The training starts now

Oh, dear. My name has now appeared on the Fred Whitton Challenge website. This means I’ve got to start cycling more. A lot more.

The Fred Whitton cyclo-sportive is 112 miles of pain. After 90 miles of Lake District verticals you reach the base of Hardknott Pass. As if that wasn’t enough, you then have to haul yourself over Wrynose, too.

Online discussions about the event light up from now until May 11th. I’ve done two of these rides to date and my gearing advice is this: fit a triple as a minimum and think about fitting an MTB block on the back as well…

Cyclo-sportives may be super successful in the UK, but not all are welcomed by the locals. The Etape Caledonia event, due to be staged on closed roads in the Scottish Highlands, has spawned a NIMBY protest group, ACRE, short for Anti-Closed Road Event. The May 18th event was staged for the first time last year and - shock, horror - the riders have a great ride cos the roads are free of cars. For a few hours. ACRE calls such a short-term road closure ‘highway robbery.’

“If it means roads being barred to vehicle traffic, [ACRE] supporters believe the council should say ‘No’ to any sort of mass cycle event.

ACRE supporters positively welcome eventing cyclists, athletes, motorists, rallyists or any other specialist road users at all times of the year to our heartland. But the closure of roads that interfere with the workings of our fragile, seasonal economy, and the freedom of movement of citizens with no alternative means of access or communication, is deemed to be highway robbery.”
ACRE, January 2008