3 PEAKS CYCLO-CROSS 15th Sept 2019

[TerenceO]

3 PEAKS CYCLO-CROSS
Sunday 15th September
Note that this years race will be two weeks earlier than usual due to the world road race championships being hosted in Harrogate.

Entries open now close 10th June
http://3peakscyclocross.org.uk/

[ronankearneyle]

i'm in that photo of the start line. where's wally?? find the epic jersey at the very back

[ronankearneyle]

Might throw my hat in the ring again this year Terry. Definitely driving over this time if I go. Sail rail is a disaster

[TerenceO]

i'm in that photo of the start line. where's wally?? find the epic jersey at the very back

Well spotted well gridded in first 100 I have entered my wife it's her birthday the 15th if going will be for a week
T

[ronankearneyle]

Few paddies entered this year

Justin Doherty MV50 IRL
Liam Dunne M Team WORC IRL
Ronan Kearney MV40 EPIC MTB IRL
Simon Keating MV40 EPIC MTB IRL
Oisin Kelly MV40 Cotswold Veldrijden IRL
Conor McGrane MV40 Velo Club Balrothery IRL
Peter O'Farrell MV40 Team WORC IRL
Terence O'Neill MV60 EPIC MTB IRL
Aaron O’Donohue MV40 Team WORC IRL
Niall Somers M Team WORC IRL

[TerenceO]

Few paddies entered this year

Justin Doherty MV50 IRL
Ronan Kearney MV40 EPIC MTB IRL
Oisin Kelly MV40 Cotswold Veldrijden IRL
Conor McGrane MV40 Velo Club Balrothery IRL
Peter O'Farrell MV40 Team WORC IRL
Terence O'Neill MV60 EPIC MTB IRL
Aaron O’Donohue MV40 Team WORC IRL

Plus
Fred MacSorley MV60 Apollo Cycling Team
Derek King Apollo MV60 Cycling Team

[ronankearneyle]

Race report: Well folks, just back from Yorkshire. Another installment of 3 peaks chalked up. And another perfect weather edition. No mechanicals. Happy days. That all said, getting to the start line had been a huge challenge. A small miracle to be honest. A condensed diary of my year coming up, bear with me. Back track a couple of weeks, had the race entry sorted and a pass from home for the weekend. Had to sieze the chance, right. Fitness was ropey at best. Been showing up the Epic league 10 weeks running. Disheartened to be getting slower the last few rounds. It's supposed to happen the opposite way, you turn up every week, you become a ninja by the end, right. Thats what Richie wuold promise. Back track a bit further to March, I'm reading a letter from the Radiologist, degeneritive disc disease, bulging discs, sciatia, WTF, its game over for cycling as a hobby. Fast forward to August, injuries are on the mend, the first long day out on the bike, the Cooley Thriller goes ok. 3 peaks is game on. Get the ball rolling with proper training. I've heard a rule of thumb, increasing training load 10% a week to avoid injury. I punted for the 1000% increase plan. Seemed to be turning the corner with the back trouble, bagging a few strava pb's on the climbs. The ball and chain was disappearing at last. Nice one. Took the whole race preparation to a new level, decided to start eating super healthy for a couple of weeks in the lead up. Bringing raw carrots, beetroot and stuff like that to grate in salads at work. Mixed dressings in little tubs. No bisuits and pastries all day. Serious stuff. Weight was flying off, must've lost I don't know how many kilos. Body feeling great. Had survived the big training miles. Ready to tie a bow on it. Legs were gonna be mint after a handy week of soft pedalling to work. Got a notion to do a 5km parkrun race last weekend. Recently started jogging again after years of dust gathering on the runners. And what do you know, disaster strikes. Some horrible achilles injury, bang out of the blue. One training session too many. So, facing into a major problemo, how to fix a ruined ankle in a week. Slatherings of Ibugel and ice packs every few hours. Could barely walk for days. Advice from friends was to let 3 Peaks go. The Achilles is a hoor to mend. Make it worse, cx season is over. Flip flopped I don't know how many time. Go, not to go. Just couldn't let the dream die. Had been living off salad for a fortnight FFS. Travel and accommodation was booked and paid anyway. The plan was to head over with Miriam and the kids to the UK. An exciting trip on the ferry for everyone. Strapped the bike to the back of the car. Defer the decision to the night before. We had a B&B in Chester lined up. Was it going to be a sightseeing day with the family or do the looney race. On cue, the night before, the foot pain started to ease, a bit. Went from something like a stabbing pain, to more like a throbbing. That was good enough. Strapped the ankles with plenty of tape. Bail out on the first mountain would always be an option if it didn't work out. Had bumped into the team worc posse on the ferry on the way over. Was able to offer the lads a few stories from my previous efforts from last year and before. Ha, you don't get many chances to hand out advice to the world's off road elite. Race morning, on the motorway at 6am. Family stayed behind to enjoy the delights of TV in bed start to the day. Arrived at the middle of nowhere registration tent. Just enough time to hoof down a lovely bowl of porridge in the bunkhouse and a quick catch up with Simon. No time to track down Terry, gridding was underway outside. I'd spotted Lachlan Morton wandering around in his bright pink EF jersey. If you've been following the EF gone race videos, I was thinking, wow I'm in a proper famous race now. There has to be a camera crew making one of those super slick short movies. Didn't see a TV camera all day. Maybe for the best. Managed to make a plonker of myself out on the course. At a notorios mud pit, over the bars and face plant into the mud, with an audience. Don't need that kind of internet fame. Getting ahead of myself, race kicks of with the savage fast charge down the country roads. Had bagged myself a decent starting position by chance, but very quickly was having trouble holding wheels. Some wake up call for the body. Not turning a pedal in 7 days, crank it to max heart rate and then some. Legs were nearly blown only a few minutes into a marathon. Watched Simon slip up the road in a group, that was the last I saw of him til the finish. Off the tarmac and into the fields, the peloton transforms into a slow motion walking race. The ankle was doing ok, there was hope. Into the crazy hike. Terry had caught up. We hiked up the steepest bank more or less together. Small bit of chat. As much as you can when you're hiking up a ridiculous hill carrying a bike. We were talking after the race how we both were thinking the same thing back on that hill. "This is the last time I'm doing this". Of course, you know the fun decending will come after and you hope its going to compensate for the hardship. In a way, its good that hill is near the start, all this other mental stuff will happen in between. And by the time you finish, the hill is nearly a distant memory. Course was boggy and wet. The day itself cleared up nicely, Yorkshire scenery is unreal when you get the right day. I enjoyed the rest of the day, splashing about the hills. The fear of the achilles blowing up was always nagging. Couldn't really go too deep with the effort. Bagged a decent result considering, pb in the placings. Theres unfinished business I think. Terry came in just behind me. Simon cracked the 4 and half hour. Team worc all well under 4 hrs. Couldn't stick around at the finish to soak up the buzz and prize giving. No time for even a beer. Had to collect the entourage and make a ferry. Here's a tip, don't get the Irish Ferries Epsilon if you have the choice of a different boat. Its a banger. Home by midnight on Sunday. Good weekend for the memory banks. See you at Grange Castle

Few snaps here
https://www.strava.com/activities/2714588401

[harri]

Excellent report. Pulitzer Prize stuff

[Mr. Enduro]

I think I want to do it.

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[ronankearneyle]

Forgot a bit....Did all the in between road sections solo. Trucking along ok. On to peny-ghent lane. I'd get to see the worc boys coming down if they weren't finished already. Peter o'Farrell was just at the bottom as I came in. I gave him a shout but dunno if he heard me. He was busy fending off some lad. Aaron o'donoghue came a few minutes behind him. He was trying to overtake two guys and had come off the less rocky line on to the very rocky line. He was letting out some kind of primal roar. A few people around were laughing. No point giving him a shout. Liam Dunne another few mins back. No sign of Niall Somers. He mustve have gotten one up on PeterOF at the novelty hill running (with some biking) race. End of report.

[Gary]

Great race report, well done for giving it a lash Ronan, many would have stayed home and sulked after all that prep nearly going to waste. Sounds like torture but a fun type of torture.

[Alzer]

You should write reports for sports magazines or something. I really feel like im there with you, the way you describe things. Fair play to you for doing the race with a sore ankle.

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[DOK]

Well done Ronan!