Over three days in late June 9 keen cyclists from across the offices of Holmes & Hills Solicitors donned their best colour co-ordinated Lycra to cycle 150 miles through the Pennines in order to complete the Coast to Coast bike ride.
Those of you familiar with the team at Holmes & Hill swill be well aware of the fixation many of the staff have with cycling. Every year the firm organises the Holmes & Hills Charity Bike Ride but this year the team wanted something a bit more challenging to get their teeth into, a route with less rolling hills and more mountains. That is exactly what they got when they decided to take on the Coast to Coast cycle route through the Lake District in June.
Starting on the coast at Whitehaven in the Western Lake District the first half of the day was spent gently climbing as we headed inland. This was until we reached Whinlatter Forest Park just before lunch, at which point the inclines became a little less forgiving. After lunch we continued through the heart of the Lake District, passing through Penrith and Keswick, where we rather unexpectedly bumped into Sir Christopher Bonnington, the well-known mountaineer. By the time we reached our over-night stop in Greystoke we were more than ready for a well-deserved glass of local ale.
On day two we climbed to almost 2,000 ft above sea level, reaching Hartside Summit before we had even stopped for lunch. As the saying goes, what goes up must come down, and come down we did, at quite some speed. A special mention must be given to Robert Ashworth of the firm’s Private Client Team who threw caution to the wind and clocked a hair-raising 48.2 mph. The afternoon’s cycling proved to be the most challenging section of the route due to several charging sheep and a number of steep and drawn-out inclines, before we rolled into our second overnight stop at Allenheads.
By day three the weather, which up until this point had been exceptional, finally caught up with us and it was now cold, windy and very, very wet. As well as the weather we had also been lucky on the puncture front up until this point. However, if ever we were going to get a puncture it was always going to be whilst the heavens were opening. Low and behold, that is exactly what happened. Thankfully, once we were back on track and had put a few miles behind us the weather had reverted back to being rather pleasant.
By 15:00 we were cycling alongside the river Tyne and by 16:00 we had reached the end point of Tynemouth. It has to be said that as we rolled up to Tynemouth beach never before have nine grown men been so pleased to see Andrew East (of the firm’s Private Client team), our one man volunteer support team who was kindly waiting for us with his trusty Transit.
With its steep accents, fantastic views and even steeper descents, the Coast to Coast route through the Lake District was a very popular choice and we thank team leader David Whipps for managing to successfully guide us from one coast to another, no mean feat when you consider half of the team managed to go wrong on the firm’s own Bike Ride last year.
Every year Holmes & Hills Solicitors in Halstead organise a Charity Bike Ride, attracting thousands of riders and raising thousands of pounds for charity. For information on upcoming events being organised by Holmes & Hills, see our Events page
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