Hambleton Hills Organiser’s Comments

Thanks to Michael Brough for another excellent course in this great area on the edge of the North York Moors. The weather didn’t look too promising when we arrived but it did improve as the first riders set off down the hill. However, it has been a very wet winter so some of the tracks were still very soft and the bridleway which followed the stream below #57 was even deeper than normal. Thanks as ever to Jens for another excellent map, Geoff Moorhouse, Karen Blackburn, John Dixon, Frank & Sandra Appleton for helping on the day and Dave Lloyd, Karen & Richard Clark, Ray Morriss and Tim & Edwin who helped Michael collect the controls after they had finished. Thanks also to John & Sheila who welcomed us to their farm despite being in the middle of their very hectic lambing season. Their farm is also a camping and caravan site so check out www.bungdaleheadcamping.co.uk if you want to go back for a more leisurely visit.

Congratulations to Ian Nixon for nearly clearing up with 513 points closely followed by Graham Tibbott (495) and impressive riding from Rik Thompson (M40-470), Conrad Ellison & Tim Evans (M50-both 442), Roger de Faye (M60-385), Tony & Angela Brand-Barker (X50-355), John Aspden (M70-340), Jill Ellison (W40-309), Chris & Roy Partington (Gen-305) Clare de Faye (W60-250).You can follow their routes using the splits file and course map on the NYMBO site.

I thoroughly enjoyed my ride as usual and, being non-competitive, chose to stay in the forest on the plateau before heading down Wass Bank – encountering a few envious looks from the riders grinding up in the opposite direction. Then it was into White Horse Bank but leaving out the lowest 2 controls to give me time to get 54 and 59 from the top after climbing up the road – which was busier than usual due to Sutton Bank being cloesd for a while. It worked too well so that I was back early especially as the final climb up to the finish wasn’t as bad as expected.

There were a couple of controls that caused problems as they weren’t exactly where marked on the map – sorry. So if you couldn’t find 38 or 46 or wasted time and were late please let me know and I will adjust your score or time.

John Dixon has offered to look after the results again so the new league table (with some familiar names already in the lead) is on the Results page.

I am planning the OMM Bike event in the White Peak District on April 23^rd/24^th. Entries have closed at https://www.theomm.com/omm-bike-peak-district-2016/ but you can still enter the 3 hour course via the BMBO site. Or I can always do with help over the weekend putting out and collecting in the controls.

The next NYMBO event is at Knight Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales where you can ride around fantastic scenery for 5 hours on an excellent course planned by Alex Pilkington. Don’t forget to approach along the minor road through Stackhouse from Settle along the west of the River Ribble rather than the (B6479) Stainforth road.

Finally, Matthew Streets & Pete Swanborough are doing some fundraising for the local hospital unit. Matthew’s daughter, Grace, was born last year with a rare medical condition called Congenital Hyper Insulinism.She is doing ok but needs ongoing care so they will be riding three long distance MTB events to raise funds.

The first event was on 3rd April is Round 1 of the Adventure Cross Series, Moors and Shores from Dalby Forest, then the NYMBO Moors Marathon in July and finally the Kielder 101 on September 3^rd. NYMBO will be donating £50 after the Marathon so please visit https://www.justgiving.com/Streetsswanborough1 if you would like to support them

Hope to see you at another event soon

Steve

Planner’s Report

Considering Friday’s weather forecast, the weather turned out to be superb on Saturday. During the planning in January the tracks were very wet and muddy and judging by the state of some the riders and bikes on Saturday nothing had changed. I tried to plan the event with plenty of route choices. Hopefully, for those taking part, you all agreed with this. The start and finish were never going to be easy, as you can testify as you had steep climbs which ever way you went. I would like to thank everyone who helped make this a successful event, especially Steve, Jens, the control collectors and the energetic riders. Thanks also to the Fosters for the use of their farm as our base with such great views.

Michael