Nick Hewitt - August 2021

Riding the Frog: a day spent on the Frog Whitton Challenge

Having done the Bob Graham, the Frog Graham and the Fred Whitton, and taking advantage of Ironman UK 2021 fitness, I decided it was time for the Frog Whitton, hence my presence in the car park at Grasmere at ten past five on the gloomy morning of August 16th. Another mini-adventure was about to begin.

Unlike the other three Lake District challenges which the Frog Whitton builds on, it’s not possible to complete the round without support – someone has to move your bike from one end of each lake to the other. Plus, there is no requirement to carry your swim gear while cycling, and it would seem unnecessarily masochistic to do so. So I am greatly indebted to my fell running friends Pam and Declan for helping me. Like all these challenges, it’s as gruelling to support as it is to do the thing itself.

The ride from Grasmere to Glenridding was overcast, breezy and chilly but I enjoyed the scenery and the lack of traffic over Kirkstone. Pam and Dec were waiting for me at the steamer jetty and after a quick change into my wetsuit I waded in without looking too closely at the grey choppy water and got my head down for the two mile swim to the Aira Force car park.

The head-on chop made sighting difficult but I seemed to make reasonable progress up the lake. As with the Frog Graham, there is no time limit to meet on the Frog Whitton and anyway I was never going to come close to a fast time, so my aim was simply to finish. I really hoped to get back to Grasmere before dark set in, so 14-15 hours was my tentative target time. The total swim distance was going to be two and a half times more than I had ever swum in a day before, so I concentrated on form not speed.

I passed reasonably close to the headland on the east side of Ullswater, then tried to continue in the same line using a feature on the distant skyline as a marker. Finding the exit from the lake wasn’t easy, despite or because of the huge new jetty which confused me and I ended up swimming on for a couple of hundred metres before realising I had gone too far. A quick skip across a field took me to the car park and waiting crew.

The ride to Keswick went quickly enough and without too much traffic. The car park near the Theatre by the Lake was easy to find and I had a quick coffee and struggled into my wet wetsuit. I was taking aquatic biosecurity seriously so Dec had properly washed out my wetsuit and other gear in the public loo. I intended to use the same suit for the two long swims but I had different swim gear for the third and fourth lakes.

Derwent Water was an easier swim than Ullswater as the chop was coming sideways on, but it did seem a very long two miles. A couple of boats passed by and someone waved and shouted some encouragement. The exit at the Kettlewell car park was easy to see, with Dec waving his arms and other people launching their canoes and boards from the beach. I hadn’t worn my neoprene shirt under my wetsuit for Derwent Water and it soon became apparent this was a mistake as I had a major fit of the shivers as soon as I got out of the water. But after a quick change and a cup of tea I was back on the bike and Honister Pass soon warmed me up!

Crummock Water provided the best swim. Despite the chop being head-on, the clear water, amazing mountain scenery and intermittent sun on my back made it really enjoyable. It was lovely not to feel cold and I was able to look around and think back to my swim across the lake on the Frog Graham. Declan was easy to spot on the shore, making sighting and the exit as easy as could be. After soup and cake, I felt the worst was behind me and just after 1.30 pm I set off on the main 51 mile cycle leg.

The western Lakes section of the Fred Whitton is glorious riding, mainly on quite lanes and it didn’t disappoint. Going up Cold Fell, I was passed by a fit young cyclist (the only serious cyclist I saw all day) who was riding the Fred Whitton route and we had several nice chats from there onwards as he kept stopping to look at the views before catching me up again.

It was a pleasure to turn out of the stiff breeze at Calder Bridge up into Eskdale. Hardknott and Wrynose passes both felt wind-assisted and I was pleased to get up them in reasonably good form, i.e. on the bike, not on foot! The traffic wasn’t too bad and luck was on my side as the cars mostly appeared at the wider or less steep sections of the passes. From Wrynose it was plain sailing down the glorious descent, up over Blea Tarn into Langdale and round to the Pelter Bridge car park at Rydal Water where Pam and Declan were waiting for me.

 By now it was a nice afternoon and the short 700 or 800 m swim diagonally across Rydal Water, past the island and out onto the road, was easy. However, by this stage I did feel I’d done enough swimming to last me a while! I rode the last mile or two back to Grasmere car park in my shorty wetsuit, which seemed to amuse some pedestrians. I was very pleased to finish in 13 hours 10 minutes. That’s a Bob, a Fred and two Frogs successfully completed!

Massive thanks are due to Pam and Declan for their fantastic transition support, Pauline and Leigh for unexpected support at the Derwent Water south car park, Chris Reade for many many hundreds of miles of cycling company, Ceri Smith of The Aquatic Body in Lancaster who has taught me how to swim, and Bob Dowman for setting up such a great challenge.  

Nick Hewitt

Nick Hewitt	Frog Whitton Round	16/08/21	split	time
Start	Grasmere car park	Grid ref 340072	-	05.10
Bike 1	Grasmere - Ullswater	18 miles/1900 ft	1 h 23 min	06.33
Transition 1	Glenridding Steamer car park	GR 390170	5 min	06.38
Swim 1	Glenridding – Aira Force car park	2 miles	1 h 35	08.13
Transition 2	Aira Force car park	GR 400198	11 min	08.24
Bike 2	Aira Force – Derwent Water	15 m/1200 ft	58 min	09.22
Transition 3	Theatre by the Lake car park	GR 263226	14 min	09.36
Swim 2	Keswick – Kettlewell NT car park	2 miles	1 h 21 min	10.57
Transition 4	Kettlewell NT car park	GR 267194	9 min	11.06
Bike 3	NT car park – Crummock Water	11 m/1300 ft	59 min	12.05
Transition 5	Crummock Water S beach	GR 167178	10 min	12.15
Swim 3	S beach – Fletchers Field beach	1.5 miles	1 h 08 min	13.23
Transition 6	Fletchers Field beach	GR 160200	11 min	13.34
Bike 4	Crummock Water – Rydal Water	51 miles/5600 ft	4 h 02 min	17.36
Transition 7	Pelter Bridge car park Rydal Water	GR 365060	10 min	17.46
Swim 4	Beach – tree (park White Moss)	0.5	28 min	18.14
Transition 8	Rydal Water tree	GR 353064	1 min	18.15
Bike 5	Rydal Water – Grasmere car park	1.5 miles	5 min	18.20