Dun the Fred!

rolf_f

Woot! Round of applause I think (I thank you all)

The Fred has been worrying me ever since I got my entry! But it wasn't too bad in the end and I felt good on the day. I barely broke a sweat on Kirkstone and the run on to Keswick in various groups was great with cruising speeds often in the high twenties. I survived Honister but realised I was unlikely to manage Hardknott and Wrynose without a bit of pushing at that point.

At Buttermere, whilst I was at the food stop the heavens opened and it tipped it down (I heard someone say there were hailstones) so I waited for things to calm down before tacking Newlands which was also fairly straightforward. Whinlatter was maybe harder than I remembered but again no big bother and the crowds of spectators at the top were appreciated (and elsewhere - even got cowbells in a couple of spots!).

After Whinlatter, it got a bit nasty - the gusting headwinds were expected but the heavy rain wasn't but I still felt good after 70 miles. However the final climb (Cold Fell - it just goes on and on and on!) before Calder Bridge feed did some damage and I was glad for a bit of rest.

By then though the weather had cleared and it was a lovely sunny afternoon. As for Hardknott - at least I made it past the cattle grid but I simply didn't have the power to push the gears I had (34-29) up the first pitch. I got back on my bike and pedalled on to the 30% bit and bailed just before that but still got back on for the final push. Looks like I spent 12 minutes pushing and it still only took 23 minutes in total. Wrynose, for one moment I thought I might clear but discretion cost me another 3 minutes of pushing! After that it was a doddle and a nice run in glorious weather back to Coniston. I still felt good and pushed hard to get in under 8:30 (8:22 - about 7:44 cycle time).

It was a tough one - the fastest time was 6:05. Normally it is about 5:45 ish. Depending on where you were and when, it could have been worse. After I got in just before 4, the weather went nasty again and there were more very heavy showers turning the roads into rivers; I only ever had that when I was at lower levels and all my descents were dry. Apparently the mountain rescue helicopter was called at least twice.

I'll probably skip next year but will hopefully do it again. Gears will need to be different though - might even take the tourer but something lighter would be better. Not sure I can train my legs to cope with the gears as they are. It was a great ride though and easier than I thought overall. Superb atmosphere and well organised (excellent Marshalling - in some places they stopped the traffic for you!); it doesn't need my recommendation but it gets it anyway. I think I earned my first piece of Castelli

bigmat

Great effort - that's a hard ride! I rememberb when I did it thinking I wouldn't fancy descending Hardknott in the wet - horrible horrible road!

UndercoverElephant

Good work, Sir. I did hardnott in a fully-laiden car with a trailer a few years back, the lunatic sat-nav took me that way. I'm not sure I'd be keen to repeat it on a bike.

rolf_f

Thanks for that. I do count myself lucky on the weather . So easy to get it wrong and the bones take a long time to heal....... Would be good to know if the unfortunates are all ok now though.

Starting to think now about whether or not I should apply to do it again next year

Edit: apparently 5 riders ended up in hospital but only one is still in and is getting better.

cjcp

Excellent effort. Hardknott is just stupid steep on both sides, and that was from the comfort of my car.

jejv

Hooray! Congratulations!

cjcp wrote:

Excellent effort. Hardknott is just stupid steep on both sides, and that was from the comfort of my car.

Yeah, we were up there - walking - over Easter. Had to turn the heater on in the car going up Wrynose. Great walk along the ridge to Coniston, in the wind.

I seem to be developing an unhealthy interest in Fred, given how slow I am up hills, even on 22-30.

You could make a rather scary change to your sig...

King Donut

That is a great effort!

jzed

Nice one Rolf. I fancy doing the Fred - maybe next year.

I did do part of it early in the year and was ok until I dropped down over Whinlatter. The ride down to Hardknott was probably the most draining I have done (and I missed out buttermere, newlands), all the litte inclines sap up every last bit of energy.

Hardknott is a beast, I managed about 2/3rds of the first section before my body gave up, rode the flatter (still 15-20%) section and when I got to the 30% section my legs just wouldn't push me, walking it was a task. Descending was one of the scariest I have done. Gutted I couldn't make the whole of Hardknott. Did manage to get all the way up Wrynose.

Agent57

Great job, Rolf F! I'd "love" to ride the Fred Whitton. A couple of the coaches at our Go-Ride club are involved in the organisation (Donna & Steve Loftus, IIRC Paul Loftus, the Fred Whitton organiser, is Steve's dad); Donna said they were up at about 4 or 4:30am on Sunday.

rolf_f

Agent57 wrote:

Great job, Rolf F! I'd "love" to ride the Fred Whitton. A couple of the coaches at our Go-Ride club are involved in the organisation (Donna & Steve Loftus, IIRC Paul Loftus, the Fred Whitton organiser, is Steve's dad); Donna said they were up at about 4 or 4:30am on Sunday.

As far as I am concerned, they did a brilliant job (please feed that back!). It was spot on from the very efficient registration on the Saturday afternoon to the post ride free-ride displays. The only thing I never worked out was what the deal with the neutral service vans was! Not surprised they were up so early though given that the start was open from 6.

JZed wrote:

Nice one Rolf. I fancy doing the Fred - maybe next year.

I did do part of it early in the year and was ok until I dropped down over Whinlatter. The ride down to Hardknott was probably the most draining I have done (and I missed out buttermere, newlands), all the litte inclines sap up every last bit of energy.

Hardknott is a beast, I managed about 2/3rds of the first section before my body gave up, rode the flatter (still 15-20%) section and when I got to the 30% section my legs just wouldn't push me, walking it was a task. Descending was one of the scariest I have done. Gutted I couldn't make the whole of Hardknott. Did manage to get all the way up Wrynose.

So did you go straight from Keswick to Whinlatter and miss out Honister and Newlands?I had a suspicion before the event that the stretch from Whinlatter to Hardknott was the real crux rather than the climbs themselves and I wasn't wrong - it is a hard section. Well done with Wrynose. I quite like the descent of Hardknott to the East though. At least any crashes should be fairly slow ones unless you are really mad!

I won't say 'give it a go, you won't regret it' because you might. But it's there, it won't go away, you know you'll have to sign up some time :twisted:

davis

Wow. Impressive.

*considers a big, big target...

jzed

Rolf F wrote:

So did you go straight from Keswick to Whinlatter and miss out Honister and Newlands?I had a suspicion before the event that the stretch from Whinlatter to Hardknott was the real crux rather than the climbs themselves and I wasn't wrong - it is a hard section.

Yeah missed Honister and Newlands out. Did you have a headwind from Whinlatter to Hardknotts?

Going to try and get back to the lakes this summer and have a stab at Honister and Newlands, plus the Struggle out of Ambleside. Would love to live up there.

Out of the 5-6 climbs I did, the only one I found vaguely enjoyable was the Kirkstone pass from the Penrith side. Its tough but not ridiculously tough, pretty long and looks amazing as you climb it. Plus the descent into Windermere is awesome.

Rolf F wrote:

I quite like the descent of Hardknott to the East though. At least any crashes should be fairly slow ones unless you are really mad!

I hated the descent. I found the bike wanting to run away into a hairpin and was on the anchors so much that my hands were screaming in pain. Kept wanting to let off the brakes for a bit of a rest but before you know it your hurtling at 30mph to a bend.

rolf_f

There was a headwind to Calder Bridge but I didn't notice it so much as I'd have thought. Sometimes I was in a small group but also I think the hedges and hills tend to break the wind up a bit - plus when I was there the rain was damping it a bit I think. It was odd - I just felt good on that section.

Honister is good - a bit like a slightly milder Hardknott but with the very steep lower section straightened out. Like Harknott it then eases before a final push though at Honister this is probably no more than 20% at the steepest. It is tough. People were walking that one.

Newlands is just a nice climb. Hard enough to be an achievement but not so hard that you expect to die on it! The long descent is nice as well though there is a very sharp hidden hairpin that can catch you out. On the Fred, they had planted a paramedic right on the outside wall where you go if you left the braking too late

The Struggle should be good but I'd want to make sure it had been resurfaced. Went down there in a car last year and it had about the worst surface I'd ever seen! It needed a complete new surface rather than patching.