The biggest race of my cycling year is almost upon me – the event referred to as the world’s toughest cyclo-cross race.

I can now count the number of days before the Three Peaks on my fingers and these final few weeks have ticked by quicker than many would have liked. The race-specific training has largely been done, the majority of equipment choices have been made and race chatter, on Twitter and in the cycling forums, is reaching a crescendo.

As race day gets ever nearer, the event begins to play ever increasingly on many competitors’ minds. It can easily grow from being a common or garden obsession to something practically all-consuming to many of the hundreds of Three Peaks enthusiasts.

Some riders give up alcohol for the month of September or diet to lose a few pounds, others check how much rain has fallen in the area via a weather station and webcam trained on Ingleborough, the first peak (a lot in the past few days). There are also the last minute equipment panics. Three Peaks blogger (and regular top-ten finisher) Dave Haygarth broke a gear hanger and, without a spare and fearing the worst, immediately pleaded on Twitter for help (he was sorted by his sponsor Wheelbase).

On one of my final specific preparation rides, last week, I managed to snap a carbon chainset and had to turn back and have it replaced quickly with something heavier. Thankfully it was the one on my spare bike. The training, as much as the race (38 miles over three famous mountain summits in the Yorkshire Dales involving 6,000 feet of climbing), is hard on equipment and hard on the body.

Equipment choice is important and the bike and body need to be up to the rigours of the event – three huge climbs, with the bike on your shoulder, and three long, rough and technical descents on ‘skinny’ 700c tyres. Many riders make adaptations to the bike specifically for the unique demands of this one race, some opting for flat bars (there is a width restriction) and others choosing to run a triple chainset.

Last year’s race was won by legendary off-roader Nick Craig (18 years since his last victory in the race) and he equipped himself with (pre-release) SRAM XX components on a super light carbon Scott Addict CX frame and using this new mountain bike groupset meant he had to use flat bars. Flat bars are at a disadvantage on the four road sections (which total 17.4 miles of the race), but provide better handling on the rough descents. The XX groupset also allowed Craig to have a very small low gear to ride as high up and as much of the climbs as possible.

Last year my lowest gear was 33-28 (running nine-speed Campagnolo) and in the endless quest to improve the set-up for the race I have succeeded in lowering this on a newly-built race bike. By acquiring a Rotor 2×9 MTB crankset I’ve been able to fit a 32T inner chainring because the chainset is dual-BCD, with an inner 74BCD and a standard compact 110BCD for the outer chainring. Hopefully this will allow me to stay on the bike longer on several sections. It should be most helpful on the approach to the final mountain of Penyghent, a long, grinding but rideable stony lane where fatigue begins to do battle with pedal cadence.

The two other race day adaptations I find essential are fitting extra ‘cross top brake levers (referred to by many as suicide or chicken levers) and fitting padding (pipe lagging) to the top tube and down tube of the frame where it comes into contact with your shoulder. The padding is all about lessening the discomfort of shouldering the bike for so long and the extra levers allow you to get your weight further back on the descents and improve the braking. Tyre choice is the perennial conundrum for the Three Peaks and the most hotly debated topic.

The stolid Schwalbe Landcruiser is a popular choice with its puncture protection, but lighter riders can get away with using lighter weight racing tyres. The only real consensus is that they should be inflated high to avoid pinch punctures. Many competitors, like myself, face the problem of not living near mountains and seek out steep climbs to train on as best we can. I would advise walking up some hills at the very least as without this your calf muscles could be screaming within minutes of hitting the first climb. I don’t think I’ve put in as much of this kind of race-specific training as last year and have managed to crash in three of my four ‘cross races in the build-up to the race, resulting in a niggling succession of aches, pains and grazes.Once your race bike is sorted there is the logistics of what to carry, how to carry it and organising your road support crew, if you are lucky enough to pressgang family or friends to perform the task.

In a seatpack below my saddle, I carry the usual tubes, levers, pump, patches, chaintool and allen keys and in my jersey pockets I stuff the race regulation emergency bivvy bag, whistle (waterproof if advised by the organisation on the day). Many people use hydration packs, but I prefer to be handed bottles at the two main road support points at the bottom of the first two mountains and get through a couple of bars and gels whilst trying to maintain a high pace on the road sections. My base fitness seems good though and race day will be about pushing hard on the climbs and concentrating on the descents.

The area has had a wet September and heavy rain in the past few days. All the indicators are that I’ll struggle to match my PB from 2009, but I hope that I now have the race experience to get me round in under four hours and possibly in the top 20 veteran finishers once again.

So, who’s going to win the race this year? Last year, seven-time winner Rob Jebb had dislocated a shoulder the weekend before the event and Nick Craig had focused on his relative weakness by posting some impressive fell running results.

The result was very close with Craig taking the £700 first prize in one of the closest-ever finishes. Fell running and cyclo-cross international Jebb was an impressive winner of his final warm-up race, a Yorkshire Points Series round, on Sunday (19 September) and admitted to me that he had become complacent last year and barely touched his ‘cross bike before race day. At the same time he was respectful of Nick Craig’s victory, “Look at the time he did, it was a quick winning time (2 hrs 54 minutes).” said Jebb. When pushed about whether he had made any equipment changes for this year he admitted he had, but did not expand. I expect it to be another close race between the two next weekend, but for Jebb to reassert his dominance after last year’s surprise.

Three Peaks top tips

1. Gear down. The event demands much lower gears than a one-hour ‘cross race.

2. Climb some hills on foot beforehand. You’re going to be walking up three mountains.

3. Pump your tyres hard to prevent puncturing.

4. Warm up. The ‘neutralised’ four mile opening road section is fast and furious.

5. Keep hydrated. Carry enough fluids or organise roadside support. 6. Only carry when you cannot push. It’s less tiring to push the bike than shoulder it.

More information on the Three Peaks

Entries have closed for the 2010 race (the entry form goes live on July 1st each year).

Course details, the history of the race and results can be found on the race website: www.3peakscyclocross.org.uk

Dave Haygarth’s Three Peaks Blog 3pcx.blogspot.com/

BBC Countryfile’s profile of the 2006 race: www.3peakscyclocross.org.uk/history/2006/2006.htm

Ingleborough webcam www.ingleboroughwebcam.co.uk/

Special thanks to the following for their help: Sam Humpheson at Look Mum No Hands Greg Conti at Mosquito Bikes Stuart and Ant at the Dales Bike Centre Upgrade Bikes Ltd Chicken Cyclekit

Konrad Manning has completed the Three Peaks four times achieving a personal best (and first class time) of 3 hours 50 minutes in last years race. A former elite fell-runner turned cyclo-cross racer, Konrad is the current Central Cyclo-Cross League veterans champion.