DavieB

Alan, 
 
Excellent result for you! and cheers for the support round the course.
 
Would concur it was a brilliant and uber fun course and after a not so good start I ended up in a 3 way battle for most of the race which always makes it worthwhile and didn't get lapped which is always a bonus.
 
Better than the turbo our chundering roon' the coast in my book.

Thanks Iain, a quick glance tells me that's the one, will watch it again later
 
If you liked that....
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJZIEx1jd0s

Well done to all that took part in a beast of a race with not one minute of respite round the course....roll on next week
 
Results..
 
http://www.mylaps.com/en/events/1224062

Alan - the "just 30 minutes to go" line was the funniest thing I've heard on a bike. Was wondering why you had swapped to the MTB halfway thru'.
 
A classic course probably my favorite of the Scottish scene provided the expected good fun and held up well considering the amount of wheels churning it up.
 
Great fun and well done all who took part, top 50's and unlapped for me and Alex who sportingly pipped me on the line . Believe me unlapped is an achievement!
 
Cant' wait 'till the next go round.

Echo the above. Slippery, muddy, wet, windy, magic! A bit surprised to find about 50 riders seeded and filling up the front 5 rows at the start though, but I suppose this was a championship round.
 
Folk all over the place at the start with a crash stopping us in our tracks before we hit the first mud. Three running sections which were pretty long due to the state of the course. Very few passing opportunities in the second half of the lap though as the trails are so narrow which can hold you up for a fair amount of time. Overall a great course though with a nice mix of deep mud, less deep mud and shallow mud to deal with.
 
Managed to catch up with Davie B's group on second last lap before slamming head first into a tree. Lost front brake and twisted lever. Took until said tree on final lap to catch him again just in time to see him wipe out in front of me in a track blocking classic but he got going again preventing my pass.
 
Felt a bit (okay not at all) bad as we sprinted the final 100m to the line just edging it. Sorry Davie!
 
That's my first cx race without being lapped so a definite improvement.

Alan - the "just 30 minutes to go" line was the funniest thing I've heard on a bike. Was wondering why you had swapped to the MTB halfway thru'.
 
A classic course probably my favorite of the Scottish scene provided the expected good fun and held up well considering the amount of wheels churning it up.
 
Great fun and well done all who took part, top 50's and unlapped for me and Alex who sportingly pipped me on the line . Believe me unlapped is an achievement!
 
Cant' wait 'till the next go round.

Alan - the "just 30 minutes to go" line was the funniest thing I've heard on a bike. Was wondering why you had swapped to the MTB halfway thru'.
 
A classic course probably my favorite of the Scottish scene provided the expected good fun and held up well considering the amount of wheels churning it up.
 
Great fun and well done all who took part, top 50's and unlapped for me and Alex who sportingly pipped me on the line . Believe me unlapped is an achievement!
 
Cant' wait 'till the next go round.

George,
 
I suspect the preload bolt is designed to be rather "tragic" to prevent people "horsing" it up. So more design intent than crap design. It is sufficiently engineered to preload to the point your cranks will not freely turn.
 
You should achieve torque to the required settings no problem but make sure you tighten both in sequence a bit at a time, also ensure that the safety catch is located correctly - this catch should effectively stop the cranks coming off even if the bolts loosen.
 
I like the design and find the maintainability a vast improvement v's Campag.

George,
 
I suspect the preload bolt is designed to be rather "tragic" to prevent people "horsing" it up. So more design intent than crap design. It is sufficiently engineered to preload to the point your cranks will not freely turn.
 
You should achieve torque to the required settings no problem but make sure you tighten both in sequence a bit at a time, also ensure that the safety catch is located correctly - this catch should effectively stop the cranks coming off even if the bolts loosen.
 
I like the design and find the maintainability a vast improvement v's Campag.

All I have entered this as I got the date wrong.
 
Does anybody want to car share etc. or give an indication of time you are going to be at the circuit? 
 
 

Well done Paul but still no "hole shot"!
 
I'm in the auld gits race but hope to see you on Sunday.
 
D

Thanks for the words of encouragement chaps, appreciated. A strange beast indeed is the 3 peaks but one I would definitely do again.
 
Standing on the start line I got talking to a bunch of fellow first timers and we basically surmised that we had no idea what to expect. Anyways the race started and the first road section was predictably rapid, I started pretty near the back as I wanted to avoid the macho nonsense and just drifted forward from one group to the next without really extending myself and felt not too bad at all. After 5 miles the off-road started with the first sections being rideable if you attacked some of the boggier sections but finding a line did prove difficult at times. I should have heeded a lesson here which I never learned 'till far too late in the day, that being at all times remount if possible even if it is for 50 yards it is quicker than carrying and would have taken minutes of my time. The first real portage is reached at Simon's fell and I felt surprising good on the climb, again finding clear space was a wee bit difficult but I did move further up the field on the ascent, which tops out with a very step section where you are pretty much on all fours. The bad news when you reach the top is this is not one of the "peaks" merely a precursor to the Whernisde ascent via some riding/portage over the moors. Whernside itself is again steep and rocky towards the top, the descent is not too bad but encountered first downhill issue of the day as my hands kept sliding on the hoods (as usual for summer riding I don't wear gloves or mitts - more on this later!) which was a bit disconcerting!
 
On to the Ingleborough climb and again felt surprisingly decent on the portaged ascent, my main tactic for the walking parts was to never stop no matter how slow the pace got, it later on got very slow but I figured if I stopped on the climbing sections I would  never get started again. Ingleborough was steep at the top with flagstone steps laid into the hill, I actually took the time to look around going up and the view was absolutely stunning in the sunshine. The descent took in moors, bogs and flagstone sections and is where I hit my second problem of the day when my front brake pad locked on - couldn't quite figure it out but kind of freed it up by brute force and pushing the lever open only for it to happen again, had to stop and adjust the pads probably costing me 10 minutes and as I was still unsure as to the root cause I was very wary of using front brakes from that point on which came back to haunt me later on.
 
Off the 2nd of the peaks there is a road transition where I discovered sucking on my camelback was producing no effect so second enforced stop of the day was at Horton-on-Ribblesdale where the lady at a wee coffee shop was good enough to give me a refill, a mile down the road the police stopped us after a road crash - probably another 8 or so  minutes down between these two stoppages. Felt not too bad on the road sections pushing a decent gear at decent speed and onto Penyghent - which is a complete and utter sod! The climb is straight up and straight back down and when you turn onto it the faster guys are coming down at absolutely suicidal pace...crazy stuff!
 
The first part is rideable and the last part is just long and a real grind with bike on shoulder, again I just kept plodding up, never stopping and was still passing people. At the top you turn and go back down, descent is very steep and a mix of gravel, rocks, and moor land, I had a 'mare on the way down as didn't trust my front brakes and my hands were really getting sore (no gloves!) making control difficult, people were passing me all the time which was demoralising as this was supposed to be the easy bit. Anyway got to the bottom in one piece which by that stage was the only priority and the last 2 miles or so is a road section back to the start point.
 
Again felt (surprisingly) good and was making good pace catching a few on the road, looked down at my hoods and noticed a big gap in the bar tape and hoods in funny position and it finally dawned on me why my front brakes had been jammed on - with the rough terrain the hoods had been shoved down the drops, tightening the cables and clamping the brakes on ....doh! Anyways powered onto the end and crossed the line in just over 5 hours feeling not too bad tbh.
 
I don't really obsess too much about times but it would have been good to break the 5 hour barrier which is a kind of cut-off point between OK and an also-ran in the official timings. I reckon with a fair wind and no mechanicals / descending demons I think a 4:45 would have been achievable - something to aim for next year.
 
Cheers,
Davie

Thanks for the words of encouragement chaps, appreciated. A strange beast indeed is the 3 peaks but one I would definitely do again.
 
Standing on the start line I got talking to a bunch of fellow first timers and we basically surmised that we had no idea what to expect. Anyways the race started and the first road section was predictably rapid, I started pretty near the back as I wanted to avoid the macho nonsense and just drifted forward from one group to the next without really extending myself and felt not too bad at all. After 5 miles the off-road started with the first sections being rideable if you attacked some of the boggier sections but finding a line did prove difficult at times. I should have heeded a lesson here which I never learned 'till far too late in the day, that being at all times remount if possible even if it is for 50 yards it is quicker than carrying and would have taken minutes of my time. The first real portage is reached at Simon's fell and I felt surprising good on the climb, again finding clear space was a wee bit difficult but I did move further up the field on the ascent, which tops out with a very step section where you are pretty much on all fours. The bad news when you reach the top is this is not one of the "peaks" merely a precursor to the Whernisde ascent via some riding/portage over the moors. Whernside itself is again steep and rocky towards the top, the descent is not too bad but encountered first downhill issue of the day as my hands kept sliding on the hoods (as usual for summer riding I don't wear gloves or mitts - more on this later!) which was a bit disconcerting!
 
On to the Ingleborough climb and again felt surprisingly decent on the portaged ascent, my main tactic for the walking parts was to never stop no matter how slow the pace got, it later on got very slow but I figured if I stopped on the climbing sections I would  never get started again. Ingleborough was steep at the top with flagstone steps laid into the hill, I actually took the time to look around going up and the view was absolutely stunning in the sunshine. The descent took in moors, bogs and flagstone sections and is where I hit my second problem of the day when my front brake pad locked on - couldn't quite figure it out but kind of freed it up by brute force and pushing the lever open only for it to happen again, had to stop and adjust the pads probably costing me 10 minutes and as I was still unsure as to the root cause I was very wary of using front brakes from that point on which came back to haunt me later on.
 
Off the 2nd of the peaks there is a road transition where I discovered sucking on my camelback was producing no effect so second enforced stop of the day was at Horton-on-Ribblesdale where the lady at a wee coffee shop was good enough to give me a refill, a mile down the road the police stopped us after a road crash - probably another 8 or so  minutes down between these two stoppages. Felt not too bad on the road sections pushing a decent gear at decent speed and onto Penyghent - which is a complete and utter sod! The climb is straight up and straight back down and when you turn onto it the faster guys are coming down at absolutely suicidal pace...crazy stuff!
 
The first part is rideable and the last part is just long and a real grind with bike on shoulder, again I just kept plodding up, never stopping and was still passing people. At the top you turn and go back down, descent is very steep and a mix of gravel, rocks, and moor land, I had a 'mare on the way down as didn't trust my front brakes and my hands were really getting sore (no gloves!) making control difficult, people were passing me all the time which was demoralising as this was supposed to be the easy bit. Anyway got to the bottom in one piece which by that stage was the only priority and the last 2 miles or so is a road section back to the start point.
 
Again felt (surprisingly) good and was making good pace catching a few on the road, looked down at my hoods and noticed a big gap in the bar tape and hoods in funny position and it finally dawned on me why my front brakes had been jammed on - with the rough terrain the hoods had been shoved down the drops, tightening the cables and clamping the brakes on ....doh! Anyways powered onto the end and crossed the line in just over 5 hours feeling not too bad tbh.
 
I don't really obsess too much about times but it would have been good to break the 5 hour barrier which is a kind of cut-off point between OK and an also-ran in the official timings. I reckon with a fair wind and no mechanicals / descending demons I think a 4:45 would have been achievable - something to aim for next year.
 
Cheers,
Davie

Thanks for the words of encouragement chaps, appreciated. A strange beast indeed is the 3 peaks but one I would definitely do again.
 
Standing on the start line I got talking to a bunch of fellow first timers and we basically surmised that we had no idea what to expect. Anyways the race started and the first road section was predictably rapid, I started pretty near the back as I wanted to avoid the macho nonsense and just drifted forward from one group to the next without really extending myself and felt not too bad at all. After 5 miles the off-road started with the first sections being rideable if you attacked some of the boggier sections but finding a line did prove difficult at times. I should have heeded a lesson here which I never learned 'till far too late in the day, that being at all times remount if possible even if it is for 50 yards it is quicker than carrying and would have taken minutes of my time. The first real portage is reached at Simon's fell and I felt surprising good on the climb, again finding clear space was a wee bit difficult but I did move further up the field on the ascent, which tops out with a very step section where you are pretty much on all fours. The bad news when you reach the top is this is not one of the "peaks" merely a precursor to the Whernisde ascent via some riding/portage over the moors. Whernside itself is again steep and rocky towards the top, the descent is not too bad but encountered first downhill issue of the day as my hands kept sliding on the hoods (as usual for summer riding I don't wear gloves or mitts - more on this later!) which was a bit disconcerting!
 
On to the Ingleborough climb and again felt surprisingly decent on the portaged ascent, my main tactic for the walking parts was to never stop no matter how slow the pace got, it later on got very slow but I figured if I stopped on the climbing sections I would  never get started again. Ingleborough was steep at the top with flagstone steps laid into the hill, I actually took the time to look around going up and the view was absolutely stunning in the sunshine. The descent took in moors, bogs and flagstone sections and is where I hit my second problem of the day when my front brake pad locked on - couldn't quite figure it out but kind of freed it up by brute force and pushing the lever open only for it to happen again, had to stop and adjust the pads probably costing me 10 minutes and as I was still unsure as to the root cause I was very wary of using front brakes from that point on which came back to haunt me later on.
 
Off the 2nd of the peaks there is a road transition where I discovered sucking on my camelback was producing no effect so second enforced stop of the day was at Horton-on-Ribblesdale where the lady at a wee coffee shop was good enough to give me a refill, a mile down the road the police stopped us after a road crash - probably another 8 or so  minutes down between these two stoppages. Felt not too bad on the road sections pushing a decent gear at decent speed and onto Penyghent - which is a complete and utter sod! The climb is straight up and straight back down and when you turn onto it the faster guys are coming down at absolutely suicidal pace...crazy stuff!
 
The first part is rideable and the last part is just long and a real grind with bike on shoulder, again I just kept plodding up, never stopping and was still passing people. At the top you turn and go back down, descent is very steep and a mix of gravel, rocks, and moor land, I had a 'mare on the way down as didn't trust my front brakes and my hands were really getting sore (no gloves!) making control difficult, people were passing me all the time which was demoralising as this was supposed to be the easy bit. Anyway got to the bottom in one piece which by that stage was the only priority and the last 2 miles or so is a road section back to the start point.
 
Again felt (surprisingly) good and was making good pace catching a few on the road, looked down at my hoods and noticed a big gap in the bar tape and hoods in funny position and it finally dawned on me why my front brakes had been jammed on - with the rough terrain the hoods had been shoved down the drops, tightening the cables and clamping the brakes on ....doh! Anyways powered onto the end and crossed the line in just over 5 hours feeling not too bad tbh.
 
I don't really obsess too much about times but it would have been good to break the 5 hour barrier which is a kind of cut-off point between OK and an also-ran in the official timings. I reckon with a fair wind and no mechanicals / descending demons I think a 4:45 would have been achievable - something to aim for next year.
 
Cheers,
Davie

Thanks for the words of encouragement chaps, appreciated. A strange beast indeed is the 3 peaks but one I would definitely do again.
 
Standing on the start line I got talking to a bunch of fellow first timers and we basically surmised that we had no idea what to expect. Anyways the race started and the first road section was predictably rapid, I started pretty near the back as I wanted to avoid the macho nonsense and just drifted forward from one group to the next without really extending myself and felt not too bad at all. After 5 miles the off-road started with the first sections being rideable if you attacked some of the boggier sections but finding a line did prove difficult at times. I should have heeded a lesson here which I never learned 'till far too late in the day, that being at all times remount if possible even if it is for 50 yards it is quicker than carrying and would have taken minutes of my time. The first real portage is reached at Simon's fell and I felt surprising good on the climb, again finding clear space was a wee bit difficult but I did move further up the field on the ascent, which tops out with a very step section where you are pretty much on all fours. The bad news when you reach the top is this is not one of the "peaks" merely a precursor to the Whernisde ascent via some riding/portage over the moors. Whernside itself is again steep and rocky towards the top, the descent is not too bad but encountered first downhill issue of the day as my hands kept sliding on the hoods (as usual for summer riding I don't wear gloves or mitts - more on this later!) which was a bit disconcerting!
 
On to the Ingleborough climb and again felt surprisingly decent on the portaged ascent, my main tactic for the walking parts was to never stop no matter how slow the pace got, it later on got very slow but I figured if I stopped on the climbing sections I would  never get started again. Ingleborough was steep at the top with flagstone steps laid into the hill, I actually took the time to look around going up and the view was absolutely stunning in the sunshine. The descent took in moors, bogs and flagstone sections and is where I hit my second problem of the day when my front brake pad locked on - couldn't quite figure it out but kind of freed it up by brute force and pushing the lever open only for it to happen again, had to stop and adjust the pads probably costing me 10 minutes and as I was still unsure as to the root cause I was very wary of using front brakes from that point on which came back to haunt me later on.
 
Off the 2nd of the peaks there is a road transition where I discovered sucking on my camelback was producing no effect so second enforced stop of the day was at Horton-on-Ribblesdale where the lady at a wee coffee shop was good enough to give me a refill, a mile down the road the police stopped us after a road crash - probably another 8 or so  minutes down between these two stoppages. Felt not too bad on the road sections pushing a decent gear at decent speed and onto Penyghent - which is a complete and utter sod! The climb is straight up and straight back down and when you turn onto it the faster guys are coming down at absolutely suicidal pace...crazy stuff!
 
The first part is rideable and the last part is just long and a real grind with bike on shoulder, again I just kept plodding up, never stopping and was still passing people. At the top you turn and go back down, descent is very steep and a mix of gravel, rocks, and moor land, I had a 'mare on the way down as didn't trust my front brakes and my hands were really getting sore (no gloves!) making control difficult, people were passing me all the time which was demoralising as this was supposed to be the easy bit. Anyway got to the bottom in one piece which by that stage was the only priority and the last 2 miles or so is a road section back to the start point.
 
Again felt (surprisingly) good and was making good pace catching a few on the road, looked down at my hoods and noticed a big gap in the bar tape and hoods in funny position and it finally dawned on me why my front brakes had been jammed on - with the rough terrain the hoods had been shoved down the drops, tightening the cables and clamping the brakes on ....doh! Anyways powered onto the end and crossed the line in just over 5 hours feeling not too bad tbh.
 
I don't really obsess too much about times but it would have been good to break the 5 hour barrier which is a kind of cut-off point between OK and an also-ran in the official timings. I reckon with a fair wind and no mechanicals / descending demons I think a 4:45 would have been achievable - something to aim for next year.
 
Cheers,
Davie

Thanks for the words of encouragement chaps, appreciated. A strange beast indeed is the 3 peaks but one I would definitely do again.
 
Standing on the start line I got talking to a bunch of fellow first timers and we basically surmised that we had no idea what to expect. Anyways the race started and the first road section was predictably rapid, I started pretty near the back as I wanted to avoid the macho nonsense and just drifted forward from one group to the next without really extending myself and felt not too bad at all. After 5 miles the off-road started with the first sections being rideable if you attacked some of the boggier sections but finding a line did prove difficult at times. I should have heeded a lesson here which I never learned 'till far too late in the day, that being at all times remount if possible even if it is for 50 yards it is quicker than carrying and would have taken minutes of my time. The first real portage is reached at Simon's fell and I felt surprising good on the climb, again finding clear space was a wee bit difficult but I did move further up the field on the ascent, which tops out with a very step section where you are pretty much on all fours. The bad news when you reach the top is this is not one of the "peaks" merely a precursor to the Whernisde ascent via some riding/portage over the moors. Whernside itself is again steep and rocky towards the top, the descent is not too bad but encountered first downhill issue of the day as my hands kept sliding on the hoods (as usual for summer riding I don't wear gloves or mitts - more on this later!) which was a bit disconcerting!
 
On to the Ingleborough climb and again felt surprisingly decent on the portaged ascent, my main tactic for the walking parts was to never stop no matter how slow the pace got, it later on got very slow but I figured if I stopped on the climbing sections I would  never get started again. Ingleborough was steep at the top with flagstone steps laid into the hill, I actually took the time to look around going up and the view was absolutely stunning in the sunshine. The descent took in moors, bogs and flagstone sections and is where I hit my second problem of the day when my front brake pad locked on - couldn't quite figure it out but kind of freed it up by brute force and pushing the lever open only for it to happen again, had to stop and adjust the pads probably costing me 10 minutes and as I was still unsure as to the root cause I was very wary of using front brakes from that point on which came back to haunt me later on.
 
Off the 2nd of the peaks there is a road transition where I discovered sucking on my camelback was producing no effect so second enforced stop of the day was at Horton-on-Ribblesdale where the lady at a wee coffee shop was good enough to give me a refill, a mile down the road the police stopped us after a road crash - probably another 8 or so  minutes down between these two stoppages. Felt not too bad on the road sections pushing a decent gear at decent speed and onto Penyghent - which is a complete and utter sod! The climb is straight up and straight back down and when you turn onto it the faster guys are coming down at absolutely suicidal pace...crazy stuff!
 
The first part is rideable and the last part is just long and a real grind with bike on shoulder, again I just kept plodding up, never stopping and was still passing people. At the top you turn and go back down, descent is very steep and a mix of gravel, rocks, and moor land, I had a 'mare on the way down as didn't trust my front brakes and my hands were really getting sore (no gloves!) making control difficult, people were passing me all the time which was demoralising as this was supposed to be the easy bit. Anyway got to the bottom in one piece which by that stage was the only priority and the last 2 miles or so is a road section back to the start point.
 
Again felt (surprisingly) good and was making good pace catching a few on the road, looked down at my hoods and noticed a big gap in the bar tape and hoods in funny position and it finally dawned on me why my front brakes had been jammed on - with the rough terrain the hoods had been shoved down the drops, tightening the cables and clamping the brakes on ....doh! Anyways powered onto the end and crossed the line in just over 5 hours feeling not too bad tbh.
 
I don't really obsess too much about times but it would have been good to break the 5 hour barrier which is a kind of cut-off point between OK and an also-ran in the official timings. I reckon with a fair wind and no mechanicals / descending demons I think a 4:45 would have been achievable - something to aim for next year.
 
Cheers,
Davie

Thanks for the words of encouragement chaps, appreciated. A strange beast indeed is the 3 peaks but one I would definitely do again.
 
Standing on the start line I got talking to a bunch of fellow first timers and we basically surmised that we had no idea what to expect. Anyways the race started and the first road section was predictably rapid, I started pretty near the back as I wanted to avoid the macho nonsense and just drifted forward from one group to the next without really extending myself and felt not too bad at all. After 5 miles the off-road started with the first sections being rideable if you attacked some of the boggier sections but finding a line did prove difficult at times. I should have heeded a lesson here which I never learned 'till far too late in the day, that being at all times remount if possible even if it is for 50 yards it is quicker than carrying and would have taken minutes of my time. The first real portage is reached at Simon's fell and I felt surprising good on the climb, again finding clear space was a wee bit difficult but I did move further up the field on the ascent, which tops out with a very step section where you are pretty much on all fours. The bad news when you reach the top is this is not one of the "peaks" merely a precursor to the Whernisde ascent via some riding/portage over the moors. Whernside itself is again steep and rocky towards the top, the descent is not too bad but encountered first downhill issue of the day as my hands kept sliding on the hoods (as usual for summer riding I don't wear gloves or mitts - more on this later!) which was a bit disconcerting!
 
On to the Ingleborough climb and again felt surprisingly decent on the portaged ascent, my main tactic for the walking parts was to never stop no matter how slow the pace got, it later on got very slow but I figured if I stopped on the climbing sections I would  never get started again. Ingleborough was steep at the top with flagstone steps laid into the hill, I actually took the time to look around going up and the view was absolutely stunning in the sunshine. The descent took in moors, bogs and flagstone sections and is where I hit my second problem of the day when my front brake pad locked on - couldn't quite figure it out but kind of freed it up by brute force and pushing the lever open only for it to happen again, had to stop and adjust the pads probably costing me 10 minutes and as I was still unsure as to the root cause I was very wary of using front brakes from that point on which came back to haunt me later on.
 
Off the 2nd of the peaks there is a road transition where I discovered sucking on my camelback was producing no effect so second enforced stop of the day was at Horton-on-Ribblesdale where the lady at a wee coffee shop was good enough to give me a refill, a mile down the road the police stopped us after a road crash - probably another 8 or so  minutes down between these two stoppages. Felt not too bad on the road sections pushing a decent gear at decent speed and onto Penyghent - which is a complete and utter sod! The climb is straight up and straight back down and when you turn onto it the faster guys are coming down at absolutely suicidal pace...crazy stuff!
 
The first part is rideable and the last part is just long and a real grind with bike on shoulder, again I just kept plodding up, never stopping and was still passing people. At the top you turn and go back down, descent is very steep and a mix of gravel, rocks, and moor land, I had a 'mare on the way down as didn't trust my front brakes and my hands were really getting sore (no gloves!) making control difficult, people were passing me all the time which was demoralising as this was supposed to be the easy bit. Anyway got to the bottom in one piece which by that stage was the only priority and the last 2 miles or so is a road section back to the start point.
 
Again felt (surprisingly) good and was making good pace catching a few on the road, looked down at my hoods and noticed a big gap in the bar tape and hoods in funny position and it finally dawned on me why my front brakes had been jammed on - with the rough terrain the hoods had been shoved down the drops, tightening the cables and clamping the brakes on ....doh! Anyways powered onto the end and crossed the line in just over 5 hours feeling not too bad tbh.
 
I don't really obsess too much about times but it would have been good to break the 5 hour barrier which is a kind of cut-off point between OK and an also-ran in the official timings. I reckon with a fair wind and no mechanicals / descending demons I think a 4:45 would have been achievable - something to aim for next year.
 
Cheers,
Davie

Thanks for the words of encouragement chaps, appreciated. A strange beast indeed is the 3 peaks but one I would definitely do again.
 
Standing on the start line I got talking to a bunch of fellow first timers and we basically surmised that we had no idea what to expect. Anyways the race started and the first road section was predictably rapid, I started pretty near the back as I wanted to avoid the macho nonsense and just drifted forward from one group to the next without really extending myself and felt not too bad at all. After 5 miles the off-road started with the first sections being rideable if you attacked some of the boggier sections but finding a line did prove difficult at times. I should have heeded a lesson here which I never learned 'till far too late in the day, that being at all times remount if possible even if it is for 50 yards it is quicker than carrying and would have taken minutes of my time. The first real portage is reached at Simon's fell and I felt surprising good on the climb, again finding clear space was a wee bit difficult but I did move further up the field on the ascent, which tops out with a very step section where you are pretty much on all fours. The bad news when you reach the top is this is not one of the "peaks" merely a precursor to the Whernisde ascent via some riding/portage over the moors. Whernside itself is again steep and rocky towards the top, the descent is not too bad but encountered first downhill issue of the day as my hands kept sliding on the hoods (as usual for summer riding I don't wear gloves or mitts - more on this later!) which was a bit disconcerting!
 
On to the Ingleborough climb and again felt surprisingly decent on the portaged ascent, my main tactic for the walking parts was to never stop no matter how slow the pace got, it later on got very slow but I figured if I stopped on the climbing sections I would  never get started again. Ingleborough was steep at the top with flagstone steps laid into the hill, I actually took the time to look around going up and the view was absolutely stunning in the sunshine. The descent took in moors, bogs and flagstone sections and is where I hit my second problem of the day when my front brake pad locked on - couldn't quite figure it out but kind of freed it up by brute force and pushing the lever open only for it to happen again, had to stop and adjust the pads probably costing me 10 minutes and as I was still unsure as to the root cause I was very wary of using front brakes from that point on which came back to haunt me later on.
 
Off the 2nd of the peaks there is a road transition where I discovered sucking on my camelback was producing no effect so second enforced stop of the day was at Horton-on-Ribblesdale where the lady at a wee coffee shop was good enough to give me a refill, a mile down the road the police stopped us after a road crash - probably another 8 or so  minutes down between these two stoppages. Felt not too bad on the road sections pushing a decent gear at decent speed and onto Penyghent - which is a complete and utter sod! The climb is straight up and straight back down and when you turn onto it the faster guys are coming down at absolutely suicidal pace...crazy stuff!
 
The first part is rideable and the last part is just long and a real grind with bike on shoulder, again I just kept plodding up, never stopping and was still passing people. At the top you turn and go back down, descent is very steep and a mix of gravel, rocks, and moor land, I had a 'mare on the way down as didn't trust my front brakes and my hands were really getting sore (no gloves!) making control difficult, people were passing me all the time which was demoralising as this was supposed to be the easy bit. Anyway got to the bottom in one piece which by that stage was the only priority and the last 2 miles or so is a road section back to the start point.
 
Again felt (surprisingly) good and was making good pace catching a few on the road, looked down at my hoods and noticed a big gap in the bar tape and hoods in funny position and it finally dawned on me why my front brakes had been jammed on - with the rough terrain the hoods had been shoved down the drops, tightening the cables and clamping the brakes on ....doh! Anyways powered onto the end and crossed the line in just over 5 hours feeling not too bad tbh.
 
I don't really obsess too much about times but it would have been good to break the 5 hour barrier which is a kind of cut-off point between OK and an also-ran in the official timings. I reckon with a fair wind and no mechanicals / descending demons I think a 4:45 would have been achievable - something to aim for next year.
 
Cheers,
Davie

Thanks for the words of encouragement chaps, appreciated. A strange beast indeed is the 3 peaks but one I would definitely do again.
 
Standing on the start line I got talking to a bunch of fellow first timers and we basically surmised that we had no idea what to expect. Anyways the race started and the first road section was predictably rapid, I started pretty near the back as I wanted to avoid the macho nonsense and just drifted forward from one group to the next without really extending myself and felt not too bad at all. After 5 miles the off-road started with the first sections being rideable if you attacked some of the boggier sections but finding a line did prove difficult at times. I should have heeded a lesson here which I never learned 'till far too late in the day, that being at all times remount if possible even if it is for 50 yards it is quicker than carrying and would have taken minutes of my time. The first real portage is reached at Simon's fell and I felt surprising good on the climb, again finding clear space was a wee bit difficult but I did move further up the field on the ascent, which tops out with a very step section where you are pretty much on all fours. The bad news when you reach the top is this is not one of the "peaks" merely a precursor to the Whernisde ascent via some riding/portage over the moors. Whernside itself is again steep and rocky towards the top, the descent is not too bad but encountered first downhill issue of the day as my hands kept sliding on the hoods (as usual for summer riding I don't wear gloves or mitts - more on this later!) which was a bit disconcerting!
 
On to the Ingleborough climb and again felt surprisingly decent on the portaged ascent, my main tactic for the walking parts was to never stop no matter how slow the pace got, it later on got very slow but I figured if I stopped on the climbing sections I would  never get started again. Ingleborough was steep at the top with flagstone steps laid into the hill, I actually took the time to look around going up and the view was absolutely stunning in the sunshine. The descent took in moors, bogs and flagstone sections and is where I hit my second problem of the day when my front brake pad locked on - couldn't quite figure it out but kind of freed it up by brute force and pushing the lever open only for it to happen again, had to stop and adjust the pads probably costing me 10 minutes and as I was still unsure as to the root cause I was very wary of using front brakes from that point on which came back to haunt me later on.
 
Off the 2nd of the peaks there is a road transition where I discovered sucking on my camelback was producing no effect so second enforced stop of the day was at Horton-on-Ribblesdale where the lady at a wee coffee shop was good enough to give me a refill, a mile down the road the police stopped us after a road crash - probably another 8 or so  minutes down between these two stoppages. Felt not too bad on the road sections pushing a decent gear at decent speed and onto Penyghent - which is a complete and utter sod! The climb is straight up and straight back down and when you turn onto it the faster guys are coming down at absolutely suicidal pace...crazy stuff!
 
The first part is rideable and the last part is just long and a real grind with bike on shoulder, again I just kept plodding up, never stopping and was still passing people. At the top you turn and go back down, descent is very steep and a mix of gravel, rocks, and moor land, I had a 'mare on the way down as didn't trust my front brakes and my hands were really getting sore (no gloves!) making control difficult, people were passing me all the time which was demoralising as this was supposed to be the easy bit. Anyway got to the bottom in one piece which by that stage was the only priority and the last 2 miles or so is a road section back to the start point.
 
Again felt (surprisingly) good and was making good pace catching a few on the road, looked down at my hoods and noticed a big gap in the bar tape and hoods in funny position and it finally dawned on me why my front brakes had been jammed on - with the rough terrain the hoods had been shoved down the drops, tightening the cables and clamping the brakes on ....doh! Anyways powered onto the end and crossed the line in just over 5 hours feeling not too bad tbh.
 
I don't really obsess too much about times but it would have been good to break the 5 hour barrier which is a kind of cut-off point between OK and an also-ran in the official timings. I reckon with a fair wind and no mechanicals / descending demons I think a 4:45 would have been achievable - something to aim for next year.
 
Cheers,
Davie

Finally made it to the tower Coutts.....walked up and down that blooming hill for about an hour this afternoon with fully loaded rucksack, feeling the burn.
 
Bit iffy first thing this morning it must be said but got bike changed out for 3 peaks and laid a fair whack of cobbles so no' a bad day all in.
 
Glad I left when I did!

For all interested the following should be available free via the UCI channel on Youtube.  
 
2015-16 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup
 
September 19 – Las Vegas (USA)
October 18 – Valkenburg (Ned)
November 22 – Koksijde (Bel)
December 20 – Namur (Bel)
December 26 – Heusden-Zolder (Bel)
January 17 – Lignieres-en-Berry (Fra)
January 24 – Hoogerheide (Ned)
 
 

For all interested the following should be available free via the UCI channel on Youtube.  
 
2015-16 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup
 
September 19 – Las Vegas (USA)
October 18 – Valkenburg (Ned)
November 22 – Koksijde (Bel)
December 20 – Namur (Bel)
December 26 – Heusden-Zolder (Bel)
January 17 – Lignieres-en-Berry (Fra)
January 24 – Hoogerheide (Ned)
 
 

For various reasons my life is somewhere North of hectic at the moment so may not be able to help out. However top tip of the day is buy decent tools, those Blackspur jobs out of the local pound shop may leave you in tears when they mangle and distort instead of loosen/tighten. 
 
For allan keys you can do worse than these - the balled ends are invaluable.
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bahco-9770-BE-9770-1-5-10mm/dp/B002SHPOZO/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1442489175&sr=1-1&keywords=bahco+allen+keys

OK Paul - hope to make it next week/

Theres the designated driver sorted......