The fifth edition of the Scody 3 Peaks Challenge 2014 has been completed with 92 percent of the 1,800 starters completing the course inside the 13 hour time limit.
Half of the participating riders hailed from outside of Victoria, including riders that travelled from Scotland, Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Many records were broken with average times on Tawonga Gap and Mt Hotham 31 seconds and 2 minutes faster than the previous best years.
“The calibre of the rider has definitely improved,” stated Darren Allen, General Manager of Rides for Bicycle Network, in an official media release on Monday. “Average speed is on the increase and at the same time we had a fantastic completion rate.
The first woman to finish was Tani Ruckle, from Mossman, NSW, in a time of 9 hours 16 minutes. Ruckle is 52 and a silver medalist in the Auckland Commonwealth Games in long-distance running.
In another record, 11% of the 2014 field were women, an increase from 5% in 2013.
Next year’s ride will be held on March 8,2015. In the meantime enjoy the video produced by bicyclenetwork.com.au below, you can also view event photos here and results here.
For those looking to prepare for next years event the course covers three main climbs, Tawonga Gap, Mt Hotham and finally the back of Falls Creek climb and covers a total of 235 km.
