Tag Archives: three peaks

3 Peaks Cyclo Cross Race

A week has gone since the race that I had been training for for the last eleven months. That’s 11000 KM of training for a race that was supposed to take me four hours. In the end mostly due to me being very careful on the descents I got 4h26 mins which put me at 248th overall of a field of 650 and 38th in the male fifty category out of 150. That is 60 KM of tough uphill climbs and savage down hills.

Its a race not an adventure, although there is a bit of that too

The picture below shows why sometimes it is best to play safe and get off the bike.

3 peaks cyclo cross race
Picture by andrewnward copyright is his alone

The race has been going since the 1950’s way before mountain bikes were ever thought up. Which is why it is a cyclo cross bike event. Cyclo cross bikes were the original off road bike with drop handle bars. These days they are commonly sorted with disc brakes and frames often made out of carbon fibre. Which is good as in the race there is about 8KM of carrying the bike, which is not too bad when they weigh around 9KG a bit lighter than most mountain bikes.

three peaks cyclo cross race
Picture by bradshaws @ sportsunday copyright is his

Of course the tyres being much narrower means that care should be taken down some of the rocky descents. Some riders in the event would have gone down the hills a full 8 minutes quicker than me though. So next year it is on the down hill sections that I intend to make up my lost time….

Picture by Michael Kenyon of Racing snakes, copyright is his

So next year is only 358 days away and I fully intend to get back to the race and hope to bring Neil too, we could have a go at the father and son category, but I will have to get quicker…

Many thanks to my godson Ben Houlihan who cycled around the circuit using the roads to meet me twice and hand me food and drink, he also had a spare pair of wheels for his father and myself in case we punctured.

Watch a Video of the Bike with Neil riding it

Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross Race

Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross Race an event that I used to read about way back in the days of Eric Stone and John Atkins. I was a young cyclo-crosser from the South East competing on Saturdays and Sundays in the late seventies. The allure of that race was great but I was still a schoolboy racer so it was not to be. All these years later and my friend John was having his fiftieth birthday the day after competing in this years event. I arranged to fly over from Ireland and we drove to the event and slept in his van.  The day arrived and the race was on, all I had to do was to go to two different spots on a spare bike and give him his water and gels.

I was very impressed with the speed of some of the riders not least the winner Rob Jebb, and am inspired to maybe sign up for the race next year, if Irish men are allowed 😉 . It really is a classic event and any one who completes it should be proud of their ability, well done.

Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross Race

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Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross Race

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John at the finish
John at the finish

Watch a short video I managed to put together with a few clips…

My “focus” was on John so I was looking to be where I needed to be at each spot where he had asked me to pass him his “pouch” and water bottles and not taking photos.

site by richie hodges

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