Last year, Richard Howson was joined by Team Carillion to take on a Coast to Coast challenge to raise money for our ‘together’ charity partner, Barnardo’s.

The team were triumphant and raised over £31,000 for Barnardo’s which has made a huge difference to the lives of many children.

Following the success of the bike ride, Richard thought it would be a great idea to continue the theme of raising money for Barnardo’s whilst embracing our own health drive and has committed to smashing last year’s fundraising total.

He asked; “What challenge could beat the coast to coast for a cyclist?” Well, we’ve decided to skip a few steps and go for the big one….the hardest, meanest and steepest route in the UK, the pinnacle of all experienced cyclists in the UK… The Fred Whitton Route.

The Fred Whitton Challenge is a charity cycle sportive event held annually in the English Lake District. It is held in memory of Fred Whitton, racing secretary of one of the old traditional English cycling clubs, the Lakes Road Club. He died of cancer at the age of 50 in 1998 and as a result the club mapped out a local, hard, challenging tribute route that has tested the best cyclists in the land since.

We will not be entering the actually sportive but following pretty much the same route. Starting and finishing near Windermere, we will cover over 140 miles over two days and will ascend over 12,000ft and take in three of the top 10 hardest climbs in the UK (two of them being numbers 1 and 2). We will be tackling the climbs of: Kirkstone Pass, Borrowdale, Honister Pass, Buttermere, Newlands Pass, Braithwaite, Whinlatter Pass, Hardknott and Wrynose Passes.

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