The 2009 Three Peaks Cyclo Cross by Will's Wheels men.

Click on the first image for slideshow view. 

Three Peaks of fun was what lay in store for us all last Sunday. Down to ride there were five of us on the start sheet. Will Wright, Phil Bridge. Jason Pickford, Will Hawtin and myself. On the day there were four of us with Will Hawtins whereabouts a mystery.

Jason, his mate Dave and Phil were Peaks virgins. What can you say.....a hell of lot actually and I'm sure that non of it was too reassuring. You might as well know the truth though and there really is no describing the calf stretching agony of Simon Fell to anybody that hasn't experienced it.

The start was the usual 500 rider mass start and by the time the neutralised section finished there was already some big gaps throughout the field. Ingleborough was the usual torment with Simon Fell being the main cause of the pain. The top was cloaked in the clouds and it was dammed cold up there.

I descended the large part of the slopes to Cold Cotes with misted up spectacles and a new found reliance on the "front wheel feel". There were a fair few over eager riders fallen flat on their arses but I managed to stay upright. The news at the bottom was good with word that Will was off the mountain in a top 5 position (not technically a mountain at 724m but it isn't your average cyclo cross park steps). I was already seven or eight minutes behind him with Phil loosing a further 10 minutes and Jason still finding his feet another few minutes back.

Whernside was good on the way up and I was getting into my stride. At this point I felt confident that a sub four hour ride was on the cards. Plummeting down the limesone steps from the summit I was wondering if I'd actually ridden this section last year. It was very tricky and most of those in front of me were on foot doing some sort of Morris Dance run waving a bicycle around.

My invincibility and the puncture proof heavy duty top bollocks inner tubes were to be my undoing several minutes later. Don't panic. Wheel out, tube in, Co2 cartridge in place, 3 minutes and were away again. Invincibility restored. Not so......the brand new tyre of French manufacture gave way again and the bloody thing flatted for a second time. Don't f***in panic. Wheel out, tube in, Co2 cartridge.....the f***in nozzle head is broken, the pin that pierces the cylinder is somewhere in the marshy grass where I last punctured. F**ck it, you don't need hard tyres to go down a bloody hill.

I crashed down the bulk of Whernside with the rim chewing the shamed French tyre between rock, gravel and anything I could actually get the bike over. I was passing a lot of people who were nancying about seemingly trying to negotiate the varying grades of track quality. A young man riding a Scott was desperately trying to get past me where the track climbed but he couldn't manage it and I roared away from him as soon as the gradient turned south. In fact I raged all of the way to Ribblehead where I knew my spare wheel was waiting.

Chris had walked up the track some way and had my wheel at the ready. Another section of bumps to the road was sufficient to trash that one and some further assistance from Dave gave me a wheel out of Chris's bike.

Will was well away now and despite losing some places on Whernside, was still well up and on for a storming ride. My race was effectively over. The passion for madness was now suppressed as I started Pen-y-Ghent with no spares to fix a puncture and the prospect of having to replace somebody else's broken wheel in a hard currency transaction.....I was going to have to be very careful.

I saw Will coming down amongst a small group and they were flying. I doubt none of the others in the group had any idea that they would be unlikely to pass Will in the narrow finishing straight. Not only that superb sprinting prowess he possesses but just the sheer width of his arse these days would make it impossible for them to go by.

I had more irritation on the first sections of Pen-y-Ghent with several riders who kept sprinting past me and then dying on their arses 50 meters further on. It's a tough ride to the beginning of the carrying section and requires a steady output to get you there. It's imperative you ride all that you can. Many riders are tired at this point and are slogging at a painfully slow pace with their bikes over their even more tired and painful shoulders. Riding in a low gear is much more efficient and you can pass loads of them.

By the time I have to dismount and carry the bike I'm feeling pretty good. I'm soon at the top and the descent is a pleasure. I manage to pass loads of riders who are just too tired to concentrate on a rapid descent and some not even prepared to ride anything a little too steep. One chap gets up behind me and I usher him through, I really don't want to trash Chris's wheel. He's not really going any faster than me though and I unnerve him by riding right up behind him. He makes the inevitable mistake and catapults himself right over the bars landing heavily on the rock strewn path. Serves him right for having non legal disc brakes.

On my way down I pass Phil coming up who is still a good 25 minutes from the top but going steadily. When I go past Jason I realise that his position so far back tells a painful story and I lie to him telling him it's not far to go.

I hit the road with Chris's wheel still going round and I've actually begun to reshape the teeth on his rusting cassette so that it only slips the chain on five of the nine sprockets. It's a bit of a race to the finish with a few boys sitting on but I know how far it is from the top of the little climb before Helwith Bridge and convincingly drop them, and catch a few more over the top before finishing and crossing the last electronic timing point of the race.

Will is over half an hour up and waiting at the finish with tales of mad crashes and battles fought at the head of the race. Greg and Jimmy are also there after they had ridden out to Ribblehead from Stockport top see us in our moment of glory. Phil came in next with Jason's mate Dave not too far behind. By the time Jason came in, the man with a false leg had already crossed the line and was getting changed and the Dennis the Menace fancy dress was calling him Walter the Softy. A rapid time trial competitor, winner of road races and a very strong bike rider, this wasn't Jasons bag at all. "That was f***in pointless.....".

Will covered the course in 3 hours 39 minutes and 59 seconds which gave him 42nd place overall. I failed to beat my record and clocked 4:16:17 in 174th whilst Phil dawdled in at 4:52:45 for 339th. Phil had suffered from a crash and punctures after the cloud had enshrouded Pen-y-Ghent shortly after I had crossed the summit. Jason clocked 5:26:55 which could have been a lot worse. It's another one of those things, Andy Tubb clocked a similar time a few years ago and he is also a very rapid tester. The moral of course, the A50 dual carriageway might be a fast road but it's no preparation for proper hard bike riding....!

Many many thanks to Dave Lowe, Chris Schofield and Mike Bridge who came out to drive support vehicles. Chris was awesome on the day and was every where that I needed to see him whilst Dave saved my life at Ribblehead. Had they not been there I would have been forced (and I would) to ride over half the race on a flat tyre. Also thanks to Greg and Jimmy who rode out to cheer us on. Jimmy put in a mega ride after opting to ride home as well, probably not far short of 150 miles to add to his LVRC win at Darley Moor the day before.

The best news of all at the finish was for Nick Craig. Will had predicted in the morning that it would be a day for Nick to do the winning. It was a very close race but Nick put an end to Rob Jebbs stranglehold on the race and beat him by 15 seconds. Big congratulations to him for that and well done to Will who put in a storming performance, nearly as good as that of rival bike shop owner and old friend and foe, Fred Salmon, who beat him by the best part of 5 minutes, although I won't mention that in my report.

Until next time........don't be frightened, get yourself a cross bike (see Jason for a nice, not too abused, machine for sale). Chris Riley. 

Read Jasons thoughts by clicking here.

The firtst three pictures featured at the head of this page are courtsey of Martin Henson, a photographer who travels the country snapping shots at Sportives, Time Trials, Road Races and other cycle related events.  You can obtain further information from www.cyclingimages.co.uk , Have a look through this site, there may be a picture of you. 

There is also a gallery of pictures from this years event. CLICK HERE.