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
kingleo 2 minutes ago
Cyclists ride as if they own the roads; actually, they do own the roads; they are public roads.
kingleo 12 minutes ago
@Homebaker, put a 6"spike in the center of the steering wheel of all cars. How fast would they drive?
AidanR 1 hour ago
Great piece, thank you Emily
Rendel Harris 1 hour ago
@Nigel Garage Then sanity returned and he said, "Hang on, are you suggesting that we leave our beautiful Victorian flat in the middle of the greatest city on earth to go and live in some nasty Barratt Homes newbuild in a place so boring that for entertainment the residents constantly troll websites from which they've been banned a dozen times, with a creepy accountant who cyberstalks people's Facebook photos to get material to use for his silly posts on said websites for a neighbour?" "Yes, on second thoughts let's stay here," she said, and they lived very happily ever after.
DavidKK 1 hour ago
If drivers find it too hard to give way then maybe it should be a stop sign. That will give them enough time to look.
Inthedark1 2 hours ago
Just turn your head Ed. Perhaps you've gone so far to the right turning left is the problem?
stoofer77 2 hours ago
“Between 2020–24, collisions involving a single pedal cycle and pedestrian resulted in 9 pedestrian deaths and 738 serious injuries in Great Britain. This isn’t anti-cycling. It’s pro-safety and good road design. If London can do it, Exeter can too.” In the same period there were around 6000 fatalities and 115000 serious casualties on the roads generally. Bicycle users are therefore demonstrably less dangerous than other road users, and perhaps if Ed is "pro safety" he ought to look to at the other 99% of road users. Maybe he could start with people making a social media posts while driving.
Beryl 3 hours ago
If the man can't turn his head to check his blind spot he shouldn't be on the road
GravelIsNothingNew 3 hours ago
Follow the road rules. Why is this even a discussion? Because the road rules are not adequately policed. …Solution: how about £100 fines for everyone flouting the road rules / risking cyclists lives on social media and in council chambers, as well as on the roads? That should stop this ongoing waste of time.
jackcycles 10 hours ago
@Rendel Harris you've painted a rather alluring picture of social harmony there, but unfortunately you've got my name wrong. I'm Jack, not Nigel. However, to return the compliment, I must think of a story for you. I imagine you sat outside a pub, real ale and pipe propped on the adjacent table, in a similar fashion to Nigel Farage at his populist best. You turn to your wife. "You know what dear? I think I've been a bit harsh in my time. I've shunned the politeness and wisdom of others for too long and want to change my ways.* "There there Rendel", says Mrs Harris. "You're not a bad old stick, it's just living in London that's emptied your soul of kindness and compassion. I've found a lovely new place where we can settle down in our later years. It's on a leafy cul de sac, surrounded by friendly neighbours and smiling faces. There's a guy a couple of doors down, a remarkable man. As well as his towering intellect and rapier wit, he's also a keen cyclist, holding severa local KOMs. Don't be perturbed dear - he'll ride with anyone provided they show other road users the kindness and courtesy they deserve." Rendel turned emotionally, voice shaking. "Oh my dear, thank you for this second chance", and with that the rest of the pub goers turned and applauded the couple, throwing garlands of petals in their wake. The end.
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 😀