Jeeezuzzz! they allow triples!
what is the world coming to!
!!!!!!
Own goal in not following their own advice to potential entrants and wondering why people wanting to ride a bike that seems to comply, are a bit bemused.
Nothing to do with raising the event profile.
"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! "
And on that list of business supporters is..... Wheelbase.
Suppose WB did it on purpose for the anticipated outrage and free publicity, screw the charity.
So if mountain bikes are allowed, and fat bikes are mountain bikes, why did anyone even need to make the differentiation and ask the question? Attention whores...
Also, how do you define a fat bike? How fat is too fat for Fred?!
"Left for dead by everybody, probably which kind of fits in with the charity."
Ha. Just spat pint on phone.
I think they should have a quiet pint with the organiser ,sort it out and best of luck to them.
Just read the post on the front page,
Let it be said that I'm not a fat bike guy, ew, but having said that what they're doing is far cooler than actually doing the Fred seriously and it's well out of order telling them they can't do it. Fred organisers taking themselves way too seriously in what is essentially just a 'fun' challenge for all types of cyclists, not a race!
'We're the toughest cycling challenge in the UK don't you know!'
And as far as not allowing fancy dress as a rule... Have they not seen the state of 75% of the participants each year? That's a spectator sport in itself. TEAM SKY!
Wind your necks in team Fred.
What about Plus sized bikes - how fat is fat.
Perhaps we should turn up on fat bikes, but with normal tyres.
The organisers sound like a bunch of pillocks.
Don't understand why they want to start earlier 😯
The safety issue is a ridiculous red-herring considering the number of numpties who crash because they are incapable of riding a bit of tarmac downhill without falling off.
And the no fancy dress rule, what do they think head-to-toe lycra is?
I can see that starting early would cause a bit of a nause for the events team strung out earlier just for the two riders who want so desperately to be noticed but at the end of the day it's a bike, fat bike thin bike tandem penny farthing who really gives a shit?
Tipping up on a comedy unicle with 3 skittles for juggling and a hoopla doused in meths for added artistic flair could be construed as a bit of a piss taker, likewise a tricycle wouldn't necessarily fit the two wheeled requirement BUT a FAT Bike FFS, some chap on the comitee prob hasn't got quite as many miles in as he'd hoped this winter and after shelling out for Team SKY clobber thought how it might translate half way up Hard Knot with a wheel barrow tyre chomping at his ego,
A bike's a bike. Allowing some and not others is a bit one sided and I'm sure they would like uphold the Late Fred Whitton's memory by staying true to the original rules and regs of what makes a bike a bike which should also be respected.
Personally I'd just tip up and ride it as intended, it's not like anyone's gonna shoot em or make em pregnant. Let's be honest what's the worst that can happen, somebody's gonna get pissed off and some others will be equally happy.
One cancels out the other, just crack on. Just make sure there's minimal air air in tyres and you are single ringing it that'll break a few on the climbs.
Good luck,
How about e bikes? Or even better a fat e bike.
I used to do the 'Fred Whitton Challenge' before I'd even heard of Fred Whitton...the six main Lakes passes are an obvious target for anybody who likes a bit of hill climbing; used to string 'em together one day a year to see how I was doing, typically on an Audax bike I had at the time. I find the idea of somebody needing to get 'permission' from someone else to ride on public roads laughable, if unsurprising.
One of the biggest hazards is the descents where wet, rippled tarmac makes it tricky to get down smoothly - lots of rubber and disc brakes would be far safer than a skinny tyred-bike with rim brakes IMO.
How did the organisers learn they were going to be riding fatbikes? Surely they should just have turned up on their fatter-than-normal tyred mountain bikes and got on with it.
I saw a guy riding it on a Brompton last year. Can't see how a fat bike is not allowed yet a folding bike is fine. Utterly ridiculous decision
TBH, if you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask the question.
They should just have turned up on fatbikes, done the ride and got on with it, no fuss, no bother.
Oh but no, got to shout about the fatbike!
Can't really blame the organisers, it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't even know what a fatbike is or they have existing misconceptions about them. Oh they're those things you ride in the beach / in the snow. They're not serious / proper bikes. They're just taking the piss.
Fact is that 10 years ago when there were maybe a dozen Sportives in the UK, the Fred was one of them. It's a genuinely iconic 'must-do' ride for any roadie. And you can see why the organisers want to keep the ethos and spirit of that rather than turn it into a parody of itself. Their event, their rules.
It's a genuinely iconic 'must-do' ride for any roadie.
I ride a road bike & I couldn't care less about riding it before this, now I know I don't want to as it seems to be run by some very narrow minded "cyclsts" who are a bit too precious about their "iconic" event. I thought it was for charity yet they go out of their way to hinder people giving to the charity, how does that work?
The roads aren't closed, they should ride the route anyway, nothing stopping them doing that, despite what the organisers might think.
Their event, their rules.
I can't decide which is more pathetic really:
The organisers for saying that they're not allowed, or
The fat bikists for meekly agreeing with them and agreeing to do it on a different day.
I can't help but laugh at the organisers.....
Think about it:
The London Marathon is probably the most iconic marathon in the World, yet folks rock up to do that in all manner of clobber & nobody thinks any less of it! You get the elite of marathon running STILL turning up despite the rhino suits & diving outfits.....
Stuck up bunch of precious @rses with no sense of humour IMHO.
I have to say, that later bit about wanting to start the event early was taking the piss. If they were concerned about completing it in the cut-off time they shouldn't have entered.
If, however, it was an attempt at negotiating with the organisers then it was poorly thought out and merely gave them an excuse. I don't think you could reasonably expect them to re-arrange marshalls etc for two riders.
As others have said, asking for an earlier start is just taking the mickey, if you handicap* yourself & then ask for special dispensation then quite rightly a refusal is to be expected - but saying no fatbikes is just silly.
BITD my brother did a 300km audax on a BMX but he still fitted mudguards etc to comply with da rules 🙂
They have no sympathy from me, asking to start early is a joke. It is hard enough running an event as it is, without trying to cater for people who want to start early with all the impact this has on safety, marshals etc. Also what happens when the next person wants an early start or late finish or whatever?
Organisers can happily ban fatbikes, they add nothing to the event and if you want to fatbike the Lakes you can do it any other day of the week.
Some of you sure are fuelling the miserable roadies stereotype
Some of you sure are fuelling the miserable roadies stereotype
Are you honestly surprised?
Goes along with the fatbike riders are attention whores stereotype.
I think they just wanted to raise money for charity as far as I can see. Something really wrong with an organization that blocks that
iving outfits.....Stuck up bunch of precious @rses with no sense of humour IMHO.
I bet they aren't, my guess would be that their impassioned commited cyclists, who genuinly feel that two cyclists on fat bikes wanting to start early is inappropriate to the event and the memory of Fred Whitton. Its their event their call.
Fred liked a lie in then?
Fact is that 10 years ago when there were maybe a dozen Sportives in the UK, the Fred was one of them. It's a genuinely iconic 'must-do' ride for any roadie. And you can see why the organisers want to keep the ethos and spirit of that rather than turn it into a parody of itself. Their event, their rules.
This. I did the Whitton a few years back when a friend of a friend dropped out a few weeks before and although I'm not really a sportive fan - there's something terrifying about the mix of abilities and attitudes - there's something properly special about it, a sort of retro-gritty northernness. It's also respectably hard particularly when conditions are bad, and I get why the organisers are keen to keep it that way.
That doesn't mean there's not a debate to be had, but I wish people would lay off the random abuse aimed at the organisers and people who have the temerity to ride in an event and give it a personal significance.
I bet the boys on fatbikes won't be pushing up wrynose and hardknott, unlike a lot of the roadies.
I've always wanted to do the FW, however I must admit I'm not so sure now.
I think they just wanted to raise money for charity as far as I can see. Something really wrong with an organization that blocks that
They can still do that, the organisation isn't blocking them raising money. They are only saying that their choice of bike is inappropriate, which considering they wanted an early start to get around suggests it is.
Fred liked a lie in then?
You can start from 6 am I think.
I've never wanted to do the FW. I still don't. Pointless and overpriced exercise in futility.
As montgomery alluded to on the last page.
"2 wheels move the soul..."
I've always thought so I fail to understand why a fat bike is disrespectful?
[quote=ghostlymachine ]I've never wanted to do the FW. I still don't. Pointless and overpriced exercise in futility.
As montgomery alluded to on the last page.
great, thanks for sharing
I find the idea of somebody needing to get 'permission' from someone else to ride on public roads laughable, if unsurprising.
you don't need permission to ride the fred whitton route. you could wait outside the gate and ride alongside everyone else the whole way round.
but if you want to put on a Fred Whitton number board, use the feed stations and get an official time then you play by their rules.
I've never wanted to do the FW. I still don't. Pointless and overpriced exercise in futility.
But that's the point isn't it? You don't have to want to do it, but you can still accept that other people see it differently and take something from participating in an event they see as iconic and important.
Most organised events are 'pointless and overpriced' if you're going to look at it like that, 24-hour mtb racing, XC racing, downhill, enduro, etc. That's kind of the point, it's a conceit where participants kid themselves that it's important because it's important to them. And as a result it is. It's a sort of suspension of disbelief scenario.
Sporting events generally? Pointless and overpriced exercises in futility... ban them now.
Nobeerinthefridge - MemberI bet the boys on fatbikes won't be pushing up wrynose and hardknott, unlike a lot of the roadies.
they'd have appropriate gearing for a start.
now that raises a question to me: if a fatbike is innappropriate, then surely the same could be said about typically massive roadie gearing...?
or maybe the organisers just balked at the idea of wearing out those expensive fat tyres, in which case i can understand.
*checks in to see if there's still a load of frothing....... leaves happy*
Given the ban on fancy dress etc they probably want to stop it becoming some sort of roadie Mountain Mayhem.
The two lads completed the ride today in less than favourable conditions 13 hrs!
Did you find that out while "working" 😉
Doesn't sound too shabby. What's a "good" and "average" time for a roadie?
Edit: never mind:
The very top riders complete the route in just under six hours but eleven hours and over are not uncommon for the average Sportive rider
Be interesting to know what time they came through the cut-offs and whether they'd have made it on the day.
Actual ride time was 11.5 hours not bad considering riding with other riders motivates you to go quicker!
