Well… that bit of the year went by quickly, didn’t it. It all officially starts from tomorrow. Let’s prepare ourselves for:
- Entry panics
- Fitness worries
- Equipment doubts
… etc etc.
I have been in touch with Keith Parkinson – who does a great job of managing the official 3 peaks website – that the form will stay online this year until ‘John has received enough entries through his door’. This is an important thing to note. The form was taken off the site last year because of a shockingly high number of clicks on it in the opening morning. The ensuing panic / chaos wasn’t nice for many people, but it was seen as a necessary measure because John would have found trawling through 3,000 or so entries pretty tough.
I feel like I make this point on John’s behalf every year either on here or on the forum, but the 3 peaks cyclocross is a race, and they are totally entitled to screen the field and pick what to the organisers is a good field. This means a mix of all the categories, including a good series of elite riders, and people who will actually turn up and finish the race. First come, first served is just one factor in getting a successful field of riders.
So; sleep easy tonight. The form won’t go offline for at least a couple of days.
Also, it’s worthwhile to note that John’s email is not working; so don’t follow up your entry with a message to John’s email address (there are some internet connection issues !!). Use the forum if you want to get something off your chest or ask any questions – there’s a community of people there who’ll (probably) be able to help.
Let’s hope Keith’s got his server ready for a surge in bandwidth, anyway…
