The race started in Helwith Bridge, Yorkshire, and involved the leg shattering ascent and arm busting descent of the 3 biggest fells in the area; Ingleborough (723m), Whernside (736m) and Pen y Ghent (694m). The race is 'only' 38 miles long which may not sound like much but it was the longest 4hours and 15minutes of my life and by far the hardest race I have ever done.
Rob Jebb was the overall winner in a time of just under 3 hours. He, along with all the top senior riders make the climbs look easy and the descents seem a walk in the park. Perhaps one day I will be able to bomb it down a loose rocky track on 35mm tyrea like they do... might just have to remove my brain first.
As I was 3 Peaks Virgin I had no idea what to expect. I started amongst the middle of the 550 starters and got held up quite a bit on the road towards the first climb, Simon Fell/Ingleborough, pictured below. This grass covered wall was the hardest part of the race and seemed to go on forever, then once it was over the descent was as terrifying as the hill was tough!
After getting passed by many people on the descent I hit the road towards the next climb and made up quite a few places. Once on the track towards Whernside I looked up and was taken aback by the vast lump of limestone in front of you with riders looking like ants as they clamber their way up. The top of Whernside is a rather alien environment with loose boulders and not much going on in the form of life, other than dozens of cyclist gasping for air. The descent of the hill involved a lot of steps and some 'HOLY MACKEREL' moments but I made it down in one piece, thankfully, and was then back onto the road towards the final climb of the day, Pen y Ghent.
I must admit I had imagined Pen y Ghent to be mostly rideable as people had been saying it was a 'riders climb'. However I soon found this was the not case for me as I hauled my bike up a steep, loose rocky track for what seemed like hours with my legs cramping up and energy levels dwindling. Nevertheless I made it to the top where from then on in it was all downhill. I got down Pen y Ghent in decent time and bombed it to the finish on the last couple of miles of road. Then crossed the finish line in a haze after 4hr 15mins and 44secs and was absolutely pooped. I went and got changed and had some food and then lugged myself outside to lye on the grass and wait for the prize giving to see where I had come in my category.
So after watching the Senior Male and Female winners claim their prizes the U23 male category came up. And the winner was... Me! Couldn't quite believe it but I walked through the crowd and collected my £200 voucher for High Peak Cycles and as I was walking away was called back as I hadn't got my trophy! Out came a rather large silver challis and in a way I was more pleased with that than the voucher, having my name engraved on the same trophy as 8 time 3 Peaks Champion Rob Jebb along with the likes of Nick Craig is a real honour. Now all I have to do is find a place to put it!
So my race season is over. Nice to finish on a high and to know all the hard work is paying off. Now time to relax for a couple of weeks, Veg out on Maccy D's and Dominoes, and work out what to spend my voucher on!
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