Monday 30 January 2012

My c2c - 'twas only a ramble

From here:

To here:


with a few hills, lots of green bits, and sunshine and rain, on the way!

My Coast to Coast walk, what was it all about?  Was it difficult? Was it worth the effort?   Any regrets, and would I do it again?

It was all about fulfilling a 20 year's dream of attempting, and completing, Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk after watching AW and Eric Robson describing the route on TV.  Business and other personal 'things' meant that it was never possible to plan far enough ahead for leisure activities such as the c2c.  My interest in walking, rambling, goes back to my school days of rambling on the south Shropshire hills. Later, living on the edge of the North York Moors led to my love of the moors, this was further driven by numerous completions of the Lyke Wake Walk and other more aimless perambulations.

Walking the coast to coast is not a sport where one has to race against the clock.  It is a leisure activity where the only competition are the elements and the terrain.  So, the degree of difficulty is down to how well prepared you are for walking 192 miles, some which will, more than likely, be in adverse weather conditions.  It isn't just the physical preparation that is needed, but also the logistical planning - most probably regular c2c-ers and wild campers will disagree - oh! to be young and to be able to agree with them but I am 70 and like my comfort!  As far as I am concerned, planning is everything - sloppy preparation produces sloppy results.  I had planned my walk in detail, breaking each daily walk, according to the terrain, into distances that would be within my capabilities.  The theoretical daily schedule was calculated using Naismith's Rule and then practically tested on the Tuscan terrain.  In addition to my regular walks of 8 to 15kms, three or four times per week, I checked the distance I could walk in a day on very steep ascents (in excess of 800m, 2500ft); on long, relatively flat walks, and also on mixed terrain.  When I had built up a reasonable degree of fitness I tried three consecutive days of approximately 24km (15miles) on mixed terrain.  Finally, thinking about the long day's walk from Richmond to Park House, Ingleby Cross (39km/25miles), I did a similar distance around the hills and ridges of Northern Tuscany.  It was a day that turned out to very wet, with rain, hailstones and lightening, so another test, but I managed this in 10 hours. Then I declared myself fit enough to tackle the c2c. So was my c2c difficult?  Not for me!  No blisters or injuries apart from bruises and grazed shins when I was blown over by hurricane Katia in Grisedale.  Can anyone do AW's coast to Coast?  My answer is a definite yes - if you do the preparation.  For my training routine etc, see the link in the side panel of this blog http://vellanobill.blogspot.com/p/coast-to-coast-walk-2011-planning.html and  http://vellanobill.blogspot.com/p/training-for-c2c.html

At this point I should give credit to everyone who supported me and helped me to complete my c2c.  Particularly my wife Mary, who not only put up with me disappearing every other day when I was training, or else had my head buried in the pc, planning all the details, when I should have been doing some of the jobs around the house - these now await me.  Mary also accompanied me on a number of stages of the walk which I really appreciated, for her, as an Australian, this was an opportunity to see England close up.  On the walk, when Mary wasn't walking she ensured that every day the packing and unpacking of the luggage was done, sorting out what was to be worn and what was to be washed - all I had to do was walk!  Also the support from my children and grand-children was fantastic turning up when school and work commitments permitted.

A final but very big thank you has to go to Eilidh Austen-Smith, my chiropodist in Pescia, Italy, without who's help I wouldn't have got a foot off the ground.  Prior to starting training I had suffered very badly for over two years with Plantar Fasciitis  http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Plantar-Fasciitis.htm .  At one stage opinion was that I might need surgery.  My GP suggested some very expensive shoes, MBT, and they were good and worked for every day walking but were not suitable for serious walking off-pavement.  I had found some comfortable walking boots, Keen, http://www.keenfootwear.com/gb/en/ but they needed a more special support.  This was where Eilidh stepped in, not only did she find the right orthotic insole supports but she was able to adapt to meet a new problem that arose.

Meeting people from all walks of life from all over the world while walking across England's green and pleasant land is a very pleasant way of spending a day.  Even hurricane Katia didn't dampen my enthusiasm, on the contrary, it provided an exhilarating experience.  Then there was the opportunity of meeting those good people who allow people to enter their homes for B&B, inevitably with a very warm welcome.  All of these experiences made it worth the effort - most definitely!  To be able to clamber up Haystacks and wander down to Innominate Tarn, where Alfred Wainwright's ashes are scattered, was a high point for me - being able to pay tribute and respects to the great man was very important. Details of what happened on, my c2c can be viewed by clicking on the links on the side panel, or http://vellanobill.blogspot.com/p/coast-to-coast-walk-september-2011.html  - http://vellanobill.blogspot.com/p/c2c-sept2011-what-really-happened-part.html and http://vellanobill.blogspot.com/p/c2c-sept2011-what-really-happened-part_30.html

My only real regret is that I didn't find, or make, the time to do this walk 20 years earlier - I can' t recover that one.  My minor regrets, that I can recover, were not being able, because of weather conditions, to go up to Red Pike and along the ridge to Haystacks; not go over Sunday Crag / Striding Edge and not go over Kidstey Pike.  One day I hope I can get out there and at least pick them off one at a time, but preferably to walk the Wainwright's Coast to Coast again - before my 75th birthday (that gives me four and a half years!).

If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is that life is too short and precious.  If you really want to do something get out there and do it - if it's AW's c2c, good!!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Bill, I've just found you from the walking forum. Well done on your achievement. I am 62 and just starting to get the long distance bug. I shall be reading your c2c report in bits.

    When I did my own c2c walk last year, a shorter version 137 miles, I took my net book with me and posted on my blog every night. I couldn't face writing it all up at the end, my memory is not so good and I didn't want the hard slog of doing it all over again in my mind, as much as I enjoyed doing it on the ground.

    I am researching another c2c, slightly longer than 137 miles. I prefer to find my own route across, and like to finish up close to where I live so I don't have a train journey home. Catch you on the forum. Ilona

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