While Sheffield was (apparently) enjoying a first taste of Spring, we couldn't have had much worse conditions for our team attempt on the Fred witton Challenge.
Despite a dire forecast with the prospect of an estimated 10 hours to complete the route everyone was up and ready to go by 7am. The rain got steadily worse as we climbed the Kirksone Pass and as Richard's photos show there weren't many views to be had. As we descended things improved, and we had an hour or so of dry bright weather. We must have been some of the first people to pass as we startled 3 deer on the road. After a quick coffee and cakes in Keswick the rain had started again, we set off down the busy winding road along Borrowdale causing some serious traffic jams then it was time for the real climbing to begin! While i realise that my idea of a hill that reqiures a triple chainset varies somewhat from other Norton Wheelers i assumed that the presence of three arrows together on the map might have rung a few warning bells! I was on my limit on the steep section of the Honister Pass and then when it relented slightly the wind hit you in the face! I have no idea how some of the others stayed on their bikes!
1. Darrell arrives at the summit of Kirkstone 2. DANGER -The Fred Witton could seriously damage your health! Andy arrives back at Basecamp
A blustery descent saw Tom blown sideways and scrape his pedal along a wall, fortunately on such a steep descent he was going slow enough to stay in control. A short respite along the side of Buttermere and we hit the steep bottom section of the Newlands Pass. Shorter and not quite as steep with a tail wind this one wasn't as tough as Honister (it must have been a doddle as Paul claimed to have done it all in his big ring!).
Back over towards the west the next climb is the Winnlatter, this one is much steadier but once you have gone down the other side you are pretty much commited to completing the route. The already awful conditions worsened and we had heavy rain and a strong headwind. With 4 big climbs and over 60 miles already completed this next section was going to be tough. Paul for some weird reason seemed to think this was great fun and we all gritted our teeth and let him plough into the wind. Although it is not one of the famous Lakeland passes, the climb over Cleator Moor is fairly tough especially when you are tired, wet and hungry, the fog was so thick you could only see about 20 metres in front and you had no idea where the top was. I thought i was hallucinating when i saw a burger waggon at the top, but the others confirmed that it was for the owners whose hounds were out on the moor racing. I resisted the temptation to stop and freeze to death as i knew the cafe was in sight!
We finally reached the cafe in Gosforth to find Ann and Tony, who had taken a slightly different route, in fine form tucking into the last bowl of apple crumble! They later said we looked like a bunch of soaking wet zombies as it took us a few minutes to come round from the cold, wet descent. After copious quantities of food and drink we left the cafe floor looking more like a swimming pool (try to visit the Ramblers cafe if you are ever in Gosforth, they were fantastic despite the mess).
Although we now only had about 30 miles to go the Hardknot is the hardest of the climbs. fortunately we had a few steady miles to digest the blackcurrant pie and custard but the Hardknot is vicious from tthe start, after the first few yards i was already struggling and although i had already done this climb at least 3 times i wasn't sure i was going to make it. Sam, Dave and Darrell were all still on their bikes ahead of me but i couldn't look back for anyone else. I just made it round the first steep section and was able to sit back down and try to prepare for the next steep bit. All too soon i was straining on the pedals again i followed the boys round the first bend then after a heroic attempt Sam, having powered up every other climb, finally ran out of gears and cracked, i passed him hanging over his handlebars on the second bend. Somehow i stayed on the bike and once i was at the top i knew that the hardest part of the day was over.
We regrouped at the top and carefully wound our way down the other side, the Wrynose didn't feel too bad in comparison and as we headed back east the weather improved. We waited a while for Andy and Steve at the bottom, their descent having been delayed by Steve doing a head plant into a ditch (fortuately bike and rider were unharmed!).
We all resisted the temptation to cut the corner and miss out Coniston which meant we had to do the hill which is usually at the start of the event. A couple of country lanes took us back to Basecamp where Tom sprinted up the gravel track to arrive back first. Finishing the route would have been an amazing achievement for a 13 year old on a good day, but to pick himself up after arriving wet, cold and tired at the cafe and get back on his bike to face the last 2 climbs was something else!
Back at Basecamp Sharon had done a magnificent job of getting a roaring fire going and handed everyone a cuppa as they came in.
In the end we were out close to 11.5 hours (although only 8hrs 50 cycling time!). It was a memorable day out (especially for Andy who had never been to the Lakes before!) and a number of people rode further than ever before. For all of us to get round, including Andy who was really poorly and Steve who had been out injured for quite a few weeks, plus some unsuitably geared bikes was pretty impressive in such awful weather! I'm already thinking about a venue for the next one and it's bound to involve lots of hills so get your gears sorted out!!