Cumbrian Killer

Brian B

Anybody doing this? Its a chance to a sort off Fred Whitton in reverse. Only 150 places available. Does the hard side of Wrynose East.


http://www.cyclosport.org/eventdetails. ... entid=2196

LeighB

Just entered this evening.
The route looks excellent and should prove quite a challenge with the mid section being hardest. Doing Wrynose Pass from East to West may change a few opinions on the ‘Hardest Climb’ thread; this climb is steep and gives you no chance of a rest. I am familiar with about 70% of the route and there are a sections that are rarely mentioned in climbing folklore that are pretty hard. The bit at the top of Langdale (Bleatarn Rd) is a steep little climb and after you have gone over Hardknott & Wrynose you have to negotiate the road over Birker; this road can be beautiful with a superb view of the Lakeland Fells but it can also batter you with wind on the wrong day.
I am glad this event is going ahead as it will round off my season nicely, just need to book the sunshine!
Anyone wanting a ‘Fred Whitton’ type experience should give this a go, every event has its own character and this route looks like a good ‘test’.

Brian B

Leigh like yourself I am familair with a good chunk of this route one way or another. The only section I have never done is the East side of Hardknott. Done the West(FWC) side many times and I hate it as its so hard(but so good when you get up).

Which brings me nicely onto the East Side of Wrynose - Opinions are split on this but I reckon that Hardknott West is harder but only just. Its a terrible climb and it really ramps up towards the end.

I entered this event in the spring and glad it is back on.

rhnb

Brian - I've just been trying to follow this route. Skipping the first bit, it sounds like ...
Kirkstone, down Struggle, Grasmere, over Red Bank, into Great Langdale, over Wall End (Blea Tarn), Wrynose, Cockley Beck, Hardknott, Birker Fell, Stickle Pike, Broughton Mills, Woodland, Lowick, then over Bessy Banks (Bandrake Head) - another sharp climb - to Oxen Park, down to Bouth, Haverthwaite, Holker Mosses road, over Bigland (that won't be easy at this stage either!) then back to Silverdale somehow, but who cares by this stage ;-)
Wrynose after Kirkstone, Red Bank and Wall End will certainly be a toughie.

It's certainly a cracking route.

Good luck!
Allan

maddog 2

I want to do it - just trying to persuade a mate to come along.

Brian B

rhnb wrote:

Brian - I've just been trying to follow this route. Skipping the first bit, it sounds like ...
Kirkstone, down Struggle, Grasmere, over Red Bank, into Great Langdale, over Wall End (Blea Tarn), Wrynose, Cockley Beck, Hardknott, Birker Fell, Stickle Pike, Broughton Mills, Woodland, Lowick, then over Bessy Banks (Bandrake Head) - another sharp climb - to Oxen Park, down to Bouth, Haverthwaite, Holker Mosses road, over Bigland (that won't be easy at this stage either!) then back to Silverdale somehow, but who cares by this stage ;-)
Wrynose after Kirkstone, Red Bank and Wall End will certainly be a toughie.

It's certainly a cracking route.

Good luck!
Allan

Thanks Allan.
Are you getting out much? Met Stu and Dave at the Rydale Rumble. Another hard day out.

cjessop

I've entered this, I just hope I can get round!

I just got an email from the organiser informing me that they only have 61 entrants so far. I'm also impressed that some of the entry fee goes to Charity, the Leeds Childrens home, so it seems a shame that there are still places available.

Any other takers out there??

CJ

Brian B

cjessop wrote:

I've entered this, I just hope I can get round!

I just got an email from the organiser informing me that they only have 61 entrants so far. I'm also impressed that some of the entry fee goes to Charity, the Leeds Childrens home, so it seems a shame that there are still places available.

Any other takers out there??

CJ

I got the email but could not open the attachment on my pc. Could someone post details here please as I know its an early start but is there any other relevant details.

LeighB

I received an e-mail about a week ago and the info on the link said the start time was to be confirmed; when did you get the e-mail CJ?
I had a ride over Wrynose, Hardknott and Birker Fell on Saturday in the wet; the hardest part was going up Wrynose sat down because when I stood up the road was quite slippery and I got wheel spin. I swapped my cassette on Monday for one with a 28 tooth bottom gear so that should help.
I had to go to Whitehaven with work today and my next job was in Ulverston so I had a drive over the section at Broughton Mills (it really was the shortest route), I had never been over there and it looks like another good climb; funny how they seem easy in the van!
Note for Brian, after Wrynose the East side of Hardknott did not seem so bad; I think the main height gain is on Wrynose so Hardknott is steep from that side but it doesn’t go on too long.

cjessop

The email came yesterday but interestingly I didn't get the one last week.

There are 2 attachments on the email I have, one of which is quite large.

I'll email it to you if you send me your email addresses as I'm not sure how to post it on here.

CJ

maddog 2

doing the Grizedale MTB race instead now.

dodgy

Watch out on Red Bank, much of it is tree covered and extremely steep in parts. You'll be struggling for traction if there's been rain in the last few days as it stays wet under there for ages!

LeighB

Thanks for the offer CJ but I received the e-mail with the final instructions today.
The weather is excellent here so lets hope it stays that way for next weekend so there will be plenty of grip on the steep bits.

LeighB

How did you get on Brian & CJ?
I had a good day out, the weather was excellent and the route superb, managed to get round in 7:22:31. I am not sure how the profile of the route compares to other events but it certainly felt hard work with plenty of climbs after the big two (Wrynose & Hardknott). Had an amusing moment on Wrynose when the event organised (Dave Lloyd) passed me which was strange as he had been quite a bit ahead of me, turns out the group he was in had got lost! Overall it was an excellent event and I hope it becomes a regular fixture.

P.S. I was the bloke that was parked next to you Brian.

Brian B

Leigh good to meet you. I was not far behind you when you saw D Lloyd on Wrynose(He took the wrong turning at Little Langdale after Bleatarn as did many others)and I wondered at the time how he was only just a few minutes in front off me considering the pace he was setting when I last saw him.

We were on track easily for 7.5hrs until disaster struck with the signage. After Bigland hill the signage had been removed at a T Junction we ended up in 'Carmel' or something like that and were basically lost. We stopped and luckily a local rider told us what way to go and eventually ended up back on track after climbing up past a golf course and making our own way in Lindale. Although after that there were many other signs that had been tampered with or went missing. We did at least 7extra miles and possibly more and many others behind me did much more and 1 guy done 17 miles extra due to being lost.

Speaking to T Bell and Mark Harding at the finish and they reckon it was farmers who had removed the signs. You cant plan for idiots and going by the discussions at the finish the guys behind me were not as lucky as us and had no help as to get back on track.

The course was great with good climbs and quiet roads and one of the best routes that I have ever done. It was hard and I reckon overall it was tougher than the Fred and only the Mega Challenge is harder. I did the Rydale Rumble last month and that was hard but a walk in the park compared to Killer. I must say that all the traffic on Wrynose and Hardknott were really good and letting the riders past.

We finished bang on 8hrs but we were stopped several times to get directions and did extra miles which was frustrating as we had really put in a decent effort yesterday and did not have to walk on any of the hills.

cjessop

Hi Guys,

All I can say is that was the hardest one I've done and I hardly did much training for it (how stupid was that!!!!), hence a bit of walking was needed occassionally.

I was lucky in that we asked a car driver which way to go when the signs went missing and rather fortunately it turned out he gave directions the same way as the route so no extra miles for me!

Overall it was a great day, weather was perfect, organisation was great, route was excellent, I never knew there were such steep climbs! Managed it in 8 hours, 45 mins which was better than my predicted 10 hours.

Did a bit of damage to my right calf due to the hills, good excuse for a sports massage on Friday.

Look forward to the next one. Well, at least I do but my husband definately does not and says he will look more closely at the gradients next time I book one of these.

All the best
CJ

nickwill

Missing signs are becoming all too common an occurrence on sportives. This problem seems to have reared its head much more regularly this year.
It's a problem that could cripple the whole sportive scene. I think it's another indication of the attitude of large numbers of non cyclists towards cyclists and cycling. A Sunday morning group ride without some manifestation of road rage is a real rarity now.
I wish I could think of an answer to the problem.

dodgy

Nickwill wrote:

I wish I could think of an answer to the problem.

I personally don't use signs when on organised rides (charity of sportive), I load the route into my Garmin Edge beforehand. Most of the organisers these days will make the route available prior to the day, if they don't, I'm slightly less inclined to enter.

nickwill

dodgy wrote:

Nickwill wrote:

I wish I could think of an answer to the problem.

I personally don't use signs when on organised rides (charity of sportive), I load the route into my Garmin Edge beforehand. Most of the organisers these days will make the route available prior to the day, if they don't, I'm slightly less inclined to enter.

It's a sad day if vandalism and anti social behaviour mean that all sportive riders have to invest in GPS!

dodgy

Nickwill wrote:

dodgy wrote:

Nickwill wrote:

I wish I could think of an answer to the problem.

I personally don't use signs when on organised rides (charity of sportive), I load the route into my Garmin Edge beforehand. Most of the organisers these days will make the route available prior to the day, if they don't, I'm slightly less inclined to enter.

It's a sad day if vandalism and anti social behaviour mean that all sportive riders have to invest in GPS!

Nah, on most rides there's quite a few Garmin Edge users now. Even the Audax types have cottoned on

Will Young

I was the guy that did the extra 17 miles. No missing sign though, I simply went wrong shortly after the 2nd feed - there was a right hander at the bottom of a short, fast descent where we were supposed to go up a gravelly, single track lane at the mouth of the junction- I went down the road instead. Eventually about 5 miles later arriving at a junction with no signs, I decided to double back as I thought I'd missed a turn. Upon seeing another rider coming down the road as I was going back up, decided I musn't be going wrong after all and turned round again to catch him up. Me and Arthur from Liverpool Phoenix then spent an age trying to get back on course. Overall though, a reallly good event, friendly organisation, great route etc. particularly when you consider the limited number of entrants. For next year, if Terri and Dave can deliver the same or better organisation and sort the signage out which does need to be clearer (particularly in the twisty last third), this will become a major event on the calender. p.s I never got charged extra for doing the additional 17 miles!

LeighB

Its shame for the riders to put in so much effort to get a good time and miss out due to the removal of the signs. Other than the signs that had been removed at the junction near Cartmel I found the route well marked (I even spotted the sigh at the bottom of Bleatarn) but I kind of new most of the route having the benefit of local knowledge. Would a possible solution be to paint the road? The route of the FWC used to have grey arrows painted on the road; going by the graffiti painted on the surface of the road by the utilities companies I don’t think a few arrows would be noticed unless you were looking for them.

On another note I agree with Brian and CJ, this is a seriously hard route so well done to all the riders especially the ones with additional mileage.

DaveMoss

The sign vandals do seem to have become a problem. though I was a victim of this on one of the very first events I organised nearly 20 years ago , and that was the run part of a duathlon in the middle of a forest.

When did the signs go out? Perhaps the answer is for the signs to go out only just ahead of the riders. A slight extra burden for the organising team, but does mean route could be checked for last minute hazards at the same time. Paint on road has drawbacks 1) it's illegal, though this would not likely matter if it was discreet., but then it would not be obvious for the riders. 2) could get a bit confusing when several events use the same method on the same roads, but with slightly different routes.

For when the signage does go wrong, I don't think I could get the hang of the GPS gadgets, but good old paper maps work great. viewing the route on google earth beforehand can give you a mental picture of what to expect.