Account of Father & Son
Lindsay & Sam Oakes (15) on their Walney to Whitby Record Tandem Ride

28th & 29th June 2008

Total distance: 181 miles (we got a bit lost on occasion and detoured to our overnight stop)
Total time: 29 Hours 56 Minutes
Cycling time: 16 Hours 16 Minutes
Cycling Average :speed 11.13mph
Start time: 09:56 at Sandy Gap
Finish time: 15:52 at Whitby Harbour

It was just before 10am as we nervously pushed off our tandem from Sandy Gap on Walney Island at the start of our Walney to Whitby ride. We had intended to go for a shake-down ride in the period leading up to the day but somehow it hadn’t happened. So as we wobbled our way around the cycle paths of Barrow our progress was faltering.

Out on the more open roads our confidence grew and soon we were wending our way up and down the many rolling hills surrounding Dalton & Ulverston. The Cumbria Coastal Way paths after Greenodd and Grange offered fantastic panoramas of the fells and estuaries on tracks I’d never even realised existed.

Following lunch in the fascinating hamlet of Cartmel, the real work began with the climb to Bigland and all the country to the East of Kendal. Falling low on energy, a respite and rest was made at Tebay. The back roads through Orton and Soulby to Kirkby Stephen were a delight with their unusual limestone landscapes. A bag of chips at the Coast to Coast chippy in Kirkby provided the mental fortitude for the climb to Tan Hill ahead of us.

The thought of the warm cosy fire in the Tan Hill pub spurred us onto pedal more determinedly up the hill. Just as we crested the hill above the forest and turned south, the wind which had been our ally all day, strengthened into our faces and fired big drops of rain at us.

Why it is so hard to leave the Tan Hill? After a swift drink, now with the daylight fading fast, a rapid descent down the old rough track to Sleightholme followed. A warm bed beckoned at our overnight stop just past Barnard Castle.


Next morning an early 7.30 start saw us breezing through much flatter country now following the lazy meanders of the Tees through sleepy Sunday morning villages onto Great Ayton where we stopped for lunch.

Approaching Kildale the landscape formed an imposing barrier ahead but somehow the road found a fairly gentle way on and into the North York Moors valleys. Thereafter followed a couple of hours of exhilarating descents and granny gear climbs, punctuated with fantastic views as none of the roads appeared to follow the tradition of sticking to the valley bottoms. At this point we could almost smell the sea from here.

Near Egton we realised that with a bit of an extra effort we could come in at under 30 hours total time so we rushed on now to finally descend the last hills and into Whitby itself, pausing to buy a Mars bar at a garage to gain the all important date/time stamp on the receipt.

Whitby itself was busy with day trippers enjoying possibly the first hot afternoon of the summer. All of them were oblivious to our achievement. A well deserved large fish & chip supper finished off a glorious trip.