Images produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Images reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

 

The Fred Whitton Challenge is a 112 mile ultra hilly (mountainous!) challenge ride over all the famous Lake District passes in a single day ride. For a map of the whole course click here or any of the maps on this page. To print the map and route description click here for it in pdf format (need the PDF reader if you haven't got it already).

Introduction

The ride starts and finishes at the Sports Centre at Coniston, where there are toilets and showers available, and free parking on the football pitch (providing it hasn’t rained too much and waterlogged the pitch, but thankfully that hasn’t happened in recent years).

 

To record your ride, we use the Sport ident dibber system. The ‘dibber’ is a small identifier that straps on your wrist, and you ‘dib’ this into a marshal’s dibber box when you start, and again at the two checkpoints and feed stations (at Buttermere and Calder Bridge), and finally again at the finish back at the sports centre in Coniston. This confirms you completed the ride and records your times to each of the checkpoints and at the finish, which you’ll be given not long after finishing. You can start at any time between 6am and 9am. But be warned that there’s a cut-off time of 12 noon at the Buttermere checkpoint, which is 52 miles and over Kirkstone and Honister passes and quite a few less well known but still very hard climbs. So please start early, especially if it’s the first time you’ve ridden the event.

Start to Keswick

After dibbing your dibber, you head off left, past the head of Coniston water and straight onto the first climb of the day, up Hawkshead Hill. At the top (2.2 miles) you take the small lane left, down a winding descent and then straight on past the Drunken Duck Inn before more descending, some quite steep. Careful, since at the bottom of the descent you suddenly have to give way to turn left onto the B5285 (5.2 miles).

 

At Clappersgate there’s short steep climb up to the main road, onto which you turn right to Ambleside. The road enters the town swinging right over a narrow bridge and then left, and you then should get into the right hand lane and turn right to Waterhead (head of Lake Windermere). Here you go straight on at the traffic lights, towards Windermere, but after only just over a mile get ready for bottom gear, since you now turn left (8.7 miles) up the very steep Holbeck Lane climb to Troutbeck.

 

This is the start of the first BIG climb of the day, up Kirkstone pass. At Troutbeck you go straight on, then down a short hill to turn left onto the main Kirkstone road (another give way at the bottom of a descent, so careful here), and then there’s another 3 miles of climbing up to the top of Kirkstone pass (454m, 14.7 miles covered).

 

Being the highest pass, there’s a long and steep descent, so take care. You now get some respite of flatter roads, through Patterdale and Glenridding, before turning left (23.4 miles) onto the A5091 and the steady climb up to Matterdale End (343m). Follow the road through the village and on to Troutbeck (North), where you turn left (28.7 miles) onto the main A66 to Keswick.

 

Take care on this road, which has fast moving traffic, but thankfully there’s a ‘1m strip’ on the left that gives you a bit more room. Follow this road past the first turn off to Keswick (which would lead you onto busy town centre roads and traffic lights). Instead follow the A66 to the roundabout (37.4 miles), where you turn left into Keswick, left again at the T junction, then right at the mini-roundabout. Then follow the road round to the left, then straight on at the first roundabout and right at the second one, onto the road down Borrowdale.

 

Keswick to Ennerdale

The road down from Keswick narrow and a poor surface, so take care and don’t block traffic. It leads down the valley, passing Derwentwater, and via Rosthwaite to Seatoller (46 miles, there are public toilets in the car park on the right as you enter the village). Immediately get ready for bottom gear, since Seatoller is literally at the bottom of Honister pass, and it starts ultra steep!

 

This climb is really hard, almost on a par with the infamous Hardknott, and it’s narrow and has tourist traffic, so look out for cars and don’t block people.

 

Get ready with the brakes as soon as you reach the top (356m), since the descent immediately starts very steeply, the surface is slippy when wet, quite corrugated in places, and there’s a narrow chicane over a bridge part way down.

 

You’re now in the Buttermere valley, and the road, now rolling rather than mountainous, takes you through to the first check point and feed station, which is on the right hand side at the Youth Hostel just before Buttermere village (52 miles). Dib your dibber with the marshal as you arrive, then get whatever food and drink you need, use the toilets in the hostel, etc.

Don’t eat too much at the feed and then rush off, since only 200m beyond the hostel you turn right and immediately steeply uphill onto the climb up Newlands Pass. The middle part of the climb isn’t too bad, but there’s a very steep final stretch to the top (333m), and then a correspondingly steep sudden drop down the start of the descent. The road descends down Newlands valley and is mostly quite straight, but watch out since at two separate places further down the valley there are sudden and steep hairpin bends that can easily catch you out.

 

Follow the road as it bends slowly left to Braithwaite, where you follow the road until it gives way at a T junction in the village (60 miles), where you turn left and onto the climb up Whinlatter. This is a mostly steady climb, and the top is a good place for any friends who aren’t riding to meet up with you, since there’s a café for them while they wait, and the road isn’t too narrow.

 

Please ask friends not to drive on, or try to meet you or watch the event, on the narrower parts of the course, in particular definitely not on Honister, Newlands, Hardknott or Wrynose. The roads are too narrow and the last thing the riders need is yet more cars on the road to contend with.

 

The descent down Whinlatter is mostly straight and fast, but again watch out for the tight bends down over a bridge about half way down. Ignore the first turn into Lorton and instead take the second sharp left turn, then left again into the village. Follow the road round as it swings right and down through the rest of the village, keeping straight on until you reach a T junction where you turn left onto the B5289 (65 miles).

 

Follow this road, which bears right then climbs past Scale Hill ( steep short descent) to Loweswater. It now starts to climb up to the wonderfully named Fangs Brow, where you follow the road round to the left and start to drop down to Lamplugh village. Turn left at the T junction, through past the church and then down to a junction where you turn left onto the minor lane that takes you up and over towards Croasdale, in the Ennerdale valley. Watch it on the descent to Croasdale - there’s a sharp right hander, followed by a hairpin, and another sharp and narrow bend further down. Turn right at the T junction and follow the lane as it winds round and on down to Ennerdale Bridge (77.3 miles).

Ennerdale to Eskdale

Turn left at the give way in the village, then left again after 400m, onto the climb over Cold Fell. This one is straight and steady to begin with, but then a steep windy bit over a cattle grid, followed by a final steady pull up to the top of the moor (290m, Swarth Fell). Follow the road on down, over another cattle grid, then a short climb back up before the more serious descent down to Calder Bridge. Take care on the later part of this descent - there’s a couple of hairpin bends not long before you reach Calder Bridge. Turn left into the village hall car park as you enter the village - this is the second checkpoint and feed station. Dib your dibber when you arrive, and there are then drinks, sandwiches, cakes, bananas etc., and toilets available in the village hall (86.8 miles).

 

Just after leaving the village hall you reach the main A595 coast road and turn left down to Gosforth. This road is busy and not wide, so file out. After 2 miles look out for the fork left on a descent, leading off the main road and down through some traffic calming and into Gosforth village. Bear left at the mini-roundabout in the village centre, then turn right about 200m further on, where a lane forks off to the right towards Santon Bridge. This is an easy bit, on a pleasant lane, down through Santon to Santon Bridge, but just after swinging right over the bridge you hit another steep climb, over Irton Pike. The descent gets quite steep and twisty towards the end, so don’t let your speed get too high.

 

At the bottom follow the road left and on up through Eskdale Green, and then down again to the King George the Fourth pub (95.8 miles), where you turn left up Eskdale. The narrow road leads through Boot village and on up the valley to the foot of Hard Knot pass.

Hardknott and Wrynose

Hardknott is the daddy of them all, and you’ll know as soon as you start it, since it immediately kicks up viciously when you pass the telephone box at the bottom. This first ultra steep bit climbs over a cattle grid (tricky, need to sit down as you cross it, to avoid wheel spin) and lots of riders have to get off and walk at this point. If you make it up this first killer section, then the climb relents a bit, and you get a chance to get the heart rate down below 99% max. And if you’re keen to ride the whole climb then you’d be well advised to take advantage of this respite by easing right back and recovering as much as you can because - you've guessed it - there’s another viciously steep bit coming up, as the road swings left at one hairpin and then right at a second painfully steep hairpin.

 

If you’re still going at this point you’re doing extremely well and the worst is now over, but you’ll still have to dig deep to keep it moving to the very top (393m). In fact it’s often not really worth trying to ride it all - two years ago I walked this second steep bit and people still riding were barely passing me. But worse, one rider lost his balance and when he hit the deck his seat post snapped at the top, taking his saddle off with it and cruelly ending his ride. It’s certainly not worth risking injury if your gears aren’t low enough.

 

Be warned - the descent down Hardknott is very VERY steep with extremely tight bends, the road surface isn’t good, and it requires extreme care. Whatever you do don’t let your speed build up, or you’ll be straight off the road and down the hillside, and we don’t want to have to call out the ambulance to pick up the pieces.

 

At the bottom you reach a junction, where you turn left up the long valley towards Wrynose pass. This one’s nothing like as hard as Hardknott, steady at first but it gradually steepens, before a short very steep final kick to the top (393m).

 

Again, take great care on the descent down Wrynose. It’s not quite as steep and twisty as Hardknott, but it’s a longer descent and you’ve got to keep control of your speed, since the road surface is bad and there are some very tight turns near the bottom. Many riders have ruined their ride by coming to grief here - look at the state of Dave Boyle’s bike after he crashed here in 2004.

 

The road is very narrow as it now leads down the Little Langdale valley, so narrow that modern cars often fill the whole width of the road, so watch it along here and be ready to stop. The road kicks up and down a few times, and then eventually drops steeply down to a T junction (careful, it comes on you suddenly), where you turn right, down over a bridge and then follow it as it climbs steeply up to the main A593 road to Coniston. Turn right and follow this as it climbs steadily up to the brow of the hill.

 

You’ve cracked it now! All you’ve got left is a glorious 2 mile burn-up generally downhill back to Coniston. When you reach the edge of the village the road swings sharp left then right, twice in quick succession and then you immediately turn left down the lane for the final 150m to the finish back at the sport centre. Dib your dibber with the marshal, and finally rest, with the ultimate feeling of satisfaction with what you’ve achieved.

Finished!

Well done, an incredible ride! When you’ve got your breath back, go into the centre and hand in your dibber (there’s a charge if you don’t return it), and you’ll be given a print out with your times at each of the checkpoints and at the finish. You also get a printed certificate of your ride, which you can have framed there and then if you want.

 

There’s also a small meal provided by the famous Wilf’s Cafe, to help you replace what you’ve lost. And remember to drink plenty too, to avoid dehydration.

 

And there are showers, changing rooms etc. available so you can make yourself human again.