http://singletrackworld.com/2016/04/fat ... challenge/ kinda interesting seeing as they allow mountain bikes, and considering the feeds of endurance on fat bikes I have seen by people on here is it right for the fred sportive to ban them...

Their event, their rules.

I probably wouldn't want 23c shod road bikes doing the BB200 either.

Isn't it supposed to be about fundraising/charity?
And not about what bike and how etc.?

A quick look didn't reveal any rules stating what bike your allowed to use...(?)

Perhaps the problem was that they asked for an early start, which can be taken for admitting that they're not up for the challenge.

Ach well, in the end it's a stupid place to take a fat bike

Bearbonesnorm wrote:
I probably wouldn't want 23c shod road bikes doing the BB200 either.

chalange accepted hahaha

Bearbonesnorm wrote:Their event, their rules.

I probably wouldn't want 23c shod road bikes doing the BB200 either.

Why not? Doesn't the lighter tyres make it easier to carry long distances?

I think it is worth understanding the history of this event to get a "balanced" view. It was set up as a memorial to Fred Whitton who did loads to promote road cycling in the Lakes and was also a fanatical event organiser. Similar to HoNC and 3 Peaks it has been latched onto by many rather than "promoted" to get where it is and (in my view) should not be seen as a commercial sportive, I believe most profit goes to charity. The sponsors are needed as the event has grown so large the Lakes Club can't manage it themselves.

In spirit it is a road cycling challenge dedicated to Fred.

Dave Barter wrote:I think it is worth understanding the history of this event to get a "balanced" view. It was set up as a memorial to Fred Whitton who did loads to promote road cycling in the Lakes and was also a fanatical event organiser. Similar to HoNC and 3 Peaks it has been latched onto by many rather than "promoted" to get where it is and (in my view) should not be seen as a commercial sportive, I believe most profit goes to charity. The sponsors are needed as the event has grown so large the Lakes Club can't manage it themselves.

In spirit it is a road cycling challenge dedicated to Fred.

Additional to this - it's popularity means that they have installed a permanent timing system so you can ride an 'all seasons Fred' any day of the year. In simple terms you can log an 'official' time any day of the year...

i think what im getting at by posting this is more about how biking can become to arrogent its all biking and its an open chalange event. like most sportives it is full of expensive bikes and castellie etc all a bit off putting and im an ok cyclinst so if it is of fputting for me imagine how less confident (but equily fit people feel about sportives) these are meant to be for everyone (i now the fred is much harder than most ) its just the atitude of the road cycling comunity (some signifcant parts anyway) beeing detrimental to cycling as a whole gets me

and unlike the 3 peaks (as mentioned ) it is not a race so doesnt have such rules

C'mon, I think we can all agree that the real question here is, how does he deliver Milk Tray on his fat bike with arms that finish at the elbow?

To be fair to the 3 peaks, it's really only a race for about 20-30 people. For the other 600+ riders it's just a challenge.

Bearbonesnorm wrote:[...] arms that finish at the elbow?

That's what happens if you ride fat bikes on the road

Of course, things may have changed with the explosion in popularity of road biking, Crikey, how much and assos in recent years but... when I rode the Fred (about 7 years ago) there was nothing elitist about it at all. It was a bunch of nice, down to earth people who organised an excellent road cycling event that was worthy of it's claim to be one of the hardest events out there.

I'm sure they're not trying to be elitist in banning fatbikes, just trying to maintain the overall theme of the Fred which is a serious road ride... where do you draw the line? unicycles, fatbikes, fixies, penny-farthings? In fact, I'm surprised they allow mountain bikes at all, as the main challenge is getting your road gearing over the steep lakeland passes... (although I'm happy to admit that I used a 32 cassette ring )

Hats off to the guys who want to do it on the fatties though - that'll be a huge day out!..good luck!

Alpinum wrote:Ach well, in the end it's a stupid place to take a fat bike

Exactly. Why would anybody want to, unless they where just an attention seeking egomaniac? Of course as these nice gentlemen are doing it for charity, they are beyond criticism. So I'm sure they will be just as happy to ride the route any of the 364 days of the year when they don't require the organisers to bend themselves out of shape to fit their schedule. Or perhaps they could just set themselves a different challenge more appropriate to fat tyres such of which I believe there are now quite a few to choose from.

To be fair to the guys, and pretty much anyone else out there not wishing to quietly conform to life's norms and standards, challenge and appropriate aren't words that readily go hand in hand. People looking to test themselves in different and more challenging ways aren't automatically egomaniacs.

Yeah, yeah all those points about challenge, elitism, charity and ego are all well and good .... but what about the bloody chocolates! There's desperate housewifes all round the country, clutching their satin nighties and just waiting for him to deliver them something special.

See, full length arms and fingers.

Going by the thread title, I was expecting to see a post by Fantastic Matt saying how he hasn't done enough training for the event...

My question is why would you.... I'm fat bike daft but there is no way I'd ever ride one up hardknott pass, especially given the plethora of super techy off road alternatives in that neck of the woods. Sounds like a lack of imagination by the two riders - someone tell 'em to do the Lakeland 200!

Ian wrote:Going by the thread title, I was expecting to see a post by Fantastic Matt saying how he hasn't done enough training for the event...

Many a true word said in jest!!

Single Speed George wrote:i think what im getting at by posting this is more about how biking can become to arrogent its all biking and its an open chalange event.

I think it's more arrogant to choose to do a ride like this in an intentionally slow manner. It's making all the helpers who are there to keep you fed and keep you safe give up much more of their time to suit you.

Would be genuinely cool to see someone do it on a fatbike in a reasonable time. Though I suspect there's only a handful of riders capable of it.

Ridden the route a couple of times;
Top route Rubbish idea for a big event though.

touch wrote:

Single Speed George wrote:i think what im getting at by posting this is more about how biking can become to arrogent its all biking and its an open chalange event.

I think it's more arrogant to choose to do a ride like this in an intentionally slow manner. It's making all the helpers who are there to keep you fed and keep you safe give up much more of their time to suit you.

i dont agree that they should do it if they needed the early start time etc dont get me wrong but if you were fit enough to make it round in a normal ish time on a ft bike then should be able to. espechially as manny people end up pushing up the hard bits anyway . but yes if you are going to do it on the day it should be in the alloted time of cource. its all a bit nuts anyway putting that manny people on the cource at one tme anyway. kind chaos in the lakes