The ninth Moors Marathon takes place on Sunday 6th September. There is a choice of four routes, all starting from the Fox and Rabbit Inn, 5 miles north of Pickering on the A169. Registration between 8am & 9am, start between 830am and 930am.

You can find the event flier here

You can enter online here

You can also find the location map in the events section

The blank map for the Cropton Forest on Monday 31st August is now available

VENUE GR 926 813 Wethead Farm, Stape, Pickering YO18 8QN (6 miles north of Pickering so leave the A170 at the traffic lights, drive through Stape and follow the White Rose signs into the forest. Please try to arrive before 12am as orienteers will be leaving)

FACILITIES Parking, Camping, Registration, refreshments and toilets at the Eborienteers White Rose weekend

REGISTER 11.30 – 12.45 STARTS 12.00 – 13.00

Online entry here

The blank map for Malham on Saturday August 29th is now available below

VENUE GR900627 Malham Show Ground, Malham village BD23 4DA (6 miles north of the A65 at Gargrave)

REGISTER 8.30 – 10.00 STARTS 9.00 – 10.00

Online entry here

We really enjoyed visiting Dalby to check the control sites and then riding the trails again to hang controls Friday evening and Saturday morning. Dalby provides great route choice and excellent tracks for all abilities and it was great to hear people telling me how much they had enjoyed their rides on the finish line, even some who had struggled to find one or two controls.

As we have to do the planning several months in advance of the event in order to get the permissions and maps prepared conditions can change on the tracks. It was March when we went out to the forest to check out potential control sites and my photos of most of the sites looked totally different to what we found on Friday evening. I did try to pick locations where we could get the controls close to the path hoping they would not be too overgrown this clearly didn’t always work out. There were several sites where we had to beat the bracken down on Friday evening to get the sites we had  planned and there were a couple of sites, e.g. 57 where we moved the control across or along the path slightly to avoid the vegetation. Sites 51 and 45 confused a few people, so sorry if you wasted some time or could not find them. If in doubt make sure you read the description for control placements – these two were a little way from the map feature – I thought I had marked them clearly with red and white tape, but maybe it had gone missing.

The last event I planned in Dalby was September 2010. We had about 100 riders at that event and Andy Conn was the only person to get all of the controls, but 4 minutes late back. This time I laid the controls out to make the total distance a bit less for 2015 and so thought possible someone might clear the course. I also put several high scoring controls near the start to give the fitter riders more of a challenge and a more satisfying ride with some high scoring controls for the majority. I hope people liked this. It was a shame we did not have so many riders this year with the clash with the start of the school holidays, but we had some pretty high scores with Graham Tibbot and Tim Evans getting most controls.

Andy & Corinne

Dalby Forest Organiser’s Comments

Thanks to Andy & Corinne Parsons for an excellent course in a great forest. Thanks as ever to Jens for another excellent map, Michael Brough, Karen Blackburn and John Dixon for helping on the day and Ray, Dave, John, Steve and Graham who helped Andy & Corinne collect the controls in after they had finished.

Congratulations to Graham Tibbot winning M21 (and overall) with an impressive ride visiting almost all of the controls for 480 points; Tim Evans M50-455; Phill Collings M40-421; Sheila Pearce W40-409; Steve Wood M60-385; Steve & Andrea Foster X50-360; Karen Blackburn W60-320. You can follow their routes using the splits file and course map below.

It was great to be back in a forest after 2 Dales events and I thoroughly enjoyed my ride on dry tracks and with stunning views between 40, 41 and 46.

It was disappointing that there were only 55 riders. I was trying to fit it in with our holidays but I assume many of our regulars were just starting theirs so I’ll not be using this weekend next year.

A few riders had difficulty finding #45 so I have given them the benefit of the doubt and, more importantly, the 15 points. There are 2 mistakes in the published results. Pete & Brittany Scowcroft are in X21 and Simon McPherson wasn’t there. Please let me know if there are any other mistakes so that John can update the league positions accurately.

We have got 2 events next month on the bank holiday weekend as usual

4 hours from Malham on Saturday 29^th then 3 hours in Cropton Forest on Monday 31^st. There is also a Roof of England Sportive in Weardale on Sunday 30^th if you want a full weekend on your bike. Full details about the 90, 50 or 30 mile courses are on www.roofofengland.co.uk

Hope to see you there or at another NYMBO event soon.

Steve

PS Someone left a waterbottle at the finish so please let me know if it’s yours.

PPS We have just had the hottest 3 weeks for years at Samoens. The lifts are open in the summer and our apartment isn’t fully booked in August so let me know if you fancy some brilliant mountain biking and walking!! The Cascades route involves 3 lifts then a 14k descent from 2500m to 700m. There are 2 other routes with over 1500m of descent as well as 7 brand new downhill singletrack routes from Green to Black standard.

2015 Dalby 25000 Working Drawing with Controls 5th June

Whilst reviewing the map is less essential for forest events, it’s a handy reminder of the start/finish and the various trails.

Don’t forget to print a copy of the flier for the reduced entry fee of £4 into Dalby Forest.

VENUE Stoneclose Campsite, High Rigg Farm, High Dalby, Pickering YO18 7LP
COURSES 3 hour SCORE event (with a 2 hour option for NOVICES)
REGISTER 11.30 – 12.45 STARTS 12.00 – 13.00

Dalby Forest July 2015 Blank Map

are now updated in the Results section.

Organiser’s Comments

Thanks to Ben Martin for an excellent course in a cracking area. Thanks as ever to Jens for another excellent map, Frank Appleton, Karen Blackburn, John Dixon and Dave Lloyd for helping on the day and Ray, Mick, David, Mark, Maggie, Carl and Alex who collected the controls in after they had finished. At least they got the best of the weather and it was a glorious drive back home through the Dales.

Congratulations to Alex Pilkington winning M40 (and overall) again with an impressive ride visiting almost all of the controls for 505 points; Graham Tibbot M21-460; Graham Fielding M50-426: Mark & Maggie McPhillips X40-420; Helen Jackson W21-408; Ray Morriss M60-385; Sue Booth W40-340; JuliePhelan W50-340; Carolyn & Phil Sykes X50-315; Ben & Stephen Collins Gen-300; Karen Blackburn W60-260. You can follow their routes using the splits file in the results page and course map here. 2015 Ingleton 50000 Working Drawing with Controls 2nd June

It was great to see 8 juniors riding although the course was designed for 5 hours with few options for a shorter route so I hope they enjoyed themselves.

I enjoyed putting out 7 controls around Ribblehead on Friday afternoon when the 3 Peaks were still visible.

I also enjoyed my ride on Saturday despite the dull weather and limited views!! I rode the Pennine Bridleway a few years ago with one of my daughters so it brought back great memories as I rode above Dentdale. I was very weary when I got to 41 so decided to miss 31 and 46. I also couldn’t raise any enthusiasm to push my bike up the fell to 56 so rode up the road to the bridleway junction at 48. Having heard the comments about the state of that track it was a good decision. It will be marked as soft next year and I doubt any planner will be using it again unless it’s upgraded.

We are back in the forest for our next event at Dalby on Saturday 25^th July. We are parking at High Rigg so don’t forget to print off the flier so that you get a reduced fee of £4 on the forest toll (and please share cars if possible).

Hope to see you there or at another NYMBO event soon.

Steve

PS The Midlands MBO group are organising the National Championships at Shugborough Park in Cannock Chase next weekend with a 5 hour event on Saturday 27^th and a 3 hour event on Sunday 28^th. Full details on www.bmbo.org.uk

Planner’s Comments

When I was planning the course I was looking to appeal to all abilities and particularly with a 5 hour time limit I was able to include something for everyone, although I’m not entirely sure the bridleway between Kingsdale and Barbondale was for anyone, apologies that it wasn’t marked as difficult. It’s a shame the weather wasn’t as good as last year, but that’s the British summer for you. Hopefully those who had any incidents slipping on the wet limestone will recover quickly and we’ll see you back on the bike soon. Despite the weather, I hope folk enjoyed the event and enjoyed the challenge of this area of the Yorkshire Dales.

Here is the full programme for the OvergroundUnderground Weekend

2021_OGUG_Program_2015.pdf RHP

Plenty to do if you have enough energy after 5 hours in the saddle