The maps have now arrived ....

The maps have now arrived, so we can start to plan things in a bit more detail. Okay so in some respects I'd jumped the gun already. We planned to complete the ride west coast to east by some point on Day 3 and in order to achieve that, the logical solution was to try and go for an even split in terms of mileage:

Day 1 - Southport to Hadfield

Day 2 - Hadfield to Selby

Day 3 - Selby to Hornsea (and mission accomplished!)  

Barring not too many diversions and wrong turns, that's somewhere in the region of 217 miles.

Dilemma (probably the first of many).

Day One should see us cycle 84 miles. Ordinarily not a problem if it were all on-road for the duration; we've covered that sort of distance (and more) in the past. However the route takes in canal ways, old railway tracks and some off-road stuff, before beginning the climb which will see us reach the highest point of our C2C on Day Two. But just how quickly can we progress; have we bitten off more than we can chew for our first day; crucially can we make "base camp" by nightfall?  You'd think so, but having checked up on the experiences of a few other participants, a little bit of doubt started to set in. With that in mind, we have now decided to begin at first light from Southport. A tough, not to mention early, start, which will give us about thirteen hours riding time; more than enough, surely?