We often refer to Nick Craig as ‘the nicest man in cycling’. If you’re ever lucky enough to meet him, we’ve no doubt you’ll experience his kindly soft spoken voice, enthusiasm, encouragement, and love of all things bike.
Nick is a veteran of the Three Peak Cyclo-Cross race, but in this video even he admits that it’s not easy, and that doubts can creep in as he shoulders his bike up that first climb.
The effort and the challenge of the Three Peaks is enough to reduce anyone to tears, and this is well worth watching just to hear Nick’s quiet description of how tough the race is. But even veteran champions like Nick can use a little extra nudge to get them to the line, and this year he was given an extra special bike to ride the final miles of the race.
As you’re probably aware, Nick’s 15 year old son, Charlie – himself a promising young rider with a personality to match his Dad’s – tragically died in his sleep in early 2017. Since then, Nick and his family have set up the charity RideForCharlie, to support young off road cyclists ‘who are or would have been inspired by Charlie to follow in his pedal strokes’. It’s been an immensely successful endeavour, with #RideForCharlie gaining wide recognition, and the charity has already given support a number of young riders.
The bike Nick rode for the final miles of this year’s Three Peaks was decorated by Fat Creations in a bespoke RideForCharlie finish. We could tell you about it here, but really, you should just watch the video so that you can hear Nick describe it. You can’t help but feel he could ride that bike to the moon.
