Three Peaks Cyclocross Race

The 3 Peaks Cyclocross Race was run on 27th of September for the 47th year. I had secured an entry a few weeks before by sending in a CV of my previous endurance silliness. It has legendary status in the cyclocross world and is billed as the toughest race in the world and usually sells out in a couple of days.

The course is run in the Yorkshire Dales over 38 miles and includes 5500 ft of climbing over the Three Peaks of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-ghent. I did a reccee of the course for charity in August which is a regular long distance walking challenge. The course is the same but with added road sections. The walk took 12 hours and we all concluded that doing it on a bike would be stupid due to the rocks and extreme steepness!

I had read up on some useful websites about training for the race. One technique I couldn't fit in was running up a mountain with a bag of coal on my back to simulate race feel. Oh well, here I was, on the start line with some hardy mountain folk; a few 3 Peaks virgins and some sinewy looking veterans of the hills.

Even though there is a huge entry list it still has a low key feel with friendly banter and promises of bacon rolls. This is not a posh triathlon with loads of bling though some of the best fell runners and cyclists in Britain are here. This is grass routes racing with real bikes and not a pair of Oakleys in sight. Bikes with padding on the cross bar and survival bags taped under the saddles with obligatory whistle and waterproof jacket or you get disqualified. I like a race with lots of warnings about impending death if you don't listen to the wise locals.

560 of us lined up on a narrow lane for a massed start. I had been warned that the start was fast and dangerous and that the first attempt at the race is a learning exercise. Well I wasn't let down. A furious hair raising charge along roads that were open to traffic culminated in some very scary, heavy braking, wheel touching moments as the road weaved over a narrow bridge and 5km to the first off road section. You are not allowed to ride the luxury of a mountain bike with suspension, only a cross bike which is completely inadequate for the terrain ahead.

Riding over thick boggy grass and rock is what this is all about, then as soon as it gets impossible to ride you throw the bike over your shoulder and run. Well that was the theory accept the first climb was so steep I could barely walk up, grabbing at tuffts of grass and hauling myself up a drystone wall, my calf muscles almost cramped. This cramping pain lasts about an hour for the first climb then you get to ride across the top on peat and bog with the odd boulder to contend with. You then occasionally ride and run down the otherside with even more man traps to throw you over the handlebars. Two more climbs to go and in need of a quick drinks refill at the bottom from the travelling support teams who follow the race point to point. Very welcome. Thank you Katie.

I enjoyed the next road section as I could TT it and make up some places.

The first climb was the hardest and was out of the way, but then the accumulative fatigue starts to kick in. The second climb is a bit more rideable until it heads to the clouds and uneven rock steps calved into the side of the mountain start to play havoc with any rhythm. Bike back on the shoulder and the lower back started to complain. The wind got up and the bike was now acting like a sail just to make things harder. Another hours climb followed with the descent from hell after riding across what seemed like the surface of the moon, down slab steps with drainage ditches thrown across every few hundred metres and a bog to catch you out each side. This is puncture alley where I saw many casualties. This is also where I had my finest moment going over the handlebars and landing on my head. This amused the many walkers who probably don't really appreciate that this is a 'once a year' spectacle on the hallowed fells and don't realise that they have to move out of the way when you're hurtling out of control towards them. 

Safely down with minor abrasions I hammered the road section with the field well spread out and felt strong once again, but I knew I had one more nightmare climb. This is the 'riders climb' where the stronger cyclists can keep going over the loose gravel for longer until they are beaten and forced to shoulder their bike again. I was pleased to be riding past people reduced to walking early on in the climb. The wind gets up and I stumbled up another uneven ascent on foot. Ever tried rock climbing in cycle shoes? My bike gets blown off my shoulder several times and everything hurts. This section is narrow and the faster guys are already hammering down the same path. I don't think health and safety types do this race!

The descent is very steep at the top and running down is far safer. Once on the bike you just hang on and brake until your fingers cramp. Good bike handling skills really help on this one as everything is loose and slippy. Finally the last few miles on the road and I hammered back with cramping quads. I managed to go just under four and a half hours and feel pleased with just getting round.

This is a seriously hard day out!

All in all a humbling experience that I could be talked into again.

Article by Matt Spillman
Page created: 7th October 2009.