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Recounting the Fred Whitton Challenge
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added 21 May 2013
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What was it like for those who rode this year's Fred whitton Challenge? Well you can read Ian Phillips' report on his day in the saddle in his write-up Recounting the Fred Whitton Challenge. A challenge it certainly was this year! |
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Cycle-SOS
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 Many thanks to www.cycle-SOS.co.uk, the Cyclists’ National Helpline, who have provided sponsorship for the 2012 & 2013 events. Cycle-SOS have over 20 years experience helping victims of bicycle accidents and providing advice on bike accident claims – up-to-speed legal advice from the solicitors who cycle. |
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Fred Whitton Photos
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Photographs from this year's event are available on SteveFlemingPhoto.com. |
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Ride the hills with Fredrico
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added 2 May 2013
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For a bit of fun watch Frederico tackle the Fred Whitton course. Doing the Fred Whitton Challenge certainly isn't as easy as this fun YouTube animation makes it look! Many thanks to Russell Holden of local business Pixel Tweaks for introducing us to Frederico. |
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** Fred Whitton Cycling Jerseys Now Available **
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added 6 Apr 2013
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We now have all sizes of the Castelli Fred Whitton cycling jerseys available. For details, and how to order, see Jerseys. |
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Saddleback Fred Whitton on Facebook
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You can also follow the latest news on our Facebook page – see Saddleback-Fred-Whitton-Challenge. |
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Photos from Fred Whitton Half Million Dinner (27th October)
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added 28 Oct 2012
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.jpg)  Photos from the Fred Whitton dinner are now available on Steve Fleming's Flickr page. This charity dinner was held to celebrate that in the 13 years since it started the Fred Whitton Challenge has now raised over half a million for the charities it supports. Special guests were Sarah Storey OBE (photo, right) and Barney Storey MBE, both gold medalists at the recent Paralympics. Beforehand a group had an afternoon ride via Ambleside and Wray Castle, before returning to Kendal via the ferry across Lake Windermere (photo, left) and the Crook road. |
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Charity Contributions from 2012 Event
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added 20 Oct 2012
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We are now finalising all the sponsorship from this year’s event, and at the moment it is looking like it will be another record year, with already £86,000 raised through sponsorship and the proceeds from the event. If anyone still has any remaining sponsorship to send in, or hasn't yet let us know of some sponsorship that has gone to charity on behalf of the event, then please do let us know as soon as possible, so that we can finalise this year's total. Remember any rider raising over £500 receives a free entry into next year's ride. |
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added 28 Aug 2012
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Many of us in the Lakes Road Club remember riding with Phil Smith (Terry's son). Well he's now in the Alps, running a new Morzine-based bike holiday company, offering a premier alpine riding experience – road and/or MTB – in the heart of Tour de France terrain. And although they're new, they've already nine years local riding experience working in the industry. The beautiful alpine village of Morzine has numerous famous Tour cols on the doorstep, and they offer detailed itineraries, fully supported rides and have a fully catered town center chalet with secure on-site bike storage and workshop facilities. Even better, Phil is offering a 10% discount on any booking for Fred Whitton competitors, friends and family. For more info visit ridemorzine.com . |
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Saddleback's Day of Service
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added 18 May 2012
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In the Fred Whitton it's not just the riders who get up early and have a long hard day, as shown by this fascinating 6 minute time-lapse film of Saddleback's day of Neutral Service bike fixing at the 2012 event. |
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Event Sponsors
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added 2 Feb 2012
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 Many thanks to Greenhalgh's bakers, who are again sponsoring the meal we provide at the finish of the Fred Whitton Challenge in May. And of course many thanks also to our main event sponsor Saddleback, the major importer of Elite performance cycling products. If any other companies would like to sponsor parts of the Fred Whitton, e.g. feed stations, the timing system or first aid, or would like us to use their product on the ride, then please contact Donna Loftus on 01229 716130. |
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Broughton Accommodation
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added 16 Jan 2012
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Broughton is only 10 miles from Coniston and has a range of accommodation that might suit riders in the Fred Whitton, including hostel type accommodation at the Kepplewray Centre. For details see Accommodation. |
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Record Amount Raised by 2011 Event
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added 10 Dec 2011
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 Huge thanks to everyone who raised sponsorship for their ride in the 2011 event – the final total raised for charity was £80,000, a record to date. £35,000 was donated to Macmillan Cancer Support, £20,000 to the Dave Rayner Fund, £7,500 to Mountain Rescue and £7,500 to the North West Air Ambulance, plus £10,000 that riders themselves have donated to special charities. The photo shows three of Fred's grandsons – Ben, Rhys and Corey Birkett – presenting the cheque to the North West Air Ambulance. The three prize-winners for the most raised were: - Mike Arnold from Wheelbase.co.uk/Cannondale Kendal – raised £4,034
- Dougie Moore from Workington – raised £3,480
- Vinney Taylor from London – raised £2,525
All these received prizes kindly donated by Carrs Breadmaker. Many thanks to all for this great effort to support the charities. |
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Presentation Night
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added July 2011
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The 2011 Presentation Night was held on Thursday 23rd June, at the Prince of Wales in Foxfield, with special guests Sid Barras and Dudley Hayton. Cheques were given to the the event charities, and beforehand there was a ride around Coniston Lake. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to raising money for the event charities. |
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Event Photos + Event Reports
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added May 2011
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The event photos are now available on the Kennedy Images website. They're in rider number order, and you can find the rider number for someone on our results page. Various riders have written reviews of this year's event, including how wet it was at times! For links see our Ride Reports page. |
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Leon Did It!
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added 22 May 2011
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Congratulations to Leon Bond, who sucessfully completed his '10 Freds in 10 days' challenge today (May 22nd).He's ridden the Four Seasons Fred Whitton Challenge every day for the last 10 days – his results are on the Four Seasons results page. And I can vouch that he did indeed ride up Hardknott today (as he has on all his rides) since I rode out to the top of Hardknott and watched him come up, before joining him back to Coniston. You can read about his 10 rides and what they – and the weather – threw at him, on his enjoyable blog. I'm lost for words at his achievement – except one that comes to mind: Chapeau! Pete Q |
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!! 10 'Freds' in 10 Days !!
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added May 2011
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As if riding one Fred Whitton isn't enough, Leon Bond is attempting 10 Four Seasons 'Freds' in 10 days (gulp!), starting on Friday 13th May. See his Blog for what it's like to train and plan for such an awesome challenge, and to follow his progress. Like our event, he's raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support, so why not give some more to this really worthwhile charity – see the Just Giving Donate link on his Blog.
Good Luck Leon! |
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Wrynose or Bust Sportive
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added Apr 2011
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Whether you've got a place in this year's Fred Whitton Challenge or not, why not ride the Wrynose or Bust charity event on April 17th. As well as Wrynose Pass it includes plenty of other climbs and great Lakeland scenery, so it's a real challenge. For details see Wrynose or Bust. |
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Four Seasons Certificates Now Available
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added Oct 2010
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If you've ridden the
Four Seasons Fred Whitton Challenge
then note that you can now get a personalised Four Seasons Fred Whitton
Challenge certificate, to print and keep as a memento of your ride.
To get your certificate go to the
Four Seasons results page
and click on the printer icon at the left hand side of the row
containing your results.
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Fred Whitton on Lakes TV
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added May 2010
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A web TV report about the 2010 Fred Whitton Challenge is now on Lakes TV – see the
Sports channel on www.lakestv.net.
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Saddleback Sponsor the Fred Whitton Challenge
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added Jan 2010
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We're delighted to announce that for our 2010 edition of the
Fred Whitton Challenge we're teaming up with
Saddleback,
the major importer of Elite performance cycling products, to support the event.
We're sure that Saddleback will help keep the The Fred Whitton Challenge
up there as the no. 1 sportive ride on riders’ lists.
One of the first advantages of Saddleback's sponsorship will be
improved mechanical assistance for riders, at the start and on the route,
since Saddleback will bring the expertise of SRAM Neutral Service and mechanics
– the same ones that ran the neutral service for the 2009 Tour of Britain.
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Four Seasons Fred Whitton
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added Aug 2009
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Our annual Fred Whitton Challenge Ride is so popular that we can't
accommodate everyone who wants to ride. So we've teamed up with
GoLakes and the
Lake District National Park
to launch a timed self-led challenge ride called the
Four Seasons Fred Whitton
that you can do at any time of the year, when it suits you, with friends or clubmates for example.
Click HERE for details.
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10th Anniversary Dinner & Photos
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added Oct 2009
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The special 10th Anniversary Fred Whitton Dinner was held on Saturday (Oct 10th),
and photos are now available from the photographers
– see the Kennedy Images website.
Special guests included Tour de France winner Stephen Roche, and north-west cycling star
Ella Sadler-Andrews, who recently won a Junior Women's Team Pursuit gold medal at the
European Track Championships, plus Keith Lambert, Sid Barras, Dudley Hayton and
representatives from all the charities that the event supports.
For more details see our report of the 10th Anniversary dinner.
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Cyclosport TV: "The Freddy Files"
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added May 2009
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Many thanks to
Cyclosport,
who joined our 10th year
celebration by filming during this year's event.
See parts 1, 2 and 3 of their film
and watch the riders (including Robb Jebb and James Dobbin in part 2)
on the killer 30% upper slopes of Hardknott Pass, after 100 miles.
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