Saturday was Ravens Route Day 1, and the start of our Ravens Route Tour (Ravenglass to Ravenscar). Most of us travelled up in a van, although Ian had to go by train as the van couldn’t carry quite enough people. We did carry his bike and bags for him though. We all met up at Ravenglass by the steam railway station.

We had a really nice lunch at the Turntable Cafe, then it was time to unload the bikes and think about cycling.

We cycled to the coast, ready to start the official ride.

The ride started by the sea.

The first section was over a very narrow bridge that we had to walk over.

Our next challenge was the tide, which was covering the path.

Thankfully it was only a short section that was covered by the tide. We then continued along the roads.

Our route dropped us down into Seascale.

Rather than following Hadrians Cycleway, we continued a little further onto a route that ran parallel. It brought us to a narrow footpath.

Unfortunately, we then realised that we were the wrong side of the railway line. The solution was to use the footbridge and then carry the bikes down the steps on the other side.

Having crossed over, we then followed the coast using the Hadrians Cycleway path.

This took us past Sellafield nuclear plant.

Having passed Sellafield we continued on along a lovely path.

We came off the Cycleway and into Cleator.

We were staying at the Grove Court Hotel in Cleator.

We had cycled about 16 miles. It had been an enjoyable ride with plenty of varied terrain and some great views.

We had a really good tea at the Brook Inn, which just a short walk from our hotel.

You can view our Ravens Route Day 1 below: