Big Dave is tackling them monster lakeland passes today, and at a whisker under 100kg he’s going to be feeling every metre of height gain! You can follow him here and either post words of encouragement or take the mick, depending on how you’re feeling…
Follow road.cc’s Dave on the Fred Whitton Challenge!
Big lad + hills = pain
Sun, May 08, 2011 04:50
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Latest Comments
Blackthorne83 3 hours ago
Hey, but their wool blend cycling adjacent t-shirts are/were fantastic.
RoadYeti 3 hours ago
@Surreyrider Still the boss. Ride one, you'll see why
chrisonabike 7 hours ago
@Smoggysteve "Most would happily ride on the roads and be treated with respect by drivers". But people aren't - and as far as I can see they won't be. Not until there is a lot less driving and it's slower around cyclists, and far more people driving have "skin in the game" eg. they sometimes cycle and their friends and family do also. That's what leads to the model - which is perhaps most advanced in NL - where cycling, walking and driving are all seen as separate normal transport modes. Their needs, vulnerabilities and any dangers to others are considered. And *that* leads to "mix / share when possible, separate when necessary". But "possible" is "where your 10-year old would be safe to cycle unsupervised" - so very few motor vehicles, going slow! And AFAICS everybody - even "existing cyclists" - is happy with the result. (I dunno about a few pro cyclists - but don't they tend to have training camps in different counties anyway?)
chrisonabike 7 hours ago
@quiff as an Edinburgh resident I can confidently say he's speaking without moving his lips in one sense: - while as I noted in a separate comment there *is* now some real separated cycle infra, all the examples i can think of have *at least as much space* for pedestrians. The rest of the "cycle infra" is essentially similar to the situation in the rest of the UK: eg. bus lanes*, cycle lanes and shared use paths (eg. "build" infra by sticking up a sign). Edinburgh is one of the places with a moderately extensive network of former railways which have been converted to "shared use" paths (completely motor traffic few). However though shared they are not narrow by UK standards. And this is all effectively a "free extra" for all non- motorised users, not like the "sign a cycle path" where pedestrians do lose space. I think this all comes from the "popular understanding" of cycling in which ultimately cyclists are the "other". They don't fit "motor vehicle" or "pedestrian" (including wheelchairs on the very rare occasions people think about that). Thus "cyclists are cheating" in multiple ways! They shouldn't get their own space as "there aren't enough" of them. And "they can just use the road / path". But being able to *choose* "on the road" or "on the footway" (shared use path) is clearly unfair - nobody else gets to do that! BUT of course even if they did pick just one of road OR pedestrian space it's still not fair anyway because they're "too slow" for the road (don't pay "road tax" etc...) and "far too fast" for pedestrians... * Though some existing cyclists may appreciate them when there are few buses, buses and bikes are a very poor mix for several reasons.
mikecassie 7 hours ago
Whilst a shame for any employees, their bib shorts had the worst chamois pad I’d ever encountered, utter waste of my money. Even though they were Strava challenge discount purchases, still a waste of money.
ktache 8 hours ago
Thanks, just going to have to suck it up. Got next week off and will take the easy, if expensive option...
Rendel Harris 8 hours ago
@ktache Just go for the TNT Sports only package, £30.99 for a month. Alternatively have you considered experimenting with a VPN for a few pounds, allowing you to sign up for a free stream abroad, e.g. SBS Australia which streams the Tour live? If I didn't have a kind mate's login that's what I'd do!
ktache 9 hours ago
So, it's now the month of July and I'm going to have to pay to watch the TdF, for one month only. On a tablet unfortunately, as I didn't manage to get a laptop to rig up to the TV, grrr. Just wondering, what package will I have to fork out for? Not wanting to pay for the wrong one...
Rendel Harris 10 hours ago
Not that it sounds like a dealbreaker given the other faults you've identified, but that cable isn't really a "proprietary" cable, four pin magnetic cables like that are quite common on bone-conducting headphones and other devices (my inexpensive smartwatch uses one) and they can be had for £4.99 on UK Amazon.
25 thoughts on “Follow road.cc’s Dave on the Fred Whitton Challenge!”
Having just got back in from
Having just got back in from a windy ride I’m not going to take the mick…. come on Dave!
Fantastic stuff
Fantastic stuff 😀
c’mon Dave!
c’mon Dave!
Looking at the satellite
Looking at the satellite view, can’t see the gradient but I know it must be bloody steep. Come on fella! You’re doing great!
go on big fella, up above
go on big fella, up above Egremont at the moment, know those roads a bit – impressed we’re still getting a signal, never got anything when I was at my in-laws in Seascale.
He looks like he’s on the
He looks like he’s on the ‘nice’ bit at the moment between Cold Fell and Irton Pike more up and downy, on the other hand he’s got HardKnott and Wrynose to come.
Then he’s got to drive back to Bath.
Shame the pie shop in Gosforth won’t be open today. Worth the ride just for one of their steak and kidney efforts or maybe two.
what’s he riding?
what’s he riding?
Allez! Allez! Allez!
Allez! Allez! Allez!
Nice work, just done the last
Nice work, just done the last couple of hours on the turbo trainer trying to keep up with Vettel in the F1, i think i just come in around……………..Last place, even without a pit stop, lol
Nice work dave, its a shame it dont show those mofo climbs and great decents or the timings
Anyone know what the weather is like there today, its chucking down here, so i’ll get a cold shower and then go racing the Giro on my turbo again in an hour, see if i cant beat Cav to a sprint finish 🙂
Sun’s out here in Bath, mind
Sun’s out here in Bath, mind you I’m sitting at a computer.
@simonmb think he’s on his
@simonmb think he’s on his Genesis Equilibrium
GKAM the weather forecast wasn’t good… but just checking on the Beeb the forecast for Cockermouth looks pretty nice, but then it’s Cumbria so even if the forecast is right it could be tipping it down a couple of miles down the road.
his position hasn’t updated
his position hasn’t updated (on my screen at least)since 13:11:02
So either his ‘phone has fried its battery, or he’s dropped it, or there’s no signal to update his position to the Interweb
Mr_eL_Bee wrote:his position
Is there a cake-shop in that vicinity?
Whoop whoop!
C’mon Dave!
Whoop whoop!
C’mon Dave! Keep those pins spinning-home stretch around the corner!
Genesis – classic ride. I
Genesis – classic ride. I hope he had a large carne sabrosa ‘especiales’ last night! :$
Hup Hup! Go Dave!
Hup Hup! Go Dave!
Got to say it hasn’t updated
Got to say it hasn’t updated on mine either (which does either mean as simonmb says, there’s cake shop nearby or we’ve been let down by the technology.
My guess is the signal has dipped out (it can be a tad patch up in the hills) and we’ll get a big update when it dips back in again. Hopefully.
I’ll text him… which I’ll admit is a somewhat flawed plan if he hasn’t got any signal.
Just out of interest, how big
Just out of interest, how big is “Big Dave”??
I was thinking about tackling the fred whitton this year, but i’m not back to full fitness yet and a bit over my target weight, so put it off for later events
But looking at it, if the “big” man can manage i think we should get a few of us together for next year?
been there, done it, it hurts
been there, done it, it hurts – respect! B-)
Looks like he’s made it back
Looks like he’s made it back
Yep, heard from him a couple
Yep, heard from him a couple of hours ago, he’s finished. Sun came out just as he got back to the car. He was having a rest and then hitting the M6 – he’ll be updating the Fantasy Cycling scores somewhere en-route (best he does it…). As we thought no signal up there on Cold Fell + he dropped his phone which also probably didn’t help and prob accounts for the rather direct nature of the final leg of the track.
Respect is due though.
To answer your question GKAM he’s about 6ft 2in, (190cm) and 98Kg.
Well done Dave. When you went
Well done Dave. When you went all stationary on us I started even to wonder whether there was a magnet factory out there. There are some things you boys on steel bikes can never find a way past. Looking forward to hearing how it went for you and others.
Just resting after a very
Just resting after a very quick Lancs Lanes that meant a lot of cramp in the last 15 miles. Now I find Dave has completely lost his mind and gone and done the Fred Whitton! Well done Dave. I’ve done a few of those and it’s sheer hell. Huge respect for your achievement.
Big up Dave, maybe i could
Big up Dave, maybe i could have done it this year then, i’m 5.10 and around 80kg, need to drop a few kg’s and get a lighter bike for next years Whitton
Just noticed his results, 112 miles in 8:34 hours
Not bad for that course, around 13.5mph
yeah, apologies for the lull
yeah, apologies for the lull in transmissions: dropped my phone and bent the case so that the power key was permanently pressed down. what’re the odds? bent it back when i go back to the car, with the half of my multitool i’d foolishly decided to leave behind…
ride report coming tomorrow: i can confidently assert that hardknott is a) doable and b) insane. i was basically in pieces the whole way back after that, I’m not sure I can even remember Wrynose… had to plunge my head into a lakeland stream between the two to get some semblance of brain function back 🙂
SRAM Apex FTW, btw 😀