Fred Whitton report 2015

It has been a quiet couple of weeks on the blog, but that's probably down to it being 'sportive season' and time to put all of that early season mileage into action. Hopefully this post will encourage a flood of further news reports. I see that Chris was in action mid-week after this ride and again on Sunday for the Etape. Does he ever get tired?

On 10 May we had the Fred Whitton Challenge where I saw Chris at the start for about 5 miles, until we got to the start of Kirkstone Pass and he shot off like a rocket on target for a time of 6:49:23. My scouts at the finish reported a minor fall during the ride but Chris was still smiling at the end. Here are a couple of shots of the youngster in action, which I trust will also encourage a legitimate purchase from Steve Flemming!

This first one is taken on the way up to Hardknott, on a bit of road that normally would be considered a tough climb. Looking up you can then see the 'wall' section ahead, and Chris seems to be wearing an appropriate expression of 'were going up there?'

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The second shows our man successfully riding the steep bit. The photo just doesn't quite capture the 33% angle, or the way that this comes after 98.6 miles of hard riding.

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Of course, some riders simply  took it sitting down. But a bottom gear of around 30" does make that easier.

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And finally, flying the Condor flag but rather over-geared (or under-powered) I made it up. With Robin doing the hard work all the way round and waiting for me at various times we made it back in a reasonable 07:45. Though I'm sure it could have been faster if we'd been served quicker in the cafe ...

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