By Jo and Heather
Here's some news on one of the books we're working on. Since late 2019, Jo and Heather have been preparing the content for and writing John's Race - the story of the Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross. This book tells the stories of the Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross and its creator and first winner the late, great John Rawnsley. Recognised as the world's toughest cyclo-cross race, the 'Peaks is an internationally renowned bike race that takes place around the Yorkshire Three Peaks of Inglebrough, Whernside and Penyghent every September.
This has so far been a labour of love, the 'Peaks is Heather's favourite race, she's ridden it 11 times and managed to win it in 2008. Jo has supported and photographed riders at the 'Peaks for many years and is well-known for her basket of cakes at the race finish.
As part of the making of the book, Jo has been organising John's extensive race archive and Heather has built an online archive that will steadily grow as more of the material is organised and scanned. This is now online and you can take a look here. For 'Peaks aficionados (and there are a great many out there) we're hoping to build up a digital archive that will sit alongside the book and give something back to the race that has given us so much pleasure (and pain!) over the years. The archive is a piece of history that records the beauty and uniqueness of this wonderful race, both of which need to be preserved.
We also have a great many people still to speak to and interview for inclusion in the book, and are hoping the digital archive and its visitors can be a means of helping us get in contact with some of them.