The Crossing Review

Note; This was wrote 5 years after I actually rid “The Crossing” so it is not as detailed as my normal race reviews. It should still be enough to give you a feel for the what the event is like.

General info

The Crossing is a 3 day mountain bike event that brings you from the west coast of England over to the East coast.  The distance is nearly 300km. The video below is from the organisers, Rat Race.

Keep reading below to find out how I found the whole experience.

The Crossing

We arrived in Whitehaven the day before to get registered. All was well organised. We signed in and got our numbers and parked our bike near the start line. they will be kept here over night.

Day 1

Getting to the start line 45 min early to leave our bags to the transfer vans. (there is baggage transfer from the start to the finish of each day) We then got our bikes out of the compound and were itching to go with about 20 min to spare.

There was the usual speech by the race organise at the start line and we were off.  It was 6am and the sun was already out.  Such a perfect morning.

I remember the first few km were fairly flat but we were cycling straight towards the Lakeland district the mountains loomed large ahead of us.

It wasn’t long before we were in the middle of it. The first day is by far the hardest day but with the beauty of the Lakeland it hardly felt like work. I was being amazed at the views at every turn.

A well stocked break at the half way point was well needed as I was out of water. It was one of the hottest weekends of the year which made a tough cycle even tougher.

I was expecting the end of the day to come at 100km but for some reason it didn’t end until I hit 110km. I was starting to think we took a wrong turn when the campsite came into view. A very welcome sight indeed.

After storing our bikes into the bike compound for the night we quickly got our tents pitched and had a much-needed shower. It was then time to sit around and relax and share story of our days adventure with other “crossers”.

There was food, beer and bicycle equipment available for purchase.

Everyone was asleep before midnight.

Day 2

This was a completely different from the first day. Cycling along great big valleys and through picturesque villages. Many of them resembling emmerdale. (I could have sworn I seen Kane Dingle)

My only minor complaint was that there was a lot of road cycling on day 2. I still enjoyed it. Some amazing countryside.

Again, the camp site was very welcome. The same facilities were available from the night before.

Another early night for everyone.

Day 3

Clear skies for the 3rd day running. This was to be another completely different day. It was forestry day.  My personal favourite.

For the first two days, I cycled at a leisurely pace, wanting to conserve energy to the days ahead. However, on the third  day I let loose pushing at a high enough pace the whole way through just to see what I could do.

For this reason, I don’t actually have any pictures of that day. If I was to do it again I would have done a lot slower. I was just speeding through some amazing forestry and I didn’t have time to fully appreciate it.

The only pictures I have it that day is of the finish line in Scarborough.

Conclusion

All in all, The Crossing is a must do for all mountain bike enthusiasts.  If you want adventure and exciting trails then this is the event for you.

It is a little pricey but yu get a well organised event and memories that will last a lifetime.  Also the cost can be offset if you decide to do more that one event organised by Rat Race.

Click here to be directed to “The Crossing”