The 45th annual 3 Peaks Cyclocross event

The cyclocross season kicked off this weekend with the 45th annual 3 Peaks Cyclocross event. The 38 mile route takes in three of Yorkshire's major peaks - Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-Y-Ghent - with hefty stretches of steep climbing and technical descending, linked by three rolling road sections. As it's a cyclocross race (albeit the toughest one on the UK calendar), the ability to move quickly over rough terrain with your bike on your back is as important as your riding skill.

Traditionally those riders who also happen to be handy fell runners get home first, and this year proved no exception. After a rather fast but still neutralised start, we headed straight up the side of Ingleborough.

This climb is legendary - the pitch is such that at its steepest point you find yourself scrambling up knee-high steps using the wire fence alongside to haul yourself up the hill. It soon becomes apparent that running skills are a very useful thing indeed to have here - half the field is immediately up and away to the summit like a pack of lurid mountain goats, leaving the rest of us 'normal' riders huffing and puffing along behind them cursing our lack of appropriate training. As we gain altitude, we break through the base of the cloud cover and visibility starts to diminish - there follows a strange suspension of time and distance as we pedal through what feel like endless drifts of wet grey cotton wool, handing in a tag at the summit (so that the organisers - and Mountain Rescue - know each rider's been through each checkpoint) before starting the descent down to Ingleton.

From left: Jenn Hopkins, Isla Rowntree, Heather Dawe

I'm very much more at home here and start to pass riders quickly - my tyres are up to 95psi, so I can concentrate on riding rather than worrying about pinch flats. Popping out of the cloud and seeing the valley floor below is a lovely, if brief experience - the rocks and wet grass demand full attention, but I make it safely to the bottom without incident and tackle the first chunk of road to Whernside. It's not a great deal of fun - draggy 'cross tyres are tough going on tarmac, and I only realise afterwards that some of the faster riders are switching to a bike with proper road tyres for these bits, saving themselves minutes per leg - but it's over soon enough. Whernside, though technically not as brutal a climb as Ingleborough, is tough going for those of us with relatively short legs as the majority of the path is stone-clad staircase - the Stairway to Heaven, as one kindly marshall put it - but with treads which are well above knee-high in places. The main men's field, which starts 30 minutes after the women and vets, has started to pass by this point - the leader and eventual 6th-time winner, Rob Jebb (Wheelbase), flying by back on the road - and the speed with which they tackle the incline is inspiring.

Second tag handed in, I scoff some food whilst pedaling down a surreal and empty trail. We've climbed into the cloud again, so all I can see around me are a few metres of path, a big empty hole of mist-filled air to the right, and no other riders at all. Thankfully I catch someone soon enough but not before the demons of lostness arrive on my shoulder. The descent from Whernside is part stone pavement (think rough, wet paving slabs laid end on end, with the occasional stepped section and drainage ditch to keep you on your toes), part loose boulder field, and part dodge-the-belligerent-rambler. The event is held on open trails, and nobody is obliged to get out of your way, but it can be hard to concurrrently look down at what you're riding over and ahead at what you're about to ride into... Clatter down the final stone staircase, dropping my Oakley charm on the way, and it's two safely down, one to go.

Riding beneath the awesome Ribblehead Viaduct is humbling, but there's no time to stop and soak up the atmosphere as Pen-Y-Ghent looms after six more miles of tarmac. This is a lonely experience - the field is very strung out, and I ride the majority of the six miles against a sapping and gusty headwind entirely alone. Spinning into Horton-In-Ribblesdale, the climb ahead is fully visible and I can see the tiniest specks of bright lycra already making their way over the upper half. It's a huge lump of a hill, very intimidating, and I'm thankful when the climb quickly steepens enough to allow me not to feel too bad about getting off and carrying the rest of the way.

As I near the final push, I see the leading ladies for the first and only time. Isla Rowntree (Stourbridge CC/Parker international/Wrap) and then Heather Dawe (Crosstrax) pass me, already on their way back down the hill towards the finish (riders climb and then descend the same path on Pen-Y-Ghent). The sun comes out as I hand over my final summit tag and I get the briefest glance at an astonishingly large view before I'm dropped into what feels like a rock-filled tumble drier. I've been carefully looking at lines on my way up and now the climb is reversed, the attention has paid off. There are steep rock steps to tackle, more loose rubble, some interestingly fast corners and loads of stone-clad drainage ditches to bunnyhop - all whilst avoiding the majority of the main field, who are now making their way up the lower half of the climb.

It's all great fun and I'm sad when it ends, though very glad the finish is soon in sight at the end of the road. My hands and arms are wrecked, legs wasted and head wobbly from four and a half hours of concentration - but the great feeling of elation at crossing the line in a good third place behind Isla and Heather. Not bad when I'd been wanting only to finish and then hopefully within five hours, is amazing. It's been a race of firsts - first race on gears, first 'cross race, first 3 Peaks - and a thoroughly enjoyable success. I'll definitely be back next year for more, and maybe - just maybe - doing some running before then...

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