7^th July 2008
Location: Crooklands, nr. Kendal
 

Time: 9h 9m 43s
Overall Rank: 38/85
Age Group: 1/3
 

Event Information:

Course: A 125 mile (200km) route over some of the most difficult and challenging terrain that Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire have to offer with a total of  12705 ft (3850 metres) of climbing, including an ascent of the notorious 1 in 4 Kirkstone Pass, and finishing in the magnificent unspoilt hills of the eastern Lake District
Weather:  Rain, rain and more rain.
Website: www.3countieschallenge.com

BIKE       09:09:43│125 miles│13.64mph

Comments:
I started off in a group that was slightly too quick for me so as we passed another group I joined them and rode at a comfortable pace for a while. The rain started after about 30mins and hardly stopped for the entire race.  I don't wear gloves but I saw people at the feed stops actually wringing water out of them.

Over the first few climbs I didn't feel very good and just rode at the back of the group until we got to the first feed station in the town of Dent after about 30 miles.  From here there was a very long climb but I was starting to feel good and caught and passed a number of riders on this climb before finally catching two guys right at the top and riding with them for a quite a while.

Then, on one of the descents, disaster struck.  One of my front brake pads shot out of the brake shoe leaving me with only a rear brake. Luckily it happened just as I was going into a corner so I had already lost all my speed but now I had to ride to the next feed station (1h away) with no front brake. Scary!  The descents were very steep and the rain meant that I had to be extremely careful with the rear brake otherwise the wheel would lock up.  I had to go at close to walking speed down the descents and probably lost a good 20 minutes or so.

At the next feed stop I got a set of Allen keys and put one of the rear brakes on the front so that at least I had a good set of front brakes.

I rode most of the way to Kirkstone Pass (1 in 4) on my own and I felt amazing on the climb.  I passed two people on the ascent before descending at a cautious speed due to the rain, fog and standing water.  Also, buy this point I was not interested in finishing in a fast time - I just wanted to finish.  The chance of a good time had been ruined when my brake flew off and I had passed at 4 people who had crashed and the roads were as slippy as ice in some places I decided that there was no point in taking any risks.

The last 10 miles to the finish were awful for a number of reasons.  1) The signposting was not very good so I went off course, loosing even more time.  2) The roads chosen for the course were very dangerous. They were barely wide enough for a single car and I almost crashed into two cars coming around blind corners - one woman skidded into the hedge to avoid me.  It was not like I was even going fast (10 - 15mph) as I had absolutely no energy left.

What would I do differently?
Nothing really. The things that limited my performance were really out of my control. Fitness wise I am where I need to be.

Event Comments:
In general an excellent race on a very interesting course with good post race activities. The only thing that lets this race down is the last 10 miles or so. The roads were far too dangerous and I couldn't push the pace at the end (not that I had anything left to give - but if I had it would have been a problem). Also the sign posting in a couple of places could have been better.