Thursday 16 April 2015

From Berwick to Tynemouth ... a day out at the beach.

I was born and raised in the North East of England, Newcastle to be precise though anyone who knows me wouldn't place me as a geordie with my softened accent from varying stints in other parts of the UK.

One thing I was always certain to do when I found myself not living in the North East is when visiting my parents I would always drive to Newcastle via the Tyne Bridge and before visiting anyone else I would take a drive to the coast to take in the beaches and coastal vistas.

The coastline in the North East of England is spectacular and sparsely populated, even it seems at times rarely visited. For a long time the idea of a coastal ride from Berwick Upon Tweed back to Tynemouth has sat dormant, suitably fat bikes came and went but the opportunity never arose to get the ride done.

During the winter while training on my Ari fully loaded in wet and cold weather the idea of a warm, dry and sunny day at the beach was a motivator and after getting back from Rovaniemi 150 a date for the 'Day at the beach' was set.

It wasn't too hard to convince Richard Elsdon of the merits of this ride and so we found ourselves on a Friday after work on a train to Berwick fat bikes packed as light as we dare with just enough to stay out one night and then a long following day back home.

The night prior to the ride was summed by petrol station dining followed by a farmers field bivi whilst taking in some excellent beach riding at dusk from near Berwick to Holy Island.

The following day after a brief spell of cold and rain the weather opened up to the vision I had had during those winter training rides .. dry (mostly), warm (ish) and very sunny.

The ride didn't disappoint and I think stands out as one of the best one day rides I have done to date and it started a mere 80 miles from my front door.




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