Fred Whitton Challenge 2016, the big thread

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  • Rpeas
    Rpeas Posts: 3
    I think I was lulled into a false sense of security. Last week we had 18c in Keswick. Yesterday we had heavy settling snow down to the valley bottoms. With the forecast I only expected to get heavy rain. Make sure you bring clothes for all options!
  • dean7879
    dean7879 Posts: 127
    Really looking forward to the event now. Put a 11-32 on the back just to be safe. i wil not walk hardknott. Only death or cramp would stop me 8)
  • Spartacus1981
    Spartacus1981 Posts: 254
    Another 80 miler today. Packed 2000m in. It's hard to comprehend how hilly this Fred is going to be :cry:
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    Bilkobaggins wrote:
    Another 80 miler today. Packed 2000m in. It's hard to comprehend how hilly this Fred is going to be :cry:

    Funnily enough I don't mind the real climbs... it's the rides with endless rolling up and down in the big ring that wear me out the most
    left the forum March 2023
  • Spartacus1981
    Spartacus1981 Posts: 254
    Doesn't look like the big ring will even get used on Fred. BTW, what's everyones plans now ? Layoff completely or a few easy rides during the week ? I'm tempted to go out today for a bit but doubt I'll do anything very challenging this week climbing wise as can't see it making much difference now.
  • brucebar1980
    brucebar1980 Posts: 26
    Probably do a few shorter rides at a higher cadence next week. Just to keep the fitness levels topped up and not flogging the legs too much. I'll probably have a couple of complete days off before the ride to hopefully be completely rested for the punishment to come!
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    Bilkobaggins wrote:
    Doesn't look like the big ring will even get used on Fred. BTW, what's everyones plans now ? Layoff completely or a few easy rides during the week ? I'm tempted to go out today for a bit but doubt I'll do anything very challenging this week climbing wise as can't see it making much difference now.

    it seems to me there is a reasonable amount of flat... compared to other hyper hilly events in the UK.
    I did my last longish ride yesterday... 130 Km in 5 hours, reasonably flat stuff with a couple of easy climbs... that completes a series of 6 long rides I did in April and it's what I wanted to do... so now I'll do just nothing... commute to work tue-fri trying not to put the 14 or even worse the 12 T sprocket

    Top up tyre sealant: Check
    Freehub service: Check
    Spoke tension and lateral offset: Check
    left the forum March 2023
  • honeybadger99
    honeybadger99 Posts: 46
    Managed to get upto the lakes yesterday for my last big(ish) ride before next week. Around the 90mile mark with just under 9000ft of climbing taking in Birker fell, Hardknott and Wrynose (both ways) Set off in the morning in light rain/hail (plus it was bloody cold) but by 2pm the sun was out and relatively warm. In fact it was almost pleasurable climbing Hardknott :lol: Just goes to show how quickly the weather changes up here.
    Top of Hardknott
    38DDDD06-0329-4EC0-AE9B-E06322CD9AAC.jpg
  • Spartacus1981
    Spartacus1981 Posts: 254
    Nice ride Honeybadger :P
  • lakesluddite
    lakesluddite Posts: 1,337
    Good to see the training is going well folks. Last weekend I did the Lakeland Loop, which was basically the FW without Honister and Newlands, but with the climb over Blea Tarn road to Gt Langdale thrown in (86 miles) and it really bloody hurt, and it was mostly wet and cold. Yesterday did the Open Wheel West Riding Classic in the Dales, just over 72 miles with some good climbs thrown in (highly recommend sportive btw), mostly in glorious sunshine, except a hail shower on the hardest climb.
    Not sure what to do this coming week- definitely tapering towards the end of the week, but might head out over Wrynose and back over from the Duddon valley after work on Tuesday or weds then perhaps leisurely commute on Friday just to keep the legs moving.
    Weather forecast looks dangerously optimistic - the temperatures at least are forecast into the high teens! I know it's a long way off and they can't get the forecast right for 24 hours into the future, but fingers crossed!
  • brucebar1980
    brucebar1980 Posts: 26
    I know it's still very early days, but a quick check of the weather forecast for the day indicates warm temperatures (for the Lake District!) and a wind blowing from east to west. So that means a head wind going up Hardnotts & Wynrose. Hopefully the wind wont be too high come the day.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    brucebar1980 wrote:
    I know it's still very early days, but a quick check of the weather forecast for the day indicates warm temperatures (for the Lake District!) and a wind blowing from east to west. So that means a head wind going up Hardnotts & Wynrose. Hopefully the wind wont be too high come the day.

    I decided I won't obsess about the minute details of the weather forecast... I am interested in knowing whether it will be polar or mild and it seems it will be the latter, I am also interested to know whether there is a weather warning for an inch of rain or 40 mph wind... which seems not at this stage... other than that, I decided I won't give a toss about the weather
    left the forum March 2023
  • Agent57
    Agent57 Posts: 2,300
    Lawks. I am so unprepared for this. Have hardly been on the bike in the past 2 or 3 months (did London Marathon, so just running). Have never ridden more than 75 miles before. Ah well, what's the worst that can happen? :D
    MTB commuter / 531c commuter / CR1 Team 2009 / RockHopper Pro Disc / 10 mile PB: 25:52 (Jun 2014)
  • EarlofBarnet
    EarlofBarnet Posts: 673
    I did my last ride outside pre-Fred today, a local Sportive. Plan now is to do a couple of easy sessions on the turbo trainer to keep the legs ticking over. There's not much that can be done now to make a difference on the day.
  • Agent57
    Agent57 Posts: 2,300
    Glad I checked where my hotel was. Booking.com said it was 10 miles from Grasmere, but I checked today (booked it months ago) and it was actually about 40 miles by road. Cancelled and booked somewhere nearer to the start... =)
    MTB commuter / 531c commuter / CR1 Team 2009 / RockHopper Pro Disc / 10 mile PB: 25:52 (Jun 2014)
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,819
    Does anyone happen to know a fairly accurate figure for the total metres of climbing on the Fred? There seem to be some widely differing figures depending upon where one looks on the interweb.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    MrB123 wrote:
    Does anyone happen to know a fairly accurate figure for the total metres of climbing on the Fred? There seem to be some widely differing figures depending upon where one looks on the interweb.

    Organisers say 3900, but the average on Strava is more like 3500 or so. The Strava average for the Etape du Dales is 2900, which turned out to be accurate on the day (and same as the organisers claim). Either way, 400 metres difference in the grand scheme of things is not a lot
    left the forum March 2023
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,106
    Did it last year and strava has it listed as 3008 metres of elevation - don't know if it calculates that itself or my garmin does it ? For comparison it has last year's Marmotte as 5946 and the classic Marmotte route as 4888 metres
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • brucebar1980
    brucebar1980 Posts: 26
    Whatever it is, there's a lot of climbing! :D
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Did it last year and strava has it listed as 3008 metres of elevation - don't know if it calculates that itself or my garmin does it ? For comparison it has last year's Marmotte as 5946 and the classic Marmotte route as 4888 metres

    It'll take it from the barometer on your garmin unless you tell it to do otherwise (correct elevation function) in which case it'll come from map data.

    I think the barometer is usually more accurate but if you're out all day it's worth bearing in mind that changeable weather can affect the barometer.
  • Spartacus1981
    Spartacus1981 Posts: 254
    Thought it was more like 4000.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    Bilkobaggins wrote:
    Thought it was more like 4000.

    Unlikely. It's difficult to design a route which has more than 20 mt of climbing per Km when you only have a topography that goes up or down 200-300 mt at best.

    In order to do so, I had to do a stupid loop that kept going up and down the same roads and had zero flat

    https://www.strava.com/routes/4738784
    left the forum March 2023
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,106
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Did it last year and strava has it listed as 3008 metres of elevation - don't know if it calculates that itself or my garmin does it ? For comparison it has last year's Marmotte as 5946 and the classic Marmotte route as 4888 metres

    It'll take it from the barometer on your garmin unless you tell it to do otherwise (correct elevation function) in which case it'll come from map data.

    I think the barometer is usually more accurate but if you're out all day it's worth bearing in mind that changeable weather can affect the barometer.


    It's a Garmin 200 I was using last year so don't think it has elevation ? Must admit I was surprised the Marmotte came out nearly twice as much climbing but it did take an hour longer for the same distance. The classic marmotte route was with a garmin 705 which I think does have elevation on so possibly not like for like on that one.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Sounds right, no idea what barometer the garmin 200 has, i was thinking of 500/800 series etc..

    Can't really comment on Fred vs Marmotte.
  • dean7879
    dean7879 Posts: 127
    Got a nice bout of flu this week. The gods are playing a cruel jape :cry:
  • shazzz
    shazzz Posts: 1,077
    FWIW my Strava shows 3470m climbing in 2013. This is "elevation corrected" after the barometric readings were borked due to the four hours of torrential rain! Take out Hawkshead Hill and you get around 3300m climbing, which feels about right.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    Just firing a few last minute questions

    1) Where is the HQ in Grasmere? I appreciate it is a village, but nowhere is said where the HQ is...

    2) What time do I need to be there on sunday to have a realistic chance to start at 6 AM? Or in other words... is it one of those things where I have to queue half an hour to get going?
    left the forum March 2023
  • pigeontoes
    pigeontoes Posts: 73
    There is normally a pretty long queue of cars to get in - if you want to start by 0615 I'd suggest arriving on the edge of Grasmere by 0530 at the latest. You need to go to the start the day before to register.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    pigeontoes wrote:
    There is normally a pretty long queue of cars to get in - if you want to start by 0615 I'd suggest arriving on the edge of Grasmere by 0530 at the latest. You need to go to the start the day before to register.

    I am staying in Grasmere, so getting to the start is not a problem.

    EDIT: found it, Grasmere Sports Field... 250 mt from where I stay
    left the forum March 2023
  • pigeontoes
    pigeontoes Posts: 73
    In that case no problem, last year I arrived about 0610 there was less than a 5 minute queue to get started.

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