Autumn's Coming

Well, it's official, the football season has started (although that seems to get earlier every year), the trees are starting to shed on my local trails and there are reports of the first 'cross races of the year up on British Cycling. Autumn's pretty much here. In spite of what you might think, i quite like autumn - it's a time for a bit of 'cross, which i find fun and stupid in equal measure, time to kick back, relax and take stock of the year. Autumn leaves weekends open for things other than racing, which after a summer as busy as mine and Rachel's can be a bit of a shock - if you're not away racing in some far-flung corner of the country, what do you do?!

You can also tell it's getting towards Halloween, Bonfire Night, and all those things that we associate with falling leaves, temperatures and rain in this country by the fact that it's now a little over a week until the 47th (i think that's right) annual 3 Peak Cyclocross. I've spent the last week dusting off my 'cross bike, truing wheels, gluing tubs (i've decided on the rather suicidal tactic of using Tufo hard-as-nails tubulars for this years race after last year's little experiment with tubeless 'cross tyres didn't go entirely according to plan) and generally sprucing it up and getting used to riding offroad on skinny little 34c tyres. I've also spent a week trying to get to the bottom of a very annoying squeak. Last night, it got so bad that i decided i couldn't just ignore it, so i decided to strip the chainset off the bike. Baaaaaad plan! It transpired that the cup on one side of the chainset had worn out - not a problem until i realised when removing the cup from the frame that i must have cross-threaded it when i put it in this time last year - it was harder than holy hell to move. So now, having planned everything meticulously, i have to find myself a replacement set of Truvativ GXP cups asap, and also get some kind soul to re-chase the threads in my BB shell. First port of call will be the ever-helpful Jerry Turner in Ely, a legend of East Anglian cycling and a wheelbuilder extraordinaire. Hopefully he'll not be too sick of me coming in with daft problems to help!

So the bike preparations have been alright barring this (ahem) minor glitch - how about body? Well, i've been doing some long offroad runs which tend to leave me feeling pretty beaten up; case in point was the last one on thursday which has left my calves still sore today! Unfortunately, there's nothing in these parts than even remotely approximates the wall of grass that's going to confront me for a second time on the ascent of Ingleborough - i remember last year not being able to believe my eyes. At least i've done some preparation other than sitting in a chair and writing a PhD thesis, so hopefully this year should be better (or at least over more quickly!) than last year was.

For those of you who haven't done the three peaks, you climb and descend the three highest peaks in Yorkshire, Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent; it's a 38 mile round trip, of which 34 miles is rideable, and 4 of which you have to walk/run. It's a truly crazy race, where you climb above the clouds with your bike over your shoulder, and then descend at breakneck speed down the side of very big hills with only useless cantilever brakes working over a tiny patch of rubber to slow you down. Possibly the most terrifying bit is Pen-y-Ghent where you climb and descend on the same track, so you spend your whole time going up hoping that some loony doesn't hit you, and then spend your whole trip down trying not to be that loony! It is nothing at all like your average cyclocross race, and yet almost everyone on the 'cross circuit does it because everyone else does! The last ten years have been almost totally dominated by fell-runner Rob Jebb, who just run away from everyone up the wall of grass and is never seen again - it's pretty amazing to watch even from the back-row seat that i had last year.

This year, there's a curious mixture of people entered, some old faces like Rob Jebb & Nick Craig, and some newer-comers like Kielder 100 winner Neal Crampton and American NUE series winner Jeremiah Bishop. It probably gets said every yearm but it'll be an exciting battle, and interesting to see who comes out on top.

With the 3 Peaks very much at the forefront of my mind, i'm off to my last MTB race of the year tomorrow, the final round of the Midlands XC series at Sherwood. Not exactly my favourite venue, i'm not sure i could explain my preference, but i just don't like the flat-out speed and tactical nature of the racing there, i think i prefer the terrain to decide. But, worth a trip up there when combined with a trip home to see my parents who it feels like i haven't seen in ages. Hopefully my calves will ache less by tomorrow!!

After that, it'll be time to strip down the trusty MTB, and start slowly acquiring replacement bits for things that are worn out/in need of a bit of TLC - there are definitely plus-points to autumn. So long for now,
Chrispy