Fred Whitton - 2018

1986sv

I’m in the list of riders. No email though.

bikes`n`guns

Nope

No joy

supermurph09

First timer, no entry. Seems odd when a lot of the facebook comments are "3rd time in a row, looking forward to it again".

No idea how the ballot works but seems odd.

nzhendo

I'm in! First time for me. Heading over from NZ for this and then the Pyrenees afterwards. Can't wait!

svetty

In - first time entered having previously been a Scrooge-like refusenik. Does anyone know what the odds on getting a ride from the Reserves list is??

mike1-2

Didn’t get in for the first time in 4 years. Fairs fair. Not overly disappointed as I wasn’t planning on doing it anyway until last minute, enjoy all that did get in, it’s one of the best (and challenging) one day events in this country.

cruff

Thigh_burn wrote:

Oh shoot, I'm in. Anyone have any training plans?...

Hills

cruff

leodis75 wrote:

In. First time applicant.

Thinking about Lakeland Loop in April to test some of the climbs.

That's a good shout. A lot of the same hills in that. Also, you haven't got Wrynose and Hardknott with 95 miles in your legs...

davebradswmb

I've got in, my second time, though I haven't had an email yet. I'm glad I have already started training, already done three hilly rides since just before Christmas.

lakesluddite

LakesLuddite wrote:

I don't want to put a dampener on anyone's evening, but I'm pretty sure that if you have not received an email then you've been unsuccessful. This is what happened to me, and I checked the list of confirmed riders on the website and my name was not there.

Oh well, there's always next year! And I'll probably do the Étape Du Dales instead, presuming that isn't over subscribed!

Yeah, ignore that. It seems receiving an email has nothing to do with success in the ballot or not. I did see something on the FB comments that if you have unsubscribed from Human Race marketing emails, then you won't get an email. Although this could be just rumour.

https://www.facebook.com/Saddleback-Fre ... R8&fref=nf

1986sv

Yeah it'll be the marketing opt in rather than opt out changes.

Email cycling@humanrace.co.uk and they'll email your confirmation.

stu227

Disappointed to have not made it through this year - best of luck to everyone doing it - and be sure to get your training in on some proper hills - there's nothing quite like that first ascent and descent of Honister if you've not done it before. Mate of mine last year did it having trained in Greece and Surrey and didn't know what hit him!

defride

graemevet wrote:

I'm in! First timer, have been training in anticipation for a couple of months. Fingers crossed for OK (I won't say good) weather.

Happy to receive any tips from past participants.

Did it 2016, my first time riding on the road in the Lakes, very fortunate with the weather

The FW really is a great event, well organised and if you're lucky with the weather it passes through beautiful country to rival anywhere in the world.

If you've not ridden in the Lakes before the first bit of advice is beware the descents. Back side of Kirkstone marshals were already waving us to slow, a poor lad and gone into a drystone wall at speed. It woke/shook me as in the early morning damp conditions I could have easily seen myself doing the same. It's not that you can't ride quickly, just err on the side of caution and if marshals are waving you to slow as they will at various points heed their caution! That's also before you get to descents off the two biggest hills at the end. Significant sections in the 20-30% range do nothing to help you recover after the exertion trying to ride up them. They're dangerous and riders get hurt so take care!

I'm a fairly strong climber and had prepared well through the previous winter. I was surprised at how comfortable the route was for the most part. There are steep sections to some of the passes but if you're used to riding gradients in the 20% range they're not as hard as I'd feared, the really steep sections are relatively short. I rode comfortably on the steeps rather than pushing and stopped just the once at the station between Cold Fell and Hardnott. Ah yes, Hardnott, having reached the foot still averaging 18mph and feeling pretty good I was in much better shape than I thought I'd be. There is nothing that quiet prepares one for Hardnott..! From reading about the climb before I figured I'd be okay on a 34/28, it's always going to be hard, right?? Well, it took every ounce of will power to keep riding and not stop through the second steep section. It's relentlessly steeper than you've probably ever ridden on the road before through two sections. What's so different from the other climbs is the previous steeps are quiet short on Hardnott they're not and they're much steeper! I emptied myself getting up, it was the only way. Looking at video later it was easy to see that lower gearing is your friend on this hill. Like many I ground my way up while those with lower gears were able to spin that little bit more. They weren't going any slower and weren't sapping the same energy and any energy you can save going up Hardnott is going to help you hugely. Wrynose straight after isn't an easy climb though not that long and the run in to the finish isn't a flat cruise. Hardnott is not impossible but definitely deserves it's reputation and respect. From a physical point of view it makes the event.

There's a little of my experience, others will have had a completely different ride around the same course on the same day, imagine it'd be brutal in bad weather, some of them will hopefully be along later to offer another view.

Good luck to all of those who've an entry, particularly you first timers.

nzhendo

8 weeks to go, how's everyones training going?

leodis75

nzhendo wrote:

8 weeks to go, how's everyones training going?

Pretty poor tbh, the weather has taken its toll so far. Will see how it goes in the next few weeks. How about you?

Beatmaker

Rubbish here too, I really need some hills in my legs, and apart from the Coal Road Challenge I've done very little outside. Still, I have the Cheshire Cat this weekend, and Flanders the weekend after, so I can hopefully kick on from here.

davebradswmb

I've not done too bad, 4 longish hilly rides in the Peak District starting from New Years Eve getting a good mixture of long drags and steeps in including a couple of Audaxes. Other than that I have been getting out when I can, but spending far too much time on the turbo trainer due to the bad weather.

SonnyBlackpool

Just over 7 weeks to go. Stuck on a research vessel off northern territory australia for another 4 weeks. Going to be some serious training thrown in to them last 3 weeks. Currently running to keep the weight off and aerobic fitness levels up and cycling on the stationary bike (technogym wide saddle terrible thing) to keep the legs used to it. What type of time targets are people setting themselves ? I cannot wait for the day to arrive

nammynake

I was aiming for sub-7 this year but I've had a pretty poor winter of training. A 2 week holiday at the moment isn't helping and I'll need to cram in some long tough miles through April if I've got any chance of going under 7 hours. I had a solid year last year so my endurance should come back quickly but I'm not one to underestimate The Fred.

Here's my current fitness from Strava - rock bottom!

smuttiesmith

Course has changed everyone!!
http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.co.uk/the-route/

Now doing an extra climb after Wrynose. Cumbria county council has confirmation of the road closure on their website so this isn’t an April fools joke!

ugo.santalucia

smuttiesmith wrote:

Course has changed everyone!!
http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.co.uk/the-route/

Now doing an extra climb after Wrynose. Cumbria county council has confirmation of the road closure on their website so this isn’t an April fools joke!

It's one of the second book by Simon Warren... another > 20% beast... probably just as well... these days los of folk go around the course in 7 hours... clearly not tough enough :twisted:

leodis75

If this isn't an April fools I think this is the new route

https://www.strava.com/routes/12493218

smuttiesmith

leodis75 wrote:

If this isn't an April fools I think this is the new route

https://www.strava.com/routes/12493218

Not quite right, the route off Whinlatter and from Great Langdale down to Skelwith bridge is off as well.

This one should be right;

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27141207

smuttiesmith

ugo.santalucia wrote:

smuttiesmith wrote:

Course has changed everyone!!
http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.co.uk/the-route/

Now doing an extra climb after Wrynose. Cumbria county council has confirmation of the road closure on their website so this isn’t an April fools joke!

It's one of the second book by Simon Warren... another > 20% beast... probably just as well... these days los of folk go around the course in 7 hours... clearly not tough enough :twisted:

I think this is going to add around 8 to 10 minutes to a 7 hour ride.

To be honest I think the weather on the day and the weather over winter probably has the same sort of impact time wise although this will now be the slowest version of the course. Looking forward to it though, change is as good as a rest!

SonnyBlackpool

First time going at the Fred and im hoping to push 7 1/2 hours.
Thinking of going up the week before and doing the last 85 miles from keswick as a bit of a reccy.
Does anyone usually do this?

davebradswmb

I don't know why you would, why would you want to ride the same hills on successive weekends? A hill is a hill, I am sure you can find other stuff to punish your legs. The only exception is Hardknott, that is a bit special and it is possibly an advantage to know what is in store for you before you do it in anger, however if you end up walking it anyway (as I did last year and the majority of riders will) then there isn't much to gain there either.

smuttiesmith

SonnyBlackpool wrote:

First time going at the Fred and im hoping to push 7 1/2 hours.
Thinking of going up the week before and doing the last 85 miles from keswick as a bit of a reccy.
Does anyone usually do this?

I think lot of people use the Lakeland Loop at the end of April as dry run for the Fred.

This takes 98% of the Fred course from the base of Whinlatter onwards.

leodis75

I am signed to the Lakeland Loop but 5 hours driving with 5 hours tough riding might be pushing it for me, will see how the next two weekends go.

SonnyBlackpool

Ive just seen the lakeland loop today actually so im going to go for that instead. Then the tour de yorkshire the sunday before the fred whitton. See how it goes

arturo_belano

SonnyBlackpool wrote:

Ive just seen the lakeland loop today actually so im going to go for that instead. Then the tour de yorkshire the sunday before the fred whitton. See how it goes

I think hitting Hardknott after 90 miles of the FW, when you've never done it before, would be one of those OMFG moments you seldom get in cycling, so would be worth it for that alone.

OTOH, it has to be a psychological help to know you can make the climb - most people probably can get up it in isolation so knowing the rhythm of it would be a big help. The first third is a kick in the baws and you can't soft pedal your way into it, you need to be on it from the outset. Don't blow up, though, as the final third is absolutely savage so you need to keep as much as you can manage in reserve by recovering on the easier middle section.