The Fred Whitton Bike Tour

[+flipflopnick]

The Fred Whitton Bike Tour is a bike ride which follows the same route as the Fred Whitton Bike Challenge which has been done in under 6 hours by local Rob Jebb. The Tour is free to enter for anyone completing the route on a bicycle. Collect a timer card in Coniston, and log your times and three check points on route. Before finishing back where you started in Coniston.

 

fredwhittonchallenge org uk/fourseasons php

 

As cachers we can find all the caches on route, staying in B&B or YHA on route, taking several days to complete. By diving off route to search will slow the ride down, hence the need to take several days.

 

Start and finish timestamps are provided by South Lakeland webcam cache at Coniston.

 

I have a Bookmark list of caches within 500m of the road on route.

I am trying to develop this in to a challenge cache.

 

If anyone is enthused by this idea I am looking at attempting the ride and staying in YHAs in April or May 2011.

 

Start in Coniston Zero night

Glenridding YHA first night (Monday Night)

Either Keswick, Borrowdale YHA second night (Tuesday Night)

Buttermere YHA third night (Wednesday night)

Between Buttermere and Ennerdale is biggest ride with least caches.

Ennerdale YHA fourth night (Thursday night)

Eskdale YHA Fifth night (Friday night)

This means Wrynose and Hardknott passes on a Saturday when least traffic.

Coniston to finish with a webcam picture with the bikes.

 

Eskdale and Ennerdale are clinchers. Eskdale may have to be a Friday night because groups block book during the week, and Ennerdale does not open till April.

 

I give you this idea to complete in your own time.

[+MaxiP]

Fantastic idea for a series - my neighbour does the cycle race every year so I've got a good idea of the type of terrain covered !!

 

Probably worth mentioning that the route the Fred Whitton covers 112 miles and ascends / descends all the major passes in the Lake District.

[+Guanajuato]

Pencilled in, but I need some SERIOUS training!

[+The Other Stu]

Do you lot realise how hilly the Lakes are? It's 112 miles of absolute killer terrain.... now if anyone was to do a similar idea in Norfolk.......

[team tisri]

The Fred Whitton Bike Tour is a bike ride which follows the same route as the Fred Whitton Bike Challenge which has been done in under 6 hours by local Rob Jebb. The Tour is free to enter for anyone completing the route on a bicycle. Collect a timer card in Coniston, and log your times and three check points on route. Before finishing back where you started in Coniston.

 

If anyone is enthused by this idea I am looking at attempting the ride and staying in YHAs in April or May 2011.

I give you this idea to complete in your own time.

 

Very, very tentatively I might be interested. Make that a little more tentative... it's a long way from home and I don't know how I'd deal with so many hills on my bike (the bike would cope just fine, but let's just say there's scope for the rider to be a tad lighter)

 

Breaking it into day-long chunks of 20 or so miles makes it appear less daunting

[+flipflopnick]

I was hoping people would not notice the distance and ascent involved. :-) Think of all those caches.

 

If you look at proposed itinerary each day is less than 25 miles 40km. Distance travelled, passes ascended are dependant on which hostel is next.

 

Day 1 Coniston to Patterdale YH only has Hawkshead hill and Kirkstone pass. ~800m of ascent 28km

Kirkstone Pass is highest point on the route.

Day 2 Patterdale YH to Keswick YH has Dockwray and A66 climb to Scales. ~600 m of ascent 26km

(Day2a Patterdale YH to Borrowdale YH has Dockwray and A66 climb to Scales ~600m Ascent 36km)

Day3 Keswick or Borrowdale to Buttermere via Honister pass. ~350m ascent 20 or 10 km

Day 4 Buttermere to Ennerdale YH via Newlands Pass, Whinlatter Pass and Cogra Moss ~1300m ascent 33km (Might be better to stay at Ennerdale Bridge as Black Sail YH is very basic.)

Day 5 Ennerdale to Eskdale YH via Kinniside ~400m ascent 30km

Day 6 Eskdale YH to Coniston. Wrynose and Hardknott passes and Yewbank ~1000 ascent 20km

 

All ascents are approx. We never go back to sea level. The dip between Wrynose and Hardknott is 220m Above sea level. Only climb 400m for both passes.

 

total distance is not accurate.

 

 

Day 3 and 4 could be re routed. So Borrowdale YH to Buttermere YH 10 km easy day!

Day 4 is now Buttermere YH over Newlands over Whinlatter down to Lorton and then back to Buttermere YH. 24 km on route plus extra 7km to Buttermere YH Only 2 big passes.

Day 5 is now Buttermere YH to Ennerdale YH 10km on route plus 7+6km getting to hostels. One major climb. Easier day before Wrynose and Hardknott.

 

Number of caches on each leg might affect how far we get.

Hmm?

 

The Fred Whitton Bike Tour is a bike ride which follows the same route as the Fred Whitton Bike Challenge which has been done in under 6 hours by local Rob Jebb. The Tour is free to enter for anyone completing the route on a bicycle. Collect a timer card in Coniston, and log your times and three check points on route. Before finishing back where you started in Coniston.

 

If anyone is enthused by this idea I am looking at attempting the ride and staying in YHAs in April or May 2011.

I give you this idea to complete in your own time.

 

Very, very tentatively I might be interested. Make that a little more tentative... it's a long way from home and I don't know how I'd deal with so many hills on my bike (the bike would cope just fine, but let's just say there's scope for the rider to be a tad lighter)

 

Breaking it into day-long chunks of 20 or so miles makes it appear less daunting

Edited November 13, 2010 by flipflopnick

[team tisri]

Total ascent is probably less important than gradient. I'd rather gain 1000 feet over the course of 50 miles than 500 feet over the course of half a mile!

 

Yes... I'm one of those old fogeys who still resists using kilometres

 

A lot would depend on trains etc... if I bring the car it leaves Mrs Tisri without transport for however long I'm gone, and I can say with 100% certainty she wouldn't be interested in five days of cycling over big hills and geocaching!

Edited November 13, 2010 by team tisri

[+Guanajuato]

The dip between Wrynose and Hardknott is 220m Above sea level. Only climb 400m for both passes.

ONLY? I've seen people struggle to walk up the top bit.

All sounds SO easy! Only 20 miles each day? I used to do twice that in a few hours in the peak district in my yoof. I might struggle just a little bit now. But I'm willing to give it a go - its a challenge & a target.

Like Nick, I've got the possibility of a local support crew.

 

Its the thought of the traffic that puts me off, rather than the climbing. I'm not too sure I'll have much chance for training though. I guess I'll probably end up walking quite a lot. But 20 miles each day should be doable, even with 5-6 miles of walking.

 

Stu, you've seen Nick's and my location?

 

I've even got permission for SWMBO...

[+flipflopnick]

The Fred Whitton Bike Tour Challenge cache has been published today. GC2GMC6

Please use this thread to discuss queries about this Challenge Cache.

MBFace asked what if you owned a cache on the BOOKMARK list?

 

It would be unfair to have to log your own GC as your find count would increase. It would appear the site will let you log a find if you are already the owner. And log a previous find many times. Therefore it would be impracticable to log your own cache as a FIND as your find count will increase. Perhaps state in your final log which caches you own. Although the CO would have enough gumption to realize who the owner is.

 

You may have Adopted many caches after finding them, hence finding your own caches.

 

This thread has been hijacked to discuss this Challenge cache and a link put on the cache page. Leaving cache page for logs.

In mean time work out which ones still to find.

Happy hunting

 

[+Simply Paul]

Not on this route, but in the UK and a must-do for cycling fans of hills:

 

 

Yes, there is a cache at the top.

Back on topic, it looks like a great 'series' of caches and a very interesting challenge cache. I'm curious; did the 'tour' - as discussed in 2010 - ever happen?

[+flipflopnick]

Sorry never did the Tour. Got distracted with minor stuff.

Nick

[team tisri]

Off topic, where is that hill SP? It looks like a beast. I thought Leith Hill was hard...

[+Simply Paul]

(Sorry Nick! It's the famous Road to Applecross; Bealach na Bà. "In recent years a pair of cyclosportive cycling events has been staged in the surrounding region, and over the pass. The 70 km Bealach Beag event is in May, and the 144 km Bealach Mór is each September." - It rises 2053ft (626m) in just a few miles, and has some 1-in-5 gradient stretches. May be the site of a caching bike race event in June 2013 )

 

OT, I hope you get a chance to do your original plan FFN, perhaps with cache events in the evenings, along the way..?

[+Guanajuato]

Not on this route, but in the UK and a must-do for cycling fans of hills:

 

My legs start hurting at the thought of Hardknott, Wrynose and The Struggle. I think I'd rather chop my leg off and fry it than attempt that one. Whinlatter from Lorton is acheivable for me, I hope - doing it as part of the Jennings Rivers Ride in a few weeks. I managed Shap with much huffing & puffing and now manage 2000ft+ climbing in 20-odd mile loops around home. I must get organised and head out on the Fred Whitton ish tour. Not too sure I could bring myself to keep stopping for caches though, particularly when I've got my rhythm going.

[+Shanghai Joe]

Reading post 6 it all appears to be ascents, can we start at the other end and do it downhill?

 

Yes, Yes I know, I'll get m'coat on the way out

[+flipflopnick]

Creating this cache was a long process. It all started in early July 2012 when I started to compile the Fred Whitton Challenge Bookmark list.

The cache followed later and took several days to write. I changed the date so that the cache appeared in the review queue as normal or so I thought. It still took 48 hours for reviewer to reply with some alterations needed. For a start they suggested this was not an ordinary Multi but a special Challenge Cache. Never heard of Challenge caches. Quickly came up to speed on Challenge Caches. And the cache type for Challenge Caches is Unknown not Multi.

Also I had to assure the reviewer that I would check each Found log that the finder had satisfied the Challenge criteria. Several changes later.

This dialogue took a week before the reviewer approved the Fred Whitton Challenge Cache on 20 August 2012.