Considering go into watch and take some snaps. Anyone else going up? Anywhere to put a camper van on the Saturday night?

I’m riding in it. Cannae wait. Done the training, now a week of recovery and hope to do well.

I’m helping out marshalling, I assume they are still looking for people too.

Not riding it this year but I’ll ride over and watch – will be supporting a mate for some of it as well, I’ll take the first bit, his wife will do the second half of the route.

I’m doing it again. Also doing Relentless 24 solo in a few weeks so can’t really afford to taper for the 3 Peaks….
oh well. it’ll be reet I suppose.

will be riding home to Manchester after it too 😉

Riding.

Hoping for weather better than last time.

Not riding this year, was slow getting my entry in. Will be up there helping out one of my team guys who is riding – tips on support strategy? Is it possible to ride (by road) with spare wheels to the base of each of the descents? Or just try to do Whernside and Pen Y Ghent? Though I suppose if your wheel’s screwed by the base of PYG then you just ride it in.

I shall be doing it for the first time this year. Done quite a bit of training so hope I’ll be OK.
Rode Dalby red on the cross bike on Friday afternoon and got battered! Dalby red again this morning on the full bouncer and a damn site more comfortable. No more training now, just taking it easy this week so legs are hopefully fresh for next Sunday’s race.

Is it possible to ride (by road) with spare wheels to the base of each of the descents? Or just try to do Whernside and Pen Y Ghent?

Yes. When the bunch starts, ride out the opposite direction towards Austwick, Clapham, Cold Cotes and that’ll take you to the bottom of the Ingleborough descent.

Once your mate has passed you there, you can join the race route on the road and instead of forking left up Whernside, you just carry straight on and it’ll get you to Ribblehead. Same again there, once your mate passes you, join the race route back to Horton and wait at the foot of PyG for him.

Good on you for riding it too – one of the things I hate about that race is the sheer number of badly driven support cars belting it up the road…

For the fifth time yes!

Aye, I’ll be riding. Quite slowly I would imagine.

Yes as long as this cold stays in the head

How easy is it to ride on the mtb to see parts of the event? Obviously you can’t ride on the course but there seem to be B/Ways very close to some sections which would enable you to get a view.

On an MTB you could watch the leaders going up Whernside, then take the BW that traverses under the hill to Ribblehead and watch the mid pack coming down. Ride then on the road to Pen y Ghent lane with the race and you can watch the riders going up and descending.

terrahawk thats hardcore but i take my hat off to you!!!! Thats the way to go!!! 😀

Ok only EVERYONE then. Cool see you out there.

An hour of hell till the bell sounds is quite enough for me, have good safe rides.

I’m not, Mrs C illness has got worse, organisers have been very gracious though.
Maybe next year, have a great day all who do it

My first time, looking forward to it, but a bit scared as well. It is all I think about! New pads in, new tyres, all ready-ish.

Mikey-Simmo. There is a picnic area opposite the Helwith Bridge Inn where camper vans are permitted. The height restriction barrier will open ay 12:00 on saturday and close at 19:00 after the race.

For camping – please contact Martin Hanson. His details are on the accomodation section of the race website.

Good luck to all that are competing and see you on Sunday

Under race info on 3 peaks website, posted on the 19th, it says ‘starters will receive a rider briefing by SportIdent email on Friday 20th September – please check your inboxes.’

I have not had an email, anyone else?

I’ll raise my hand nervously from the back….I’ll be there. First timer and having been working overseas training considered of 2 weeks of last minute training…

Any supporters tips? I’m completely clueless. Mrs Mugsy will be accompanying me, sadly by (hire) car as we’re flying over . I can’t even find the route traced on an OS map anywhere.

No email here cat69uk

no email either

Glad I’m not the only one! What time does everyone usually get there? I’m heading down from Consett, don’t want to rush around, aiming for half 7. Should be plenty to get signed on etc…?

Any supporters tips? I’m completely clueless. Mrs Mugsy will be accompanying me, sadly by (hire) car as we’re flying over . I can’t even find the route traced on an OS map anywhere.

Get there early, way earlier than you think so you have time to park somewhere near and get signed on.
Aim to be ready to go for about 9, even though the start is 9:30.

In the old days, people used to watch the start, drive to the bottom of the first hill at Cold Cotes, wait and watch and give up bottles or food or even spare bikes, then drive to Ribblehead and do the same, then drive to Pen-Y-Gent and repeat.

The problem is that the race is too big for the traffic it generates, so parking at Cold Cotes is tricky and busy, parking at Ribblehead means a walk up to the track, and parking at Pen-Y-Gent is a nightmare.

The first hill is a grassy descent and the likelihood of punctures is low, so you don’t really need any support there. You also pass through the traditional support point quickly, so supporting there is a bit of a thankless task.

Ribblehead is the best place for her to drive to, but it will take you 2 hours and the rest to get there, so she will have lots of time to get there, get sorted with food, drink and maybe spare wheels or tyres/tubes and a track pump; if you aren’t careful, you can puncture coming off Whernside, so Ribblehead is an important service point.

Once you have passed through Ribblehead, she will have to walk back to the car, drive down to Pen-Y-Gent, and find somewhere to park; if you are going OK, you might get onto the climb before she gets a chance to see you again.

Once you come down off Pen-Y-Gent it’s only a couple of miles on the road, so unless you have any real disasters, you won’t be stopping until the finish.

Essentially, get her to drive to Ribblehead, sit in the car with a book, nip out to give you a banana, then drive to the finish.

Supporting is a dull, cold, often wet exercise in patience and weeing behind walls, make sure you do lots of washing up to say thank you.

She should be carrying a pair of spare wheels if you have them, a couple of spare tubes, a track pump, some food and some drink for you, extra clothing; gilet, arm warmers, waterproof, spare gloves.

It’s up to you to be as prepared as you can to deal with any problems, because you are always a long way from help when you need it.

http://www.3peakscyclocross.org.uk/3pcx_regulations_and_instructions_2013.pdf

Scroll down for instructions for support vehicles.

Ah that’s a great help. Thanks Crikey. She owes me a few: 24 hour mtb support/ kid wrestling and Marmotte support and kid feeding/ entertaining.

Forgot to say we will be camping at Helwith Bridge. Do we need to plan the parking place on Sat night so she can get out Sunday morning?

Half 7? You don’t need to get to sign on until 08:45!

Will be there as a marshal this year. Good luck to everyone who is competing.

Guessing if the traffic will be bad I’ll wait in the Ribblehead area as a good point to watch the race from before coming to the finish for the end if possible. Without knowing the best spots and without being able to move about too much I guess you pick one and stay there.

Wherever this was filmed and keep an eye out for Ian;

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Hluv6Nzwg[/video]

Re: Race Emails expected on September 20th. These were delayed as there we some other issues to be seen to on Friday which took priority

The email from sportident will go out later this evening and will mainly be a summary of the detailed race instructions linked to above – nothing new. please check your inboxes later.

All the best,
Mark

you need to have prepared fully, check it out;;

Can anyone recommend a spot to spectate that won’t be hand-to-hand fighting parking the car? Quite fancy bringing the bairns to watch, so parking up and making a wee hike of it would be fine.

Go to Ribblehead, check out the timings on the link I posted earlier, and have a wander about.

If anyone is going to spectate, could I ask that you take a tube and a pump in your bag. You could save someone’s race by being there and being prepared to help out. 😀

e-mail recieved last night from SI entries. Off out for a ride.

I am riding – first time, should be interesting!

Thanks to schools going back I now have a full on chest cold so it’s not looking likely for me. If anyone wants an entry and the organisers are able to swap then contact me.