Monday 27th October
Afternoon train to Betws-y-Coed
Sherpa bus to YHA Pen-y-Pass
5:30pm- Dinner- Eat as much as I can! Last minute arranging gear/charging. Read through schedule.
6:30pm- Sleep. Or at least try.
Tuesday 28th
00:30: Alarm- Porridge in the handy self catering kitchen. Coffee. Lots of coffee.
01:00- Start to climb Snowdon by headtorch- leave stuff in panniers at hostel.
04:00- ReturNo PYP. change into bike gear. Top water up.
04:30: Mega downhill! Start Cycling to Deeside 56 miles.
Stop 1- 08:45- Arrive Deeside. Cycle to Seacombe- 17 miles.
10:30- MerseyFerry- toilet stop, refuel, blogs, fight off Seagulls
11:00- Land ahoy! Cycle 90 miles to YHA Ambleside- 7.5 hours
Stop 2)
Lancaster area- 53 miles Approx 19
:00 – Arrive YHA Ambleside. Shower. Stretch. Blogs/calls. 3 ccourse calorific meal.
ARRIVED 2100 – great to have Lasagne and thanks for YHA staff for support.
21:00- Sleep, latest. I mean latest.
Total mileage 160 miles.
Wednesday 29th October
Running about 3HRS behind schedule after a bad crash coming into Ambleside. THANK GOD for bike helmets – anyone who doesn’t wear them is just playing with death. Bike and kit quite badly damaged and pannier was ripped off. I’m ok but did bang my head.
Everything below now add 3 hours!
03:00- Breakfast in self catering kitchen YHA Ambleside. I.e. 150g pporridge oats, 50g peanut butter. Load up bottles with MyProtein TriCarb and Car Barley drinks.Fill jersey with MyProtein Oats and Whey Flapjacks and Blackcurrant Energels.
03:30- Cycle to Seathwaite- 25 miles.
06:00- Start walking Scafell via Corridor Route. approx 5 hours.
11:00- Finish Scafell… hopefully! Stop 1
) 11:15- Stop for a brew at YHA Borrowdale- top up water, collect supplies and crawl outside for round 2!
11:45-Start cycling to Strathaven 120 miles (10 hours cycling)
Stop 2) 13:30- Stop Costa Coffee Carlisle 38 miles-, top up water/nutrition
14:00- Continue cycling. No dawdling. Even with Costa.
17:00- Water stop. A puddle will suffice.
Stop 3) 20:00 Abington services. At the Starbucks, obviously.. 100 miles
22:30- 25 miles: Arrive Strathaven latest
23:30- Sleep!
Total mileage 145 miles.
Thursday 30th October- Armageddon
07:00- Alarm- dependent on arrival previous night. Aim for min. 6 hours sleep if possible
07:30- Start cycling to Glen Nevis- 122 miles- 10 hours
First stop: Dumbarton Costa Coffee 36 miles
Second stop: Crianlarich or Tyndrum 70 miles. After this will be on my own for next 30 miles. Almost no stopping places. The key turning point- have to fully commit. Try to avoid getting run over by Deer.
Third stop: Glencoe if needed, at 100 miles
(Extra stop in Fort William if have time)
19:30- Arrive SYHA Glen Nevis Youth Hostel. Check in- lock bike up. Get parcel of goodies (I.e. extra MyProtein bars for a boost and my Marmot down jacket just in case!). Start climbing Ben Nevis via standard route. Approx 2:30 hours to summit where the timer stops and I make a very careful descent to Glen Nevis Youth Hostel And ccomplete the first ever solo/self supported 3 Peaks Cycle Challenge within 72 hours.
01:00- Finish Ben Nevis latest
Friday 31st October- train home. Sleep. Costa. Smile. Sleep. Plan the next one….just kidding Mum. Honest. And there you have it folks. The toughest 3 days of my life on paper. You’d think after Chester2Cham I’d be feeling super confident but quite the opposite. Perhaps the fear is more than just being out of my comfort zone. But anticipation of the same uncertainty, exhaustion and pain. Ive
matthew Day says
November 11, 2015 at 3:32 pmHi Alex,
Looking to organise a charity 3 peaks at work – are you able to share the route you took between the peaks , and any tips that come to mind ?.
Good luck with your next adventure !
Cheers,
Matt