Fat biking fundraisers denied the opportunity to ride the Fred Whitton Challenge
Two fat bike riding charity fund raisers, Dave Johnson and John Stephens, have had their hopes of riding the Fred Whitton Challenge on the 8th of May dashed following discussions with the organisers of the sportive event. Following their request to start the event before the earliest official start time of 6am, the pair was requested by a spokesman on behalf of the event’s steering group not to ride fat bikes on the day of the event. They were advised that the Fred Whitton Challenge is “not a place for ‘novelty’ bikes or publicity stunts such as the one proposed”. The spokesman went on to advise that “there are various reasons for this decision not least the one of safety to other riders. It is also disrespectful for the other riders who will be just pleased to have finished.”
Disappointed with the response, the two riders requested the organizers to clarify their assertion that the use of fat bikes will affect the safety of other riders, that their use would be disrespectful to other riders and why they have been requested not to ride them despite the Frequently Asked Questions section of the official website, www.fredwhittonchallenge.co.uk, advising that mountain bikes are allowed but that “slick tyres are advised”. No response to their questions has been received by the pair to date.
We approached the organizers of the event for a comment on the situation and received the following response.
“In reply to your request for information concerning riders not being allowed to ride Fat Bikes in the Fred Whitton Challenge.
We do have a policy of refusing certain types of cycles in our event for example, cycles with Tri bars, Small wheeled cycles, fold-up bikes, Choppers, ElliptiGO, and any other cycle that is not, in our opinion, suitable for a 112 mile gruelling road ride in the Lake District. Also we do not allow any fancy dress.
The Fred Whitton Challenge as you may know is regarded as the toughest one day cycle sportive in the country, and all on the open road, not off road, we do allow mountain bikes but with the advice that they use slicks to make it more realistic that they cover the distance in the time allowed.
The event is a serious event, and we expect any rider taking part to respect this.
The riders concerned did not contact us before the event of their intention, and only recently did they make a request to be able to set off early before all the other riders, this again is a problem for us concerning our 150 marshals that operate along the 112 mile course.”
With their hopes of riding the route on the 8th of May as part of the official event dashed, the pair have decided that out of respect for the organizers, they will be undertaking the challenge of riding what is arguably the toughest sportive ride in the UK, on Monday 25th of April instead. While disappointed that being excluded from the official event may mean that some of those who had planned to turn out to show their support for the pair may no longer be able to do so, they are keen to not put their training to waste and prove that the event can be done on fat bikes in order to raise money for their chosen charity, St Mary’s Hospice in Ulverston.
The pair have created a Just Giving fund raising page, www.justgiving.com/fatbikefred, and hope that despite this set back, they will be able to raise funds for their charity of choice. With a wet winter of training miles in their legs, the duo are quietly confident that they will be able to complete the grueling course having already pre-ridden Hardknott and Wrynose Pass as well as completing a century ride from Heversham to Blackpool Tower on their fat bikes. When asked why they wanted to do the event on fat bikes, John Stephen’s response was, “Please don’t ask us why as we haven’t come up with a convincing answer yet. We are not aware of this having been done before so thought we would take the opportunity to raise money for St Mary’s Hospice, Ulverston”.
So will they do it or will 112 miles and 3,800 metres of climbing up slopes of up to 30% prove to be too tough an ask? We’ll keep you informed of how they get on next Monday.
Footnote: If you are interested in supporting the duo and contributing to their charity of choice, you can do so by going to their Just Giving page, www.justgiving.com/fatbikefred .
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Perhaps the organisers are taking themselves just a little too seriously & have forgotten that first & foremost cycling is supposed to be fun?….IMHO of course.
It’s embarrassing enough for mamils on carbon road rockets to be passed by mountain bikes, but for fat bikes doing it for charity well that’s just not on. Probably. Although starting early I can see would be inconvenient.
Disappointing as they will be on slicks… especially as mountain bikes and tandems are ok.
From the Fred Web site
“The Saddleback Fred Whitton Challenge relies on a lot of help and support from our friends – a big thank you to all these businesses that help the day run like a well oiled cog!”
In that list is Wheelbase, where these two work….
Fair play to them for their response by riding on another day.
Given is on open road I’d just turn up and ride it on the day anyway personally. In the most abrasive fancy dress I.could find without risking public decency laws.
On the other hand I’d have said no to the early start too.
Would you maybe like a Bert and Ernie themed wedding cake from an irish bakery.to go with that opinion legend?
I don’t suppose that you’d be in favour of excluding someone because they were fat/blonde/female or whatever though assuming they can complete it in the allotted time, so no banning them for exercising their right to personal choice where in its no concern to anything other than the sensibilities of the organisers doesn’t seem fair.
Refusing an early start fine, refusing a choice because it’s not safe fine, refusing a choice because you don’t like it not fine.
There in is the rub though legend. The refusal as presented above isn’t “no you can’t start early because it’s a pain/Impractical etc” it’s “you can’t ride a fat bike because we don’t like it and it’s not respectful”, “oh but to hide that we’ll say it’s health and safety”
They had the perfect reason to say no, only instead they said no because we don’t like your choice.
tell em to sod off and ride anyway.
Given that it’s a sportive, on open roads, what is stopping them from just riding it?
I think they were admitting they had a problem when they asked for an early start. The organisers should have bluntly told them they didn’t believe they were up to the challenge rather than sugar coating it
Northern Irish bakery…
The fred whitton used to do a four season timing where you could ride the route any time of the year and over multiple days if you wanted.
May be useful so they can record it?
Hmm. Asking to start early was the problem here I think, there’s an official start and (I assume) a broom wagon, if you can’t hack the pace you haven’t completed the “challenge”. If they had just turned up on the day and done (or attempted to) in the alloted time but were turned away for the rather dubious reasons given then I’d be backing their complaint.
If you hold an event and you’re asked for special dispensations, if you think it would negatively affect your “brand” then I guess you’re entitled to refuse – even if everyone else thinks your reasons are silly.
but also the organisers should stick to “no dispensations” or “because we said so*”, safety excuse sounds like cobblers, if mtbs are allowed then fat mtbs are allowed too (Unless they go down the banning discs route – and that will probably discount a number of roadies too)
*and not complain about any negative press the get for it.
Can’t they fit some Fat Slicks?
Cobblers. Sometimes roadies are just to serious about things.
Chapeau if they do it on Fatbike’s. That would be a long day in the saddle for me even on a light road bike!
I think they can do it on 8th May. Just ride it unofficially. They can’t stop you- it’s all public roads. The one time I had any dealings with the event was as a support for a rider, and there were quite a few non conformist ringers riding it unofficially just for the hell of it. So what if they don’t get an official time- the course is still the course, and the time they do it in is still the time they do it in, and the day they do it on is still the day they do it on!
I have some sympathy for the organizers here. If the riders could have completed the course in the normal time on their mounts of choice then I do not think there would have been an issue.
If they were permitted an earlier start because they insist on using bikes that cannot cover the ground quick enough then the field would be open for anyone riding anything. For example unicycles, penny farthings and ice-cream trikes!
I have respect for the riders for what they are doing but there are lots of other challenges that they could ride fat bikes for.