RACE REPORT: Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross Race, 2013

Camping by the River Ribble in Martin Hanson's field

Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross Race, 2013

The Pub at the centre of all the action

Difficult to describe this race, because it is an oddity, both within the British scene and the international one. The entire context of the event is actually fell-running, the peculiar British texture of this mad sport best described in Richard Askwith's loving portrayal Feet in the Clouds. The current race was founded by John Rawnsley in 1962, and it was really a super-imposition of bikes atop a fell running race. Fifty years later, in 2012, Rawnsley retired from managing it. By then it had attracted international attention. The best feature about the event and it's history was published in issue 34 (2012) of Rouleur, page 146ff. It's a brilliant feature.

The Start: Straining at the leash - and not only this Hungarian Vizsla

 

 

Rob Jebb leading on Pen-y-Gent (Credit: S.R. Hall)

Pen-y-Gent, which translates as 'winds'. And there are winds.

This year's event -depicted in a handful of photos here- represented a watershed in the history of the event, being the first run by a committee led by Mark Richmond. They did very well. It was also a watershed because the 51st edition of the race was won convincingly by Rob Jebb for his 10th victory, a simply incredible achievement.

I said in my previous blog post that I would briefly revisit my various decisions, strategic and technical, to see what worked and what didn't.

First of all, I was not 100% race fit having battled an unhappy left ham string since June - in fact throughout the four months of specific training for this event. I came 486th out of 544 starters, of which 40 retired. I had entered in a realistic but determined frame of mind: let's do this thing and learn about it. Then regroup for a possible return.

That's about right: I don't think any amount of forum chatting can really get you ready for this one. You need to do it respectfully the first time. This event stretches cycling beyond its normal parameters. It also takes you way out of the normal 'comfort zones' even of otherwise hard-core Cross racing. First there's the running/climbing aspect, obviously, but then there's the terrain, the gradients and the wind (the wind was diabolical despite the sunny conditions - and it made everything much harder). I spent a good portion of the event wondering whether you can 'enjoy' the Three Peaks: it is a very northern, very austere way of having fun, epitomised by an ethos that served up one 'feed station', a white plastic cup of water and nothing else. The subtext was abundantly clear. 'If you were a real man,' said in a thick Yorkshire accent, 'this is all you'd consume for the whole event.' No garish sports drinks, no ghastly Nestle sponsorships (whisper The Etape), no gels, nothing at all. I really thought that was brilliant. Fantastic. The Last Outpost against commercialisation (although it still costs £50 to enter).

Another thing: there were very few overweight competitors, and the fifty or so women competitors were all absolutely brilliant as far as I could tell. Many of them had fell running backgrounds because I snatched the odd conversation with one or two out on the course. On the male side, it was a bit like a National Cross Champs with a smattering of foreign entrants from Switzerland, Belgium (especially), Germany and the USA. I wonder what they made of it all. The quality of the overall field was very good indeed: it was not like a sportive. Every single entry is vetted by the committee, so there are no 'have a go Harries'. There was a palpable respect when you got to the top of the last peak, but in between the encouragement was of a disciplining type. 'C'mon, step it up lad, this is a bludy race.'

On the technical front here's what I found out. I think I made the absolute right decision to fit Panaracer Cinder X 700x35s. They weigh 350grams. This is a strong, MTB-heritage compound tyre with an aggressive block tread. At 90psi (which it is rated for) it rolls well enough on the road. I stand by what I said before about the Schwalbe Urban Cruisers. They are really sluggish and weigh too much at 600grams. Equally, I noted that lots of riders seemed to turn up on the same tyres (700x32, typically) that they'd use on a normal Cross race. This is an error. The average Cross tyre is not strong enough for this course. You need strength and volume of air and a high PSI rating. Clinchers beat tubs unless you are very brave, and happy to change one in the field. I was confident I wouldn't puncture and I didn't. Panaracer flataway kevlar stuff may have helped; in the end I had a disaster with the Joe's sealant and gave up. Not before it had gone everywhere. No comment.

Shoes: As predicted, it was a case of swings and roundabouts. I was way out on a limb deciding to wear Inov-8 Mudclaw 300 fell running shoes instead of clip in SPD MTB shoes. I was very content with this, and so it proved, partly: I had a ton more grip and felt much more confident every time we ran. What I didn't realise was that you need to mount/dismount/mount/dismount at the drop of a hat all the way round. A bit like the world champs in the sand dunes. This is not so easy with clips and straps and fell running shoes with rubber studded soles. I had practised, but on difficult terrain I undoubtedly lost time reachiong down to lift the clip and get the shoe in. The overall distance of 61kms was as far as I would want to ride in running shoes. If I could find the right, 'flexi' pair of MTB shoes I might try that next time. If it was very wet you might still want the Mudclaws. There were lots of sections where this year's dry conditions made the paths dusty/slippery and people in stiff MTB shoes were just struggling to get any grip at all. That's a big risk of injury; ditto the wet grass ascent of Ingleborough, the famous 'cliff' that always gets photographed each year, and often where the initial selection is made.

Tyres and shoes are the two most important decisions you'll make. The other one is gearing and I was right about that too, based on advice from Konrad Manning, something of a veteran of the event. You want 1:1 gearing so you can ride much of the initial path up Pen-y-Gent, the last climb. On 34x32 (my set-up), it's marginal. You are so wasted by then, you can only ride small sections and then have to dismount and walk/run. It would be much better to have 32x34. This is crazy stuff outside of the context of this event and takes you off into special kit and expensive prep. But that is what you would ideally have. I didn't have it, but then lots of riders had turned up with 46x36 / 12-25. Stock stuff for school playing field racing. I hope they enjoyed their running legs.

Summary
It would be strange to talk of enjoying this event. The technical demands are so steep that you cannot enjoy any descent as such; I crashed three times to prove that point, once heavily on the descent of Ingleborough. But it is mentally engrossing and by the end you are completely drained. I'd compare it to a bad weather fishing trip that yields little, but the little brown trout you finally catch using a pure method, say dry fly, is worth the wait. Or, a gold panning expedition where you have to pan for hours with nothing, but finally reveal a single, perfectly formed nugget of gold. This is not like an Etape where you get to play the Pro on a 20km descent at wild speeds, pure good fun. It's much harder and drier than that. But, you do have your wild off-road moments, or other moments of beauty; it is very authentic and there are no losers in this event. At the end of it all you're supposed to have a laugh and drink a pint, exactly as the fell runners do. And by then you know that you've done something much, much harder than the Arenberg Trench of Paris-Roubaix fame - which pales in comparison.