[Baron]

Off Lakes at weekend and planning to tick off a few climbs. Suggestions? In order of difficulty please. I've only heard of Hardknott.
Cheers

[fatkid2000]

 Presuming you mean Road.

You can do the Fred Whitton Sportive - get a map and timing chip  and record an official time.
Go to Bike Treks in Ambleside and ask the staff - think they do a free map of the Whitton with Hardknott pass etc.

There are other climbs like Whinlatter, Wrynose.

I've only ridden up there once - Think tir has been more often and done the Whitton a couple of times

[cofe]

Any in here word?

[Baron]

Nice. Thanks boys

[Baron]

http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.org.uk/route.php

FYI

[tlr]

The Whitton goes over (in order), Hawkshead, Kirkstone, Honister, Newlands, Whinlatter, Hardknott and Wrynose.

Hardest is probably Hardknott, then Honister, then Wrynose. Whinlatter and Kirkstone are the longest but are less steep. You can't realistically do Hardknott without doing Wrynose and visa versa as they are part of the same road.

Kirkstone via The Struggle is supposed to be very steep (straight up out of Ambleside), but the Whitton route goes the slightly less steep route up Troutbeck.

Plenty of less well known stuff around, just look at the profile of the route on the Whitton website. Look at the Lakeland Loop website for a slightly less daunting circuit of the Lakes, still with some of the big climbs in.

Hope you've got some small gears or some big legs...

[Baron]

50/34 front 12/25 back.

Exploratory few days. Planning to head back for the full round tick at some point in the future.

If I get a bike built by at JF Wilson's before then I might go 50/34 12/27 if I struggle.

Thanks for the knowledge

[tlr]

I have done Hardknott on a 34-25, but I used a 34-27 on the actual events, and it was still bloody hard work. The bottom of Hardknott is at exactly 100 miles. Nice.

I have a 9 speed 12-27 that you can borrow if you like (and are in Sheffield).

Have fun.

[Skinny Pete]

My tuppence from living a few miles from the bottom of Hardknott...

Fred Whitton-wise, the obvious shortening is to remove Newlands and Whinlatter.  However, don't underestimate the smaller climbs - Fangs Brow, Cold Fell and Irton Fell all add to the general battering!

Also worth thinking about direction.  IMHO Hardknott is more of a beast from the east, and Wrynose definitely is!!  Therefore, riding from Coniston to Eskdale is harder than Eskdale to Coniston.  For the extra burn, start up Langdale!
Descents on the steep stuff tend to be less than pleasant, though Honister into Buttermere is cracking after the first steep bit ad Wrynose is good either way. The top section of Honister (Buttermere side) is notorious for nasty crashes on the FW, think steep rutted tarmac and sharp stone walls!

Off the Fred Whitton route and further from muppets who can't control their cars:
The climb out of Ulpha in the Duddon, over Birker fell and descent into Eskdale are fantastic.
Corney fell from Duddon Bridge over to Waberthwaite ish gives awesome climbing and descending in both directions, with the sudden view of the coast as you reach the top after climbing from Duddon bridge being particularly special.
Both of these can be combined with Hardknott/Wrynose to give excellent adventures.

Finally, if you're on the back lanes north of Cockermouth/Keswisk, I think there are still a couple of bridges missing!