Race Report: Blake’s 3 Peaks CX Epic
Words: Blake Crouch
To conclude a 4 month summer hiatus from Victoria, which started in June with a ride down the Tour Divide, I was lucky to grab a place in the 54th edition of the 3 Peaks Cyclocross race in Yorkshire, England.
From the no-frills event website to the start/finish line being a pub – I had a good feeling I’d like this event. A proper grass roots, no flashy sponsorship, no nonsense, hard bike race. The route is described as: “38 miles, of which 34 is rideable (20 cross and 18 road)” with this in mind I decided that I might need a proper cyclocross bike, with working brakes and gears. This was actually one of the few strict rules for this event: Cross bikes only. An ebay purchase later and after collecting a few other parts of mandatory kit: a plastic survival bag and whistle, I was ready for a road trip up North.
The North and West of England are renown for being wet and windy pretty much 12 months a year, suffice to say come race morning the weather didn’t disappoint and it was hammering down. I decide to slot myself in the 650 strong start group around the 4.5 hours marker board, about mid-pack. My race support team (aka Mum and Dad) weren’t too impressed with the rain so just got to the start line before the race started, a banana was hastily thrown in my direction and we’re off. After about 15 minutes of fast road work we turn onto some rough farming tracks and onto the first peak: Ingleborough. The next 40 minutes or so are spent clambering up some very steep grassy ramps which are saturated with mud and water. I try a combination of riding, pushing and carrying all resulting in slow progress. The pre-summit grass ramp is bloody steep, a ‘maintain 3 points of contact at all times’ affair – a fall here will be a good 5-10 second, face first, free-fall to the bottom.
Photo: Nicole Willis
The final march up to the Ingleborough summit plateau is more of a rock hopping exercise dodging people out hiking for the day. After checking in at the summit control, its onto the downhill which has a great balance of stumbling back down steep grassy slopes, technical rock sections and the infamous mystery peat boggy sections which upon entering feel like playing some sort of bog version of Russian roulette: will the front wheel disappear and send me over the handlebars or will I just power through? somehow I manage to get through with no major drama
Photo: Racingsnakes.com
Through the second control at Cold Cotes and there are masses of supporters, no sign of my support team even though the Sun is now shining. I’m all good for water so just power onto the road section. I manage to sneak into a decent chain gang and we motor onto the next peak: Whernside. Similar build up to this one with farmers tracks, but the grassy boggy ramps have been replaced with a never ending rocky staircase. In true English style the weather is now back to a fierce side wind and more rain.
Photo: Phil Blaylock
My lower back is soon destroyed from all the carrying and the wind is now trying to rip my bike off my shoulder too. The summit control is reached and its onto the 2nd downhill, and this one is a beauty….less boggy roulette and more of a technical rock garden affair, I’m getting more confident with the bike and tyres and give it a hammering, making up a few places. My increased pace takes a slight hit on the first stream crossing when I abruptly come to a standstill….
The penultimate road section to the final climb of Pen-Y-Ghent is pretty full on. I chase up to a couple of riders and we soon become 4 and the pace is plenty fast enough as we power past a few more riders. We get to the lower slopes of the final climb and I knock the gears up to easy street and settle in for a slow climb, this is the most ride-able of the 3 peaks. This climb is out and back on the same track so you get to see all the people in front of you on their return leg. The summit ridge is another push and carry slog with some nice bog sections to keep you interested, but on reaching the final control you know its all downhill to the finish. The decent was the fastest of all three but an absolute arm, hand and wrist killer, a good 15-20 minutes of bouncing back over rocks and drainage channels. Back on the road and its a 2 mile sprint back to the pub (and finish line).
Photo: Rob Atkins
I finished up in about 200th position in 4.13 which for a first attempt I’m pretty happy with. In summary the 3 peaks cyclocross is an awesome event and it comes highly recommended, it seems to hold quite unique place in the cyclocross world with not many similar races anywhere that I know of. Now its time to pack the bike up and get back to Victoria and enjoy some proper Pacific North West cyclocross riding and racing