Fred Whitton T-Shirts

added June 2010

We ran out of Fred Whitton T-shirts at this year's event, but we have ordered some more, in black and the medium and large sizes, and in the original design (with the chainring logo on the back). To all the riders that have ordered T Shirts, sorry for the delay, but we've been promised they will arrive soon, and we'll post them out to you as soon as we can.

Fred Whitton on Lakes TV

added May 2010

A web TV report about this year's Fred Whitton Challenge is now on Lakes TV - see the Sports channel on www.lakestv.net.

Many Thanks to Everyone Who Helped at This Year's Event

added May 2010

The Fred Whitton Challenge is run by volunteers, and so many people help it's not possible to name them here. So a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who helped this year with all the jobs that make it happen - registration, marshalling, feed stations, paramedics, mountain rescue, putting out event signs, printing certificates, .. - the list is endless. Thankfully there's a large collection of great people who kindly give their time & skill to make it all happen. THANK YOU - we know from all the emails we get that the riders really appreciate it.

Saddleback Sponsor the Fred Whitton Challenge

added Jan 2010

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.

£60,000 raised by 2009 event

added Oct 2009

A BIG thank you to all the riders who raised sponsorship in this our 10th year - it was a record year for the help we've been able to give the charities. £60,000 was the total raised by the riders and the event, in this our 10th year of running the event. For details see 10th Anniversary. We can't believe the effort that the riders put in on the fund raising - probably harder than doing the ride itself! But it's all worthwhile, and we'll continue with our fund raising and hope the next ten years will be as successful as the last.    Thanks again,     Lofty

Four Seasons Fred Whitton

added Aug 2009

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.

10th Anniversary Dinner & Photos

added Oct 2009

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.

2009 Results and Event Photos

added May 2009

Full results of this year's event are HERE. And the event photographs are available on the Kennedy Images website.

Cyclosport TV: "The Freddy Files"

And 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.

Huge Thank You to all Volunteers and Riders

added 13 May 2009

The Fred Whitton Challenge is the result of lots of preparation and a huge number of volunteers making it all happen. We've already had loads of messages from riders saying thanks. So this is to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who helped - at the start & finish, at the feed stations, all the paramedics, first aiders and marshals who were out on the course to help, etc., etc. - it simply wouldn't happen without you all!

The event also wouldn't happen without the supreme effort of all the riders to tackle such an ultimate hard event - made even harder this year by rain, hail & even snow at times! WELL DONE on a great effort and thanks to you and to all your sponsors for supporting the event and helping us raise money for the event charities.

Other Challenge Rides

added 28 Jan 2009

If you haven't been able to get a place in the Fred Whitton then see the following links for other good challenge rides:-

The Three Counties Challenge      The Cumberland Challenge      Cycle Cairngorms Sportive

New Address

added 22 Sep 2008

Just after the 2008 event the organisers, Paul & Sally Loftus, moved house to:
    Greylags, Foxfield
    Broughton in Furness
    Cumbria LA20 6BX. Tel: 01229 716582.
The telephone number is the same and post was redirected, but there was some disruption so please call if anything is outstanding.

£55,000 Raised for Charity !

added 22 Sep 2008

This year's event raised this fantastic record total - many thanks to everyone who raised sponsorship for the event, to all the riders (your entry fee also contributed to this total for the charities), to the 2009 event sponsors Biketreks of Ambleside and to all our helpers with the event. This year's presentation night was on Wednesday (18th June) and cheques were presented to the charities, followed by an enjoyable evening at the Prince of Wales pub in Foxfield. (At the time the total was £45,000 but since then more sponsorship has come in and the final figure is over £55,000.)

La "Nove Colli" inglesi

added 4/08/2008

The Fred Whitton Challenge went Italian recently when the most important bike magazine in Italy, CICLOTURISMO, featured the event with this headline in an article by Mauro Posarelli. The headline refers to the Nove Colli ("Nine Cols"), which is a major Italian event based in Cesenatico.

Mauro heard about the Fred Whitton Challenge through his friend Allan Nelson from the UK and rode our event this year and really liked it. Mauro joins the select group of continental cyclists who have ridden 'The Fred', and articles like this will probably bring more Italian riders to the event next year.

Fred Whitton Photos

added 30/05/2008

Kennedy Images photos of riders in the 2008 event are available at www.kennedyimages.co.uk.

Added 13/05/2008
Revised 15/5/2008

The full Fred Whitton Challenge 2008 results are AVAILABLE HERE. (It's a large page so be patient!!) Please note that after first publishing the results on Tuesday (13/5/2008), we discovered that some riders had inadvertently been omitted from the results list. Sorry to those riders, who now correctly appear in the revised results list - see the link above.

Rider Registration

added 4/05/2008

Riders can EITHER register on the Saturday afternoon (1-4pm) OR on the Sunday morning (from 6am) before doing the ride.

Registering just involves telling us your rider number and signing the start sheet, being given your rider number card and then collecting your dibber. The dibber is a timing device that is strapped around your wrist, and which you 'dib' (push into a timing box) at the start, at each of the two checkpoints, and at the finish. The rider number card needs to be tie-wrapped onto your bike (normally to the handlebars - tie wraps supplied).

The advantage of registering on Saturday is just that it gets these things out of the way and means that on Sunday all you have to do is turn up, 'dib' your dibber with the start marshal and set off. Registering doesn't usually take long - for most riders only a few minutes. But we do tend to get a bit of a queue when we first open up on the Sunday morning (6am) and it also tends to get a bit busy with people registering round about 7:30am. And of course you need to allow time to tie the rider number card to your bike.

Event Leaflet & Photographers

added 25/03/2008

The event leaflet will be sent out to all riders in mid-April. Kennedy Images will be the photographers for this year's event, out on the course to capture the ecstasy and agony, and the images will be available to view and purchase on their website.

Accommodation + Printing Route

added 17/01/2008

Our Links page now has suggestions on where you could look for accommodation for the Fred Whitton Challenge. And our Route Details page now has a link to a pdf version of the route map, profile and description, which is suitable for printing.