There was a definite sense of urgency and an ‘into the headwind’ theme of todays bike ride! The weather forecast has said that strong southerly gales would be increasing through the morning, with rain arriving mid afternoon. To give ourselves the best chance of staying dry, we opted for an early get away from Whitley Bay.
There was a coolness in the air that we’d not experienced so far on the tour which caused us to stop and get jackets on only a few minutes into the ride. We stopped briefly at Cullercoats to check out where we’d swam previously. We didn’t fancy it, but there were still folk getting in!
To save a huge detour, we made it to the ferry with three minutes to spare!
It’s only a short crossing, but much quicker than trying to find the nearest bridge. £2.10 well spent!
The ferry took us over to ‘South Shields’.
We continued east until we hit the coast again, then struggled on south into the wind…
After stopping for a snack and a drink near the beach, we pushed on into Sunderland town centre. Another new place for us both.
By now the wind had really started increasing and was causing our energy levels to start decreasing. As ever the tour provided. This time in the form of a tiny coffee shop with a comfy sofa with out names on it! We locked up the bikes and got our feet up for a few minutes in the warmth.
We were both conscious of the rapidly approaching storm and the still considerable distance that we had left to travel, so didn’t outstay our welcome. The next section of the ride took us through some rural areas which posed a few surprising challenges.
A housing estate was being built and the ground work diggers had churned the cycle route up somewhat! With a decent run up, we (incredibly!) made it through without getting too plastered in mud. There was genuine concern that we might loose our shoes or even the bike!
A few flooded back roads did a good job of cleaning us off though later on…
As the wind really started to howl, we found some shelter and ticked off some easier kilometres along an old railway line.
As well as a few drops of rain to keep us motivated to keep peddling, there were a few final bursts of sunshine, despite the wall of black cloud up ahead.
The last few kilometres into town were wild! We got virtually stopped dead in our tracks by the gusts of wind and somewhat depressingly even had to peddle down hill to power against the force of the wind! We are staying in the town of Shotton Colliery, and were delighted when the town sign came into view! It had been a savage ride and without much in the way of rests, we were beginning to run on empty…
Clare nipped into the supermarket to find satisfy our hunger, while I waited outside, clinging onto the bikes while the wind whistled through the streets and overhead power cables.
We are staying in a loft, over someone’s garage. There is a bed, sofa and tiny kitchen and it’s nice and warm. We’d just got the bikes in the garage, and got upstairs, when outside the heavens opened and the rains arrived! Talk about arriving just in time!! We’ll be staying in tonight!
Total Ride = 49km (into the wind! Felt like 149km!) Ha ha!
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