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CheBeef
dbr
hippy
I've never ridden the official Fred Whitten but have done all the big climbs and have ridden a lot in the Lake District over the years. I've got over the worst of them (wrynose/hardknott/kirkstone) with a 39 inner ring and a 27 on the back though as @skinny suggests I would advise going for a 34 or 36 at the front and a 29/30 at the back to make it a bit easier on your legs. Check your brakes are set up properly as a lot of the descents have sharp corners and are very steep in places - the roads aren't like true mountain descents where you can just open up. You'll want to build endurance and make sure that you're comfortable on the bike riding for four+ hours. I'd say ride outdoors a lot if you can - as in get used to riding in crap weather. It can turn really nasty in the lakes and I have previously been caught in a very grim snowstorm whilst descending hardknott which was awful. It seems to rain there non-stop. Being comfortable in crap weather and not getting demoralised will probably be just as valuable as being able to smash out the kms