Another 3 Peaks video

This one is worth watching for the first few minutes. It shows the first climb up Simon's Fell.  Unbelievable how far ahead the 7-times winner Rob Jebb already is.  He's actually running on some of it!  My legs appear at about 2.10.

http://3pcx.blogspot.com/2010/09/another-video-great-movie-from-andy.html

Hellvelyn by Mountain Bike 1987

Reading Sean's account of his 82nd successful attempt at the 3 Peaks Cyclo Cross happened to coincide with me scanning in a load of old photos to clear out a bookcase, at which point I came across the attached classic. Which set me thinking about a truly epic ride (not to mention looking for an excuse to embarrass him by uploading it).
Sean and I had somehow washed up in the Lake District on a particularly dark and dreary September day, having discovered that there was a bike shop in a local town renting out (the then new fangled) mountain bikes to complete halfwits like us. Unperturbed by a complete lack of experience, footwear and ideas, we decided the best, no the only possible, thing to do would be to ride up Hellvelyn. After all, we were roughy toughy road bikers, Hellvelyn was a mountain (by English standards anyway), and we had mountain bikes, ergo it just had to be done, end of story. We did manage to ride about 100 metres to the start of the track, then found we couldn't actually ride the things up a mountain, so cheerfully carried them up to the summit cyclo cross style. And pushed them muppet style too.
Now, as any hill walker will tell you, going up is the easy part - you just point, well, uphill, and walk. So we weren't unduly worried by the descending mist and gloom as we just had to keep heading up and we would reach the top, which was, after all, the aim of the exercise, and was duly accomplished. The problem on reaching the top was that each one of the 360 surrounding degrees was 'down', and visibility was also down to about 5 metres, so where the hell should we go? At this point, things got decidedly hairy. We'd stopped climbing (obviously), were sweaty and getting very cold very quickly. Sean was also discovering that Hush Puppies dissolve in Lake District rain. We were also very, very lost, and continued that way for what seemed like several hours. We had wisely ridden totally off the well marked track and there was nobody about. At some point, Sean said he recognised a rock. I think I said, "bol****s, Sean". But he was right, and within minutes we were descending like madmen, and falling off lots too in my case, towards the car. There followed a very beery celebration, at the end of which this picture of a very beery looking Sean was taken.
So I'm glad to see, Sean, that you've learned your lesson and no longer take to the hills on totally unsuitable equipment in shitty weather, well, except for the last Sunday in September every year anyway. Congratulations on another epic ride!

My first proper mountain bike - Claire, Skipton

My first mountain bike was stolen from outside our flat in East Dulwich, London, as Sean was attaching a little computer so I could tell how fast I was going, or slow! My second, Sean bought from a friend who was leaving for the states, I really liked this bike it was a Sunn (French) and had slick tyres so I could commute to work fast, anyway it was stolen too, at work! Bloody South London!

As of yesterday I have my first proper mountain bike, purple and black with Rocket Rons and Rockshok forks, all good stuff my mechanic assures me.

My very first ride was out of our house and up to Skipton moor! The up was steep, impossible to ride when you're not fit, so we walked, all the way to the top! My bike walks well!

So at the top we're off, and I cannot believe how easy this feels, not the terrain that's rocky and very slippy but the fact that I'm out of the house riding my bike! It's almost unbelievable that I'm on the dale in no time, with no traffic or roundabouts to navigate!

The ride is fab, the view is amazing and it's just me and the sheep. I have to concentrate and cheer myself on (out loud) especially when trying to avoid nice little wheel made paths where I tended to get stuck and nearly fall off to the side, my bike handling skills are something that I am proud of! My bike feels great it really bounced off everything, funny as I'm used to off- roading on my road bike with my mechanic who thinks he's found a great route. I have always had issues with my hands and the fact thats it's hard to reach the brakes plus bumpy road equals really sore hands, even with mitts and gloves. This bike is really surprising, its recovery when I think I'm going into a ditch is great, it just bounces out the other side.

A few things to remember; do not cycle through water when you cannot see the bottom! Although my bike just made a funny noise for a while, the puddle was up to my knees. Avoid bogs, my front wheel got stuck but fortunately it rained so much today that the bog lost it's suckiness so I got out with shoes intact!

Fun Fun Fun!