3 peaks cycle challenge

soul1

Anyone out there done the 3 peaks version where you cycle between the peaks?

I'm on the search for any hints/tips/route advice or indeed anything else that might be useful..

Thanks...

waltho bum gravy

can't say i've done it, but can say good luck if you try. tried the national 3 peaks last year and got locked into the car park as wasdale head so had to abandon. that won't happen to you though.

if i were you i would try to pick your dates carefully for the climbs. they can be very popular and at times swarming with 3 peakers on charity trips. this isn't a bad thing, but i would try to avoid those times if i were you. simply because the climbs can take significantly longer if they are really busy.

Brakeless

Worth reading this if you're thinking of doing the 3 peaks

http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Feature.aspx?id=1517

desweller

A quick look around revealed this, which you've probably already seen.

Looks bloody hard!

Havelock

Hi, my friend and I did the 3 peaks whilst we were doing the land's end to john o groats ride last year. It's actually quite easy. Well, we're in our twenties and we were doing it on really old beat up racers, fully loaded with all our camping gear and we finished it in 15 days (including 1 'rest' day where we climbed a peak).

Our route was just something we got out of google maps avoiding highways and with a few of our own personal adaptations. It turned out to be about 1,100 miles. If you're interested I think I have it somewhere and can send it to you.

The best advice I'd say is to find ways round places like Liverpool and Glasgow, as those cities are pretty nasty and a pain to ride through. And if you're camping near Snowdon, get as far away from the water as possible - most sites are right next to the rivers and the mozzies bite like crazy.

Good luck!

soul1

That BMC article was interesting .. perhaps these large scale organised events should have a minimum to be raised that goes towards maintenance and repair of the routes.

Havelock if you do happy to still have the maps that would be marvellous. We're planning to do this within a week including travel from london so probably 5 or 6 days of actual event - none of us are experienced enough on a roadie (mine hasn't even arrived yet!) or fit enough to do 200 odd miles a day..

Thanks for the feedback guys...

naive doc

Soul 1 (or anyone else out there!)

Did you cycle the 3 peaks? We're planning to do something similar this year - a week, coming up from London, never been on road bike before etc! Any info, advice, especially on the route, would be much appreciated.

Cheers!

naive doc

Soul 1 (or anyone else out there!)

Did you cycle the 3 peaks? We're planning to do something similar this year - a week, coming up from London, never been on road bike before etc! Any info, advice, especially on the route, would be much appreciated.

Cheers!

dindondan

Hi Soul1
Good luck to you with your little tour my wifey and i are doing the very same late May/June this year.
Although we are doing it as a holiday so 80 miles a day instead of 200!

Lard71

Hi Soul1,

Did you manage it?

we did it in August last year over 8 days.

As my 12 year old daughter did each of the peaks with us, we allowed a day to climb each peak, with a max. 20 mile ride after the climb (my daughter didn't do any of the cycling though).

Starting from Fort William, total mileage was approx. 460 miles.

incurab1e

We did it as part of LEJOG in 10 days.

Riding after climbing was actually ok, it must be slightly different muscle groups. The
worst parts we the mountasin descents, tiring on the knees!

Be careful planning your route through The Lakes and North Wales - We quickly learnt that the smaller roads have a lot of crazy inclines - so go with the main roads

Our Blog is in my sig, there are some Garmin maps and stats if you want to check them out, even if its to AVOID our routes through lakes and North Wales - we made some mistakes there! It was tough!

Have fun though!

tbshooter

I realise this is an old post, but I can say from experience that the Three Peaks Cycle Challenge is a fantastic challenge. I decided to run this trip instead of running the conventional 24 hour challenge and, whilst it appeals to fewer people, is a far superior trip that is challenging but also beautiful (seeing the peaks in daylight is a particular highlight). For more information, please visit http://www.moreadventure.co.uk/uk-trips/ultimate-three-peaks-challenge/