“If you book them, they will come” Jim Morrison (in the desert) 👍🙏👏
Huge crowd out last night for the second annual Village Hill Climb with our friends at Half & Half. We had triathletes, sub-6 Fred finishers, e-bikes, a single speed, parent and child combos and one chap hadn’t even ridden his bike at all since last year’s edition. There were plenty of locals, one rider from Kent. There were silly prizes - including for the two riders in a dead heat for 10th. Important to recognise these things! 🍻🍕🎁
Thanks to our buddies at Fell Brewery for supporting the prizes, to Charred for some delicious pizza and to Half & Half for hosting! Join us next year. G’wan. You know you want to! 🥰⛰️🔪
#cycling #colddarknorth #stabbybastardhills #hillclimb
Is that the guy that wrote the book(s) on UK hills and the guy that was given number 1 at this year’s Fred? Would I be racing them at the Village Hill Climb? 😬🫣🙄
Forget about *those* guys because the only person you’d be racing at the Village Hill Climb is *yourself* (and potentially delivery of your pre-ordered pizza from Charred Kitchen!). ⏱️🍕😋
SPOILER ALERT: no one cares who’s fastest at our hill climb (except the few fastest, and they’re welcome to it). We ride out (slowly!) together, you go up a hill at your speed, we ride back (all down hill, it’s GLORIOUS) and have a beer/juice and pizza at Half & Half and give out some silly prizes. No stress. 👋👏👍
So where do you register? Don’t be ridiculous, there’s no registration, you just show up at 6pm THIS FRIDAY in Sedbergh. We’ll roll out about 6.30pm. Bring a friend. Wear fancy dress. Ride an e-bike or a Brompton. Look mum, no hands… actually don’t do that. 🤣🍻🙏
#cycling #colddarknorth #stabbybastardhills #upyoursindoors
The Roastery Ride ☕️💚💙
Too many bl00dy cyclists! We’d have thought that with the Fred on, and the Etape du Caledonia and all that jazz, we might have had a nice quiet Sunday for a bike ride in the glorious cool South Lakes sunshine. But no! Loads of people showed up for the Roastery Ride we put on with the very excellent people of @fuellingthebold_ 🙄🫣🤣
With over 40 happy punters fed and caffeinated we headed off in small groups into the lanes of Silverdale, Arnside, Sandside and Lyth Valley - the longer route available taking in the absolute b*****d of a climb up Tow Top. Nice to have a tailwind home in time for some unexpected focaccia and cold brews at HQ. Top day out… 🍞👀😍
#cycling #colddarknorth #stabbybastardhills #upyoursindoors
Hardknott Pass saw it all: falls, grins and grimaces 🙌
That’s the 2026 @fredwhittonchallenge wrapped up and it’s been an absolute blast - plenty more to come but right now we’re off for a snooze 🫡
#fredwhittonchallenge #fredwhitton #ukcyclingevents
Hill Climb - Friday 15th May - fun, friendly ‘village hill climb’ with our good friends @colddarknorth .
Meet from 6.00pm - roll out 6.30pm 🚴
Little jaunt up the Coal Road and back for beer and pizza from @charred_kitchen
Prizes from @fellbrewery - strictly NOT for speed or performance 😂
EVERYONE is welcome - doesn’t matter how fast, slow or what bike you ride
In depth @fredwhittonchallenge weather forecast, by Cycle the Nation
Nothing else helpful offered, you know the rest by now. Let's get it!
#cycling #lakedistrict #fredwhitton
No Fred, No Cry…
If the Fred is not your thing, or you didn’t get a place, do come and join us on our social ride with Fuelling The Bold from their roastery in Carnforth on Sunday ☕️🥐🚲
We’ve got 40/60/80km routes to help toward your “100k in May” total and suit anyone that fancies a roll through the beautiful North Lancashire/South Cumbria countryside in the (likely) sunshine. The routes are relatively tame by our standards, rolling through Silverdale, Arnside and the Lyth Valley and back to HQ. 💚💙🌱
The ride is free (we’re encouraging a donation to FTB’s excellent community projects 🙏), it is welcome to all, won’t be rapid and from the WhatsApp community it looks like we’ll have a decent crowd of folks joining us. Come along for the ride? 👋👍👏
The Fred - Stage 4 - Eskdale to The Finish (and a lifetime of wanging on about The Fred) (38km / 900m^) “Knives Out”
Unless you’ve ridden Hardknott from Eskdale, you might struggle to fathom what’s happening the first time you do. It’s bonkers. 😱🤯⛰
But we’re getting (slightly) ahead of ourselves. There’s at least *some* good news. This year’s route change means this final stage is shorter than usual - the shortest of the four, in fact.
Your last push (possibly literally) starts in Eskdale - there you meet a warning sign that in 4 miles (!) you’ll hit gradients of more than 30%. It’ll be fine. Probably. Rising up at the end of a narrow lane through a brief bit of woodland, Hardknott continues for what feels like an eternity twisting and turning to the Roman Fort at halfway. A 10%+ section that genuinely feels like a false flat (truly weird). Then those final three switchbacks. And this year, THE HEADWIND. Plenty will be walking, unable to keep traction in their wheels. Chapeau to any rider completing this climb on their pedals or as a pedestrian! Even more so to riders doing it with a knowing chuckle at the ridiculousness of it all! 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
Over the top and down a very technical and steep descent (organisers mean it when they say be careful!) you’re met by distant views of Wrynose Pass. Now many Fred riders are surprised that Wrynose “isn’t as bad as they expected”. Climbing the significantly easier and shorter side is still a challenge, especially with so much climbing in your legs. And then there’s the descent of the steeper, longer, twistier side to come. Extreme caution here. No heroes. Get yourself home! 😬😱🙏
The last real climb up to Blea Tarn awaits with gorgeous new tarmac (that 25% sign is, thankfully, over stated!) and the beautiful view of the Langdales at this final summit is tourist heaven. 💚💙😍
Then just a few more miles through Elterwater and the cheering crowds before the promise of an excellent cooked feed at the finish. 👏🐮🛎
A Good Effort. 🏅👍🥵
#cycling #ColdDarkNorth #thefred #fredwhitton
The Fred - Stage 3 - Lorton to Eskdale (46km / 700m^) “the Cold Fells” 🥶🥶🥶
On paper, the third of our stages is usually the shortest and easiest. With this year’s route change, we’ve extended this Stage to Eskdale and with it some extra stabs. But there is forecast to be one big saving grace in 2026… 🤔😬😡
From the 90° turn in Lorton riders will set off into the Yewdale Valley and around Loweswater and feel a strong North Easterly tail wind just when they need it most - the first 10km of this stage are gradually up hill but relatively tame. Savour them! 👍🏻💚💙
When you’re past the lake you’ll begin the ascent of Fangs Brow. Although nothing like the challenges before, it’s a sharp reminder that there’s plenty left to do in the Fred. Along the quiet lanes you’ll start the partial ascent of Cauda Brow and with it one of the greatest things about the Fred: THE FULL ON RAVE (and unofficial feed) that @teamxiiicycling throws on the wild western fells. A mirage or a mosh pit?! Who knows! 💃🕺🪩
Next up, many a rider could underestimate Cold Fell’s comparatively benign gradient with its views of the sea (and Sellafield) to the West, but with a strong wind at your back it should be easier than most years in 2026. This wide open harshness is at least slightly mitigated by the beauty of the costal views (and the “welcome to the Isle of Man” message if you’re on O2!) 🏖👀😍
The descent to the feed zone at Calder Bridge can be an eye-opener if your senses have started to shift into auto pilot. On a cold wet Fred the feed itself can resemble a war zone of fatigued riders. Fuel up. The end is in sight, but this year Stage 3 also includes the stingers between the feed and Eskdale. It’s here you’ll face the famous sign for Hardknott ahead but that’s... 🔪🔪🔪
Tomorrow, Stage 4...
#cycling #ColdDarkNorth #thefred #fredwhitton
The Fred - Stage 2 - Keswick to Lorton (41km /850m^) “An Up North Trip”
After the fast main road rollers from Threlkeld, riders pass through Keswick and into the heart of the North Lakes. Rolling down the Eastern side of Derwent Water and into the Borrowdale Valley eventually you arrive stricken with anticipation at Seatoller. 🏖⛰🚨
The climb of Honister from the South is startling for its immediate steepness. The happy adrenaline on completing The Struggle has long worn out now and seemingly out of nowhere the riders are met with a sustained 25%+ gradient up through the woods until the views open out and the gradient eventually relents, a bit. 🌳😱😬
When you finally reach the Slate Mine at the top, a word of warning, the descent on the North side is bumpy, off-camber and extremely steep. Caution for the first 200m of the descent will mean you can really enjoy the flowing lower slopes to the feed stop at Gatesgarth Farm. 🚨☕️🍦
From there it’s (quite literally) straight up the imposing Newlands Hause. This steep climb runs up the exposed side of Moss Force and we’ll all be praying for a tail wind at this point! Save something for the final savagely steep few corners that you won’t see until you get to them. The roll through the Newlands Valley after the summit to Stair is one of the best in the Lakes. You’ve earned it. 🚴🏻♀️🚴♂️🌬
The final challenge of this stage is the fir-lined twisting roads from Braithwaite up Whinlatter Pass to the raucous crowds and cow bells waiting by the MTB centre at the top. One of the relatively easier passes, this one comes as fatigue hits hard from Honister and Newlands. Enjoy the incredible atmosphere, because after the quiet and beautiful roll down to Lorton with the 90° turn South - it gets quite wild on the Western Fells, but more on that... 🌲🐮🛎
Tomorrow, Stage 3...
#cycling #ColdDarkNorth #thefred #fredwhitton
“It’s just four, increasingly difficult, 45km(ish) bike rides”
The Fred - Stage 1 - Grasmere to Keswick (47km / 850m^)
🚨 ALL CHANGE FOR 2026! 🚨
An early start at Grasmere is recommended for all riders but especially those like us that want to take it slow and steady. ⏱👍🏻👋🏻
You’ll leave Grasmere and skirt around the edges of Rydal Water on to Ambleside and here’s the change for ‘26. Because of a landslide on Troutbeck ascent of Kirkstone Pass - this year, you’re starting with The Struggle ascent to get up to the highest of the 6 main passes in the Fred (yes, this is the Queen stage). 👸🏼😍⛰
Now we like to argue that The Struggle isn’t the hardest of the three ways up Kirkstone, but it absolutely isn’t as straightforward as the usual Fred route. This enforced change makes the total ride shorter but adds a horrible wake up call from the start. Our advice, DON’T RUSH THE STRUGGLE. It’s proper stabby at the bottom, in the middle and especially at the end. You’ll likely be wearing too much kit (It’s cold at 6am in May!) as your body temperature rises on the climb and you’ll need as many matches as you can keep for later! 🥵🥶🤷🏻♂️
At the top, you pass the NEWLY REOPENED pub and then start the ludicrously fast, fun, flowing and FRESHLY RESURFACED descent toward Ullswater - remember these are open roads and there will be plenty of riders rushing to overtake on this section. Keep left if you’re measuring your effort down here (you can also check out @cycle.the.nation ’s excellent descent reviews on YouTube). ⬅️👍🏻👏🏻
After the edges of Ullswater, the next big push in this first stage is the largely unmentioned Matterdale End. It’s steeper than its billing and can catch a few riders out. The views are all behind you but over the top of it you can enjoy the flowing fast roads to Threlkeld and Keswick beyond (which we’ve added to this Stage for 2026). Find a train to get behind for this section and recover! 🌬🚂🚴♂️🚴🏻♀️
Tomorrow, Stage 2...
#cycling #ColdDarkNorth #thefred #fredwhitton
It’s FRED WEEK! ⚠️⚠️⚠️
So all this week we’re reviving (and updating!) our handy guide to this infamous Lake District ride. 📚👀🫣
Our guide isn’t really for the sub-seven hour lunatics that have only a little trepidation about their timing tactics. This guide is for the hundreds of riders genuinely worrying they might not get round, especially the first timers! And the advice for first timers remains the same… “it’s just four (increasingly difficult) 45km(ish) bike rides.” 🔪😬😱
Here comes (a much changed) Stage 1… 👋👋👋
