I attended a meeting of the local bridleway group at Hudswell last night and listened to an interesting presentation from Ben Jackson – our local Countryside Ranger. He reminded us of our rights and responsibilities as well as those of the landowners.

We can cycle on any brideway or byway but never on a footpath. We are not allowed to push or carry our bikes on a footpath. We must close all gates and cycle responsibly through private property. We are allowed to leave the bridleway if necessary to get past an obstruction.

Landowners should maintain the stiles and gates in a safe condition. Landowners should keep all hedges and trees trimmed. Landowners should ensure that all bridleways are free of obstructions. This includes illegal signs, electric fences and locked or fastened gates. Landowners must reinstate bridleways in ploughed fields within 14 days. Landowners should never plough headland bridleways. NYCC should ensure that all rights of way are clearly marked.

There are 10,000km of paths and bridleways in North Yorkshire outside the 2 National Parks and only 9 rangers so it is up to us to report any problems and don’t forget to thank them if new bridleways have been created or old ones have been improved.

You can do it via the web page at www.northyorks.gov.uk and follow the link to Transport & Streets then Walking or email paths@northyorks.gov.uk

Don’t forget to enter our Sicklinghall MBO event on Saturday 10th December online at www.bmbo.org.uk or by email to nymboevents@btinternet.com

As part of improving the website, we’re also trying to improve how you get our updates by email. This should provide anyone who wants to get email updates from with an easy way to subscribe and for existing people to manage their details.

We sent out an email on Sunday 20th November to everyone, so if you didn’t get that email, this post explains what to do. It also says a little more about how we’ll manage the list, if you’re interested.

Continue reading →

A new flyer for the 2012 league can now be found on the events page

NEMBOS League 2012 The NEMBOS League for 2012 has been finalised so here are the 5 fixtures. Thanks again to the planners who have volunteered to sort out the courses.

BMBO have approved the 9 dates for next year and just waiting for FC approval for the forestry events. The online survey suggests that 3 hours is the preferred length but it is too long for some riders and too short for others so we are considering the feasibilty of running 2 leagues next year with time limits of 3-5 hours (Long) and 2 hours (Short) available at all events. There would still be 30 controls available for both courses but 15 of these would be within 5k of the event centre. You could ride in either league with your best 5 scores counting and a minimum of 3 rides to be competitive.
There would also be a 15k non-competitive route for novices
Please comment on this post. Thanks. Steve Willis

12-Nov Update: The Events page is now updated (click here) and the flyer is NYMBO League 2012

32 pre-entries received already (15 online and 17 by email). Please enter online at www.bmbo.org.uk , by email to nymboevents@btinternet.com or by adding posting your comment below asap if you want to reserve a map for Saturday 12th November at The Buck Inn, Thornton Watlass. Start between 9.30 and 10.30, ride for 2 hours in cracking Lower Wensleydale countryside then enjoy a drink and meal in the Buck. Hope to see you on Saturday. Steve Willis

Winter MBO Events 2011-12

I hope you are going to be riding at Thornton Watlass on Saturday 12th November. The controls are spread out over beautiful undulating countryside in Lower Wensleydale. Most of the controls are on quiet tarmac lanes but you will need a mountain bike if you want to visit the 30 pointers which are all on bridleways. However, lots of hedges in the area have been trimmed recently so you will need to protect your tyres and bring spare tubes and patches. You can start anytime between 9.30 and 10.30 in The Buck Inn where toilets will be available as well as menus so that you can order your meals for when you finish. Please enter online, by post or by email as soon as possible so that Jens prints enough maps and descriptions.

The Moors Marathon in September raised £385 for the Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue team. You can read about it in a recent article on  Beautiful North Yorkshire (and see a picture of Steve handing over the cheque).

Please take a moment to vote in the current polls. With 28% of the vote, Swaledale leads the 2011 favourite event poll, you can vote here. Meanwhile, 73% of you like our 3 hour events the best – you can vote on that poll just over here in the sidebar –>

Congratulations to the 2011 Champions