First Winter Event next Saturday 11th – course map now available*!

Brendon’s been out checking the route…

This event is at Slingsby next Saturday 11th November, planned by Brendon Smurthwaite
Registration at The Grapes Inn 0915 -1015, starts from 0930-1030
Enter online by Wednesday and save £1

Final league results, Nidderdale results, and control map are all found here.

Nidderdale MBO Organiser’s Comments

Thanks to Neil Reed for an excellent course in this lovely, tough but rarely visited part of the Yorkshire Dales. At least it was dry for most of the day but most of the tracks were very wet which should have taught us to avoid the soft ones.

I thoroughly enjoyed my ride as usual once I’d reached the road at #47 after crossing the moor from Skell Gill. I decided to ride the bridleway along the east side on Gouthwaite Reservoir as I thought it followed the old railway line (which it did but 20 yards to one side)!! However, the route choice improved once I got onto Fountains Earth Moor with the wind at my back. Thanks to Jens Strain for his final, but as always, excellent map, Geoff Moorhouse for his help on the day and especially the control collectors, Graham, Ray, Andrew & Paul who went back out in the worst of the weather.

Unfortunately, some riders used an out of bounds track near #57 as Neil explains below but thanks to Mark Rowley for letting me know at download that he had used it.

Congratulations to Graham Tibbott for another excellent score of 480; Sue Booth outscoring the other ladies with 340 points and the Brand-Barkers winning the mixed again with 295 points. You can follow all of their routes using the splits file and course map on the NYMBO site.

It was brilliant that so many riders in the hall stayed to see the leading riders receive their tee shirts as well as their beer and engraved glasses. Thanks to Rob & Anne Wiltshire of Yorkshire Dales Brewery for sponsoring our events.

Then Conrad stood up to speak and I realised why you were all there. Thanks for all of your kind comments and very generous gifts as well as your support over the last 20 years. It has been a pleasure but it’s time to step down and let someone else take over. Fortunately, I have had 10 offers from riders to plan and organise events next year, Helen Pollard of Stage1Cycles has offered to sponsor the league and act as secretary. Neil Reed will look after the equipment and Tim Evans will draw the maps, I’ll still plan one event every year and hopefully be riding at many others but only if it fits in between holidays and time with our family.

The next NYMBO event is at the Grapes at Slingsby on Saturday 11th November which was originally planned by Brendon Smurthwaite in February. Unfortunately it was cancelled due to a snowy forecast but hopefully the weather will be kinder next month and we can enjoy riding around the Howardian Hills

I’ll be there, hope you will be.
Steve

Planner’s Comments

Thanks to everyone that turned up for the final NYMBO event of the year. I had enjoyed the planning and recce rides for which I generally had much better conditions than those on Saturday !

I considered the course to be reasonably “tough” and to an extent had  in mind those riders that cover a lot more distance than I do when positioning some of the controls in the more far flung corners. I considered the main challenge would be how much time you could spend in Nidderdale before needing to head back.

That said the main intention was to provide something that everyone would enjoy and judging from the positive comments I received this appear to be the case, even for those arriving somewhat late !
Given the soft ground conditions and blustery weather on the day I was pleased and surprised to see plenty of scores in the 400’s.

On a slightly less positive note a few riders mentioned that they had seen some riders using the farmers private track leading directly to the road from CP57 which was clearly indicated as out of bounds on the map. Without labouring the point this gives an unfair advantage to those that used this as a shortcut but also potentially undermines future cooperation from the land owners. In this case I had spoken to the farmer and his son on two occasions to explain about the event and to request permission to place a control on his gate whilst emphasising that his track would be clearly marked as out of bounds and that riders would not be permitted to use it. My concern is that in future it would be understandable if they chose to be less cooperative.
Thanks to all those who helped out on the day.
Hope you all had a safe journey home.
Regards
Neil Reed

Gouthwaite Reservoir from Fountains Earth Moor

Nidderdale results here

League table and comments to follow

Saturday 21st October is our final league event of 2017 – the blank map for the Nidderdale course is below

Enter online here by Wednesday

We’re nearly at the finish of the NYMBO 2017 league, with just one event to go at Nidderdale on October 21st. You can enter that event here

The league table has now been updated and there is also a list of league qualifiers – you’ll find both on the Results page, where you’ll also find also the updated control maps for this years events.

Here’s the summary of the riders in the league qualifiers (update 17-Sep):

Continue reading →

OMM Bike & Lite Planner’s Comments

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of my rides checking all of the bridleways and controls as well as walking the main footpaths this summer and I’m so glad that the weather and track conditions weren’t the same as at the weekend.

You really had to cope with the worst conditions  that a late English summer can provide. Your cheerfulness as you finished both days was remarkable. All of the bridleways seemed to be downhill with the wind at your back which is brilliant but uphill into the wind (and rain) which isn’t as enjoyable.

I hoped that I had made the optimum route long enough so that no riders would be able to clear up on either day. Graham Tibbot tried his hardest and only left out 3 controls on Saturday but he left a few more out there on Sunday although he still won comfortably. Most riders went anti-clockwise on Saturday trying to link the controls around Addlebrough before the big decision whether to head over to Swaledale then back via Buttertubs or to stay in Wensleydale. There was more variety on Sunday and many riders managed the cracking downhill on the private track down Mossdale.

I placed 65 of the 75 controls on routes that could be reached by bike but hopefully gave the runners plenty of opportunities to use public footpaths as short cuts. Most runners headed for #37 first then continued past Semerwater and around Addlebrough before crossing Wensleydale. Sadly, both stepping stones were under water so you had to use the lanes through Aysgarth or Askrigg rather than the field paths. There was more variety on Sunday and I was pleased to see that most runners visited Cotterdale but disappointed that there was more road running involved in getting away from and back to Hawes.

Thanks to Yorkshire Dales National Park, Natural England and many landowners  who were happy for the event to go ahead. We will be making donations to the National Park and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust as well as the Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team who would have been there if we had needed them. Thanks also to the gamekeepers who were happy for us to use many of the private tracks across their grouse moors. Unfortunately, there was an important shoot on Grinton Moor on Saturday which is why it was marked out of bounds.

It was great to see 130 riders competing at the same time using the same controls as 170 runners as well as no litter or open gates when we collected them in.

It’s a pity that only 14 riders and 2 runners made it to the Wild Camp so we will need to consider how to make this course more popular!!

Thanks to Jens Strain, Dave Chapman and Harveys for 4 excellent maps. Thanks to John Rawden, John Dixon, Michael Brough, Zoe Cowgill, Alex Davies, Sheila Pearce, Dennis Jaques, Mike Allenby & Tom Williams for helping me put out and collect in the controls. Thanks also to the OMM team for their hard work organising the excellent event HQ at Hawes.

OMM results and photos are here; NYMBO results are here

Map: 2017 Wensleydale OMM BIKE 50000 Saturday

Map: 2017 Wensleydale OMM BIKE 50000 Sunday

This was my 10th and last Polaris/OMM Bike as planner because I would like to compete again and help at events without any reponsibility.

Hope to see you again next year or at a NYMBO event soon

Steve Willis (Course Planner)

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Here are the course maps for the events next Saturday and Sunday, with the event centre at Hawes.

Flier for Saturday here  | Flier for Sunday here

OMM Information here

Helmsley & Ryedale MBO

Planner’s Comments

I very much enjoyed planning this event. When I planned it in May we were going to be allowed to cycle past Duncombe Hall but late on Thursday the agent changed his mind so I had to move a control, resulting in Jens having to redraw the map. If this hadn’t happened I am sure one of the riders would have got all the points. The feedback from finishers was very positive & I think most people enjoyed themselves which was also helped by the good weather and reasonable track conditions.

Michael

Organiser’s Comments

Thanks to Michael Brough for planning an excellent course on the southern edge of the North York Moors and gaining permission to use the Duncombe Estate. The weather was perfect but some of the tracks were a bit wetter than we would have liked. Unfortunately, #31 wasn’t quite in the right place so if you couldn’t find it or wasted time looking for it please let me know so that I can adjust your score. I thoroughly enjoyed my ride and tried to stay on the plateau as much as possible. It wasn’t so I ended up descending quickly into some very steep valleys then climbing out very slowly . Thanks as ever to Jens for another excellent map; Michael for putting out all of the controls; Geoff Moorhouse, Barbara Willis & John Dixon for their help on the day as well as the control collectors.

It was Edwyn’s turn to win this time with an excellent score of 465; Sheila Pearce made it a double winning weekend with 325 points and the Brand-Barkers won their 3^rd NYMBO event in a row with 320 points.

You can follow all of their routes using the splits file and course map (below).

I have planned the OMM Bike & Lite event at Hawes on September 9^th & 10^th. As usual there is a Long (7&5 hours), Medium (5&4 hours) & Short (3&3 hours) course each day and they all count in the NYMBO League. You can only enter the Long & Medium courses via the OMM web site and you can only enter the 3 hour courses on the BMBO web site. Camping is available all weekend so why not enter and enjoy some cracking trails in the beautiful northern Yorkshire Dales. If you don’t want to compete you can always help put out and collect controls!!

Don’t forget that I will be retiring as an organiser at the end of the season so the Nidderdale event will be my last. I would still like to hear from someone who is interested in taking on the coordinators’s role and riders who would like to plan and organise an event. I will still plan an event every year and ride whenever we’re not on holiday, seeing the family or playing golf!! 3 riders have already offered to organise events this winter and 5 next summer but we need someone to take over ……please!!

Hope to see you next month.

Steve

Malham Show MBO Organiser’s Comments

Thanks to Tim Evans & Simon Coiley for planning an excellent course in this beautiful part of the Yorkshire Dales. It was a bit foggy when I arrived but fortunately the sun came out and the tracks were dry so everyone seemed to enjoy their ride. Unfortunately, #16 wasn’t quite in the right place so if you couldn’t find it or wasted time looking for it please let me know so that I can adjust your score. I thoroughly enjoyed my ride and went west because I went east last year and I wanted to ride the Gorbeck byway with the wind at my back. Thanks as ever to Jens for another excellent map; Simon & Tim for putting out all of the controls; Geoff Moorhouse & John Dixon for their help on the day as well as the control collectors.

Congratulations to Graham Tibbott for an excellent score of 417; Sheila Pearce riding again and outscoring the other ladies with 260 points and the Brand-Barkers winning the mixed again with 245 points.

I have planned the OMM Bike & Lite event at Hawes on September 9^th & 10^th. As usual there is a Long (7&5 hours), Medium (5&4 hours) & Short (3&3 hours) course each day and they all count in the NYMBO League. You can only enter the Long & Medium courses via the OMM web site and you can only enter the 3 hour courses on the BMBO web site. Camping is available all weekend so why not enter and enjoy some cracking trails in the beautiful northern Yorkshire Dales. If you don’t want to compete you can always help put out and collect controls!!

Don’t forget that I will be retiring as an organiser at the end of the season so the Nidderdale event will be my last. I would still like to hear from someone who is interested in taking on the coordinators’s role and riders who would like to plan and organise an event. I will still plan an event every year and ride whenever we’re not on holiday, seeing the family or playing golf!! 3 riders have already offered to organise events this winter and 5 next summer but we need someone to take over ……please!!

Hope to see you next month.

Steve

Results from Malham (Saturday) and Helmsley (Monday) are now available here

Full report to follow