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On 25 September 2011 Shelley Farrar, Forbes Duguid and I travelled to Yorkshire to compete in the 49th 3 Peaks Cyclocross race. The 38 mile course starts in Helwith Bridge and takes competitors over 3 of Yorkshire most famous hills, Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y- ghent, 5000 feet of climbing with road sections linking each hill.
I rode the 2010 event and even though I had trained hard for the race I was unprepared for how tough it was. I have competed in endurance events in many sporting disciplines over the years including 12 hour and 24 hour time trials and I find the 3 Peaks as hard as any of them.
I learnt a lot about the course in 2010 including the benefits of low gearing. I rode a compact chain ring with a 12 - 27 cassette, which meant on the parts of the course which are rideable my legs were blowing quicker than someone with a granny ring on the front. It sounds obvious but when your climbing next to a rider with a significantly lower gear you might stay with them and probably dismount at the same section but their legs are in better shape and less pumped than yours and so can start running or walking quicker. For 2011 to save buying a triple chainset I fitted a mountain bike long arm rear derailleur on to 12 - 32 rear cassettes which gave me the range of low gears I was looking for.
The race was restricted to 650 riders and to avoid the first come first served internet scramble that so many of these high profile events suffer from, each rider had to submit a short sporting CV. This meant that every competitor had some kind of reasonable pedigree and this was obvious at the start. More whippets than a Sheffield working men's club.
The start of the race is a neutralised road section for the first 5 kilometres to a rough track leading to the climb up the first hill Ingleborough. Even though we set off in pouring rain, the road section was lined with supporters cheering and encouraging the riders as we passed. This wasn't a closed road section but the there were next to no vehicles to hinder our progress.
We turned off the road and onto a narrow track that leads to the climb proper, riding across marsh and bog, riders trying to get traction from their wheels. It was all quite fraught with everyone jostling for position but it was also good natured with comments on weather, mud and rubbish bike handling.
The route doesn't take the tourist path up Ingleborough but up a steep grassy bank that is never ending and gets ever steeper.
A friend advice to me last year about this section was "Climbing Ingleborough is hard enough in its own right, in the race your bike is nothing more than an encumbrance" and those words are true enough. It's so steep in places that even with your bike on your shoulder the front wheel hits the ground and riders search out fence posts to aid their progression forward and upward.
The summit couldn't come quick enough; it took me 1 hour 11 minutes to reach the summit which was shrouded in mist, with driving rain and a strong wind. Once over the summit, riders encounter a bouldery track which falls away quickly, before the track smooths out and is more ride able, but it is still very steep and there are plenty of rocks, drop offs and deep mud to keep things interesting.
The rules dictate that all competitors ride standard Cyclocross bikes with dropped bars and no suspension and most competitors still use cantilever brakes although disc brakes are becoming more popular.
As we all descended so the crashes started, riders going over the handlebars or their bikes skidding away beneath them, each crash was followed by a vaguely sympathetic voice of concern from Yorkshire riders such as "it was a soft landing there'll be nothing broken!"
It's like riding down Clachnaben but a lot longer your eyes are bouncing around in their sockets and your hands ache as they pull onto the brake levers in attempt to reduce speed.
I realised early on that my back brake wasn't performing and not slowing me down enough, I was having to feather my front brake to take off some of the speed, concentrating not to let the brake pads grab the rim and sending me over the bars, it wasn't always with success and I had a few off's that involved me leaping over the bars careering off down the path my bike crashing behind me. (I have since discovered that one of the braised on cable guides had snapped allowing more length in the brake cable and hence a loss of performance).
I reached the bottom of Ingleborough and the first road section and also a point where Shelley and I had stashed drinks bottles the day before. I grabbed the bottle and a lady asked if I wanted her to take the used bottle back to start, I accepted her offer and thanked her and rode off down the road. After a few hundred yards I realised that in talking to the lady I had forgotten to pick up a fresh water bottle. After the climb up Ingleborough and faced with a lengthy road section and another climb before I would get another bottle I knew I needed to find some fluid from somewhere. I just happened to ride past a discarded bottle in the gutter, I bent down wiped the top clean of mud and it was mine, all I needed then was water. I stopped by some supporters and asked if they any spare, without hesitation they filled up my bottle and even offered me some power aid and something to eat. Such is the support of everyone that lines the course.
Shelley talks of finding a bottle whilst ascending Ingleborough, she bent down and took a swig and then replaced it on the ground just in case another rider was in need of refreshment.
Now refreshed and on the road section I was able to hook up with other riders all with Cyclocross tyres and we all worked "in and off" together evenly matched, it was a relief that I hadn't tried to work with a group with road tyres or would have been dropped immediately.
Cyclocross rules allow a full bike or wheel change during a race, so some competitors lucky enough to have support at road sections change to another Cyclocross bike or fit road wheels. To his credit, this year's winner, Nick Craig completed the race on a single bike.
The weather had cleared up and was dry and warm and the group I was in soon arrived at the short track which leads to the 2nd climb, Whernside. A long line of steep steps climbs almost the full length of the hill and a line of riders can be seen carrying their bikes on their shoulders. Members of the public on a day out walking look on in amazement at the riders carrying their bikes past. You try and acknowledge them if you have enough breath.
After what seemed like hours we reached the summit and started the descent down. At one point the path passed close to the edge of a steep grass bank that appears to drop to the valley below, I'm sure I could see cows grazing in the fields. I was making good progress when my front wheel caught a rock and I shot over the edge. I rolled head over heels a couple of times and then I grabbed the bank and stopped myself, my bike crashing down next to me, I looked up and saw other competitors staring down and asking if I was alright.
The track down Whernside is a mixture of rideable tracks and long sections of wet slippery sandstone slabs. It's a good hill to pass people, although it is still very steep in places and there were plenty of crashes. A pair of riders in front of me locked handlebars and crashed to the ground one ended up in a drainage gully between the slabs, all the riders behind took avoiding action including me. It must have looked amazing all the riders disappearing off in all directions.
As we approached the bottom of the hill there were supporters all around shouting words of encouragement. I headed down a short grassy bank away from some steep steps. As I started to negotiate the drop I shot past my friend Peter, and my front wheel hit something and I shot over the handlebars landing heavily facing up the bank. I'd hit the ground so hard I was convinced I must have injured myself. I knelt up and Peter confirmed he had the crash on film, great. My right shoulder was aching but I had no real sharp pain so I figured it wasn't broken. (It was later diagnosed as a level 1 AC dislocation)
I recovered myself and completed the descent and got onto the road section to Pen-y-ghent collecting my second stashed water bottle as I went. This is an undulating section and it was good to work with two other riders. We were soon on the cobbled track up Pen-y-ghent, the most rideable of the three climbs. By this stage other riders were riding down having completed the last climb. I looked at them enviously knowing they only had a couple of miles of road to the finish.
The better gearing I had meant I could ride up the climb a lot further than the year before and when I eventually had to get off my legs were fresher to tackle the still long climb to the summit. I was being careful of my shoulder which was starting to throb so I decided to push my bike a far as I could before the gradient was so steep I would have to lift it on my shoulders.
About a quarter of the way from the top Forbes passed me on his way down. He must have had a great ride and taken a lot of time out of me. I wished him well as he raced past. It was at this point I had to start lifting my bike onto my shoulder which became increasingly more uncomfortable but there was no way I was giving up.
I watched a rider coming from the summit shoot over his handlebars and crash to the ground in the seated position and facing downhill his bike landing beside him. It was lucky he was on a grassy bank or he could have really damaged himself.
The descent off of Pen-y-ghent is the most unforgiving of the three hills with a rough path that is very quick but has little room for escape. With my dodgy brakes I could easily come off again and I didn't fancy that so once I reached the summit I ran as much of the rough section as a could holding the saddle and my bike in front of me which seemed to work well. I passed Shelley on her way up and suggested a quick kiss. She was having none of it - maybe a bit too public. (Or maybe your face was covered in gubbins - Shelley)
I got to the road section and was pretty shattered but managed to hang onto to 2 riders as they passed. They were working well together and I knew before long they would ask me to do a turn on the front. They guy in the middle looked around and asked if I'd do a turn. "Do I look like I could do a turn?" I replied "No" came the response. I just clung on - my conscience was clear.
Just before the finish is a small sharp climb and I remember how my legs had cramped the year before and I wasn't looking forward to it. I could see riders in the front either walking or leant over their bikes and knew it was going to hurt. Then all of a sudden the rear wheel of the rider leading our little group jammed. I flew past as he ground to a halt, my own "Chaingate" incident, brilliant. I reached the finish and the 3 Peaks was over for another 12 months.
I finished 348th in a time of 4 hours 47 minutes 44 seconds, 2 minutes slower than last year. Forbes Duguid finished 203rd in 4 hours 21 minutes 35 seconds a brilliant ride. Shelley rode a 5 hour 8 minutes 26 seconds and won a female prize (15th).
Dan Whitehead was 11th in 3 hours 23 minutes 46 seconds. Amazing. If you're in Ballater pop into his bike shop and get the story of his race. It'll be somewhat different to mine I think!
See you all next year
Ian Wilson
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