole route is not signed well enough to ride without using the map (absolutely necessary) and therefore, in estimating cycling time, figure a generous amount in for navigation. We took 19 hours in total but the computer told us we were only in the saddle for 14 of them.


Accommodation – We stayed in the King Alfred Hotel in Walney. They were very accommodating and did as much as they could to secure our bikes but you may want to check what time they can do breakfasts at the weekend if you wish to get an early start.
At the Tan Hill Inn we had to leave our bikes outside. They don’t currently take credit cards just in case that is a problem for anybody but its location makes it a great place to stay and begin the next day.'