The Three Peaks Yacht Race
Locked in and Locked Out
Rob Howard / 20.06.2005
The runners from the leading 3 teams all set off on the ride to Ennerdale first, using the West Cumbria Cycle Way, which climbs steeply out of Whitehaven. The pairs from Abbeydale Moonshine and Vlad the Impaler quickly pulled away and a close contest developed. So much so they raced past one turn, heads down, and took a while to realize they had gone wrong! Rob Smith and Keith Read pulled away as they approached Ennerdale, pushing on in the hope of getting back in time to make it out through the lock gate. But Matt Ford of Abbeydale Moonshine said, “Early on we did maths and realized it wasn’t possible to get back for 15.00, so we were not going to push to the limits.�
The pairs had set the quickest two times on Snowdon, and on a fine, but very hot day, they once again set fast times. Read and Smith took just a minute over 8 hours, and would have been quicker, but for Smith crashing and cutting his knee, and Read getting 3 punctures! “I warned Rob about the loose gravel on the turn,� Read said, “but too late!�
“The first two punctures I did at the same time. I was tired and not concentrating, and hit a hole in the road, then got another a little while later. I think the choice of road bike was right, but maybe I had the wrong tyres.� Fortunately, the pair had taken enough spare inner tubes with them.
Matt Ford and Phil Eaves of Abbeydale Moonshine took 9 hours 14 minutes, and were helped on the way by Jelly Baby power! “There is long drag down a forest road on the way back to collect the bikes,� he said, “and we were struggling … until we got the Jelly Babies out! After that we were on 10k pace for a while!�
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