Here are the league positions after 10 events so only one more chance to improve your score. Some classes are already decided but others are up for grabs so I hope you can make it to Grewelthorpe on October 11th. Please let me know if there are any mistakes or any of your scores are missing.

NYMBO League 14 after 10 events

Richardson’s Cycles of Scarborough and Yorkshire Dales Brewing Company are sponsoring the prizes again this year with engraving by Keith James Jeweller’s of Richmond – as well as the highly sought-after NYMBO tee shirts. So here are the riders in contention and the score they need to improve.

NYMBO League 14 qualifiers

M21 Rik Thompson’s leading by 15 points so it depends on Ben Martin – and the famous Dixon/Duckworth/Lewis formula for planners

W21 looks like Jenny Sutton if Brittany rides with Peter in the Mixed category again

X21 Kelly & Dave Wilby are the winners

M40 Andrew Windrum has maximum points and is the overall Men’s Champion. Conrad Ellison is definitely 2nd so it’s between Phill Collings and David Cowgill for 3rd place although Mark Rowley has an outside chance

W40 only 2 points separate Sheila Pearce and Sue Booth and one of them will be the overall Women’s Champion

X40 Ruth Geenwood & Graeme Murray are the winners

M50 Graham Fielding is the winner and it’s unlikely that Tim, Michael, John or Phil will be able to improve on their lowest score enough to change their order

W50 Charlotte is leading despite only having ridden 4 events so Helen and Ceri both need a good score to stand any chance of overhauling her

X50 Ralph & Chris have a 4 point lead but Steve & Andrea still have one more score to count so it all depends on the final event

M60 Ray Morris is the winner and Geoff will probably finish 2nd so it’s up to John Dixon and Dennis Jaques who finishes 3rd

W60 Karen Blackburn is the winner

X60 Steve Roberts and Karen Clark are the winners

Y18 Nathan Parker is the winner as are Adrian & Luke Parker in the Generation category

The prizegiving will take place promptly at 3.30 in Grewelthorpe Village Hall on Saturday 11th October

Here is Saturday’s map. It’s a large file but you will be able to follow the riders’ routes from the splits if you couldn’t make it

2014 Dalby 30000 Working Drawing with Controls 29th August

Dalby Weekend Organiser’s Comments

Thanks to Dave Lloyd for yet another excellent course which ensured that we used the full variety of forest roads, broad tracks, purpose-built and older singletracks in order to visit all of the controls. The weather was disappointing but we were still able to make good progress in this bike-friendly forest.

Thanks to the Fox & Rabbit for an excellent event centre but the Start was 3km away in the forest to avoid you having to cross the very busy A169 in a hurry twice. I hope you enjoyed the warm-up and also the opportunity to check out the route back to the Finish. (It wasn’t that bad)!! Dave had put out the tape to help you find the controls as soon as you reached the right feature and Jens mapping was excellent as ever.

Thanks to the helpers I was able to thoroughly enjoy my ride having decided to head anti-clockwise to climb gradually near Givendale then clear the plateau by using the excellent Red route section between 52 and 56. I ignored Bickley and made the decision with over an hour left at Jerry Noddle to go down the slithery bridleway towards Langdale for 44 and 59 before the climb back up to Crosscliffe which disappeared in a blanket of fog as I arrived. Through 54 and 34 then it was just a fast decent down the forest drive before the final climb out of Staindale.

Andrew Windrum (M40) showed that all the training in Poland had psyched him up for this event so that he cleared up with 7 minutes to spare. (Seriously, 3^rd in the World Championships is a brilliant result). Conrad Ellison (M40) had another excellent ride to finish 2^nd overall with 485. Ian Nixon (M21) finished 3^rd with 471 despite a (slowly-repaired) puncture. (His words not mine). Tim Evans won M50 with 463, Nathan Parker (Y18) scored 442 then Adrian Baskerville won M60 with 400. Adrian & Luke Parker were the only Generation pair and scored an excellent 383.

Sheila Pearce was the leading female rider with 399 and the other winners were Karen Blackburn (W60-305), Katy Cawthorn (W21-265) and Helen Bagley (W50-245). In the Mixed categories it was Steve & Andrea’s turn to beat Ralph & Chris by 10 points with 355, Karen & Steve won X60 with 280 followed by Kerrie & Peter Moore (X40-245) then Martin & Sarah Naylor (X21-229).

Thanks to the control collectors everything was in by 5.30 so that I was able to tidy up and get ready for the morning before heading off to the Fox & Rabbit for a delicious meal.

The weather wasn’t any better in the morning for the Moors Marathon but it didn’t stop 48 riders from enjoying the 4 courses – the only really unpleasant bridleway being the track from Lilla Cross to Breckon Howe. Thanks to the volunteer control marshals for giving you a warm welcome at 5 controls this year. They were Corinne Parsons, Mike Nayler & Carol Donnelly, Frank & Sandra Appleton, Roger Hartley and Michael Brough. Graham Fielding didn’t quite get round in 5 hours on the Long course but, to be fair, it is actually 104km (with 1900m climb) so a very impressive time. 16 other riders completed the A course but only 2 riders finished the B course – 4 riders opting for the shorter route after too many sausage rolls at Breckon Howe. 25 riders enjoyed the C course and the ride over Goathland Moor was better than expected but there were only 3 riders (and me) opted for the beautiful short course around the Hole of Horcum. However, everyone has to climb out of the Newtondale valley from Farwarth Crossing so apologies for the sting in the tail at the finish but there really isn’t another option. I worked out the distances a few years ago without the benefit of Strava, Viewranger etc so I will update the information for next year. I am also happy to amend the routes if you have any suggestions. Another good day despite the murky weather and £250 will be donated to the Scarborough & Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team. It would be great to see more riders next year so please let your mates know.

Our final NYMBO league event is at Grewelthorpe near Ripon on Saturday 11^th October. David Day has planned an excellent course on the Kirby Malzeard Moors. The starts are an hour earlier than usual between 10 and 11. Parking is at Newholme Farm Caravan Park which is 500m from the village hall where hot refreshments will be on sale before and afterwards so please support them. Prizegiving for the BMBO and NYMBO Leagues will take place at 3.30 so please stay to collect your prize(s) and/or applaud the winners.

Hope to see you there or at one of the winter events which will be announced soon..

Steve

I hope this warm dry weather continues for another week so that the tracks in Dalby Forest and across the Moors stay in good condition for our 2 events next weekend.

Saturday 20th –  3hour MBO event
Dave Lloyd has planned an excellent course in Dalby Forest and there are 30 pre-entries for Saturday so far. This is the 10th event in the NYMBO League so your second last chance to improve your season’s score. The blank map will be available on the website on Tuesday evening

Enter online by Wednesday 17th for Saturday here

Sunday 21st – Moors Marathon
There are 4 courses (25km, 50km, 75km, 100km) on the Moors Marathon so routes to suit all ages and abilities across the beautiful North York Moors on Sunday – only 20 pre-entries so please encourage family and friends to come along. All proceeds are being donated to the Scarborough & Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team and all riders will receive an engraved glass when they finish. Why not make a weekend of it and camp (free of charge) at the Fox and Rabbit which is our event centre again this year. You can find the details from last years event here if you wish to check out the routes.

Enter online by Wednesday 17th for Sunday here

Marshals needed! If you don’t fancy riding, but would like to help out at one of the Moors Marathon checkpoints on Sunday please reply to this email and let me know.

Please pre-enter by Wednesday at the latest so that Jens prints enough maps for everyone.
Hope to see you there.

Wykeham & Broxa MBO Organiser’s Comments

2014 Wykeham and Broxa 30000 Working Drawing with Controls 31st July

Thanks to Dave Evans for an excellent course which tested our navigation as well as our fitness. It is very different terrain to Malham but the weather stayed dry for both events – unlike the rest of the country. Thanks to Wykeham Estate and Hackness Village Hall for an excellent event centre.

I was disappointed to overhear a few experienced riders moaning about ‘hunt the thimble’ and ‘******* ridiculous’ without thinking about the effort that goes into planning and organising these events or considering that they might actually have made a mistake. If you have got some constructive criticism, please think about it and have a quiet word with me after the event. If you have only got negative comments, then keep them to yourself or ride somewhere else. I had difficulty heading up the right track out of Wrench Green, finding 53 due to a fallen tree, 58 as I read the wrong description and 45 which was further down than I expected but they were all my fault.

All of the controls were exactly as marked on the map and as described on the description list except for #58 which caused a problem because it just read ‘100m north of …..’ with the word ‘junction’ missing. I have credited 3 riders with this control so please let me know if you couldn’t find it and I will adjust your score. Unfortunately, Dave forgot to put out any tape which would have helped some riders find some controls more quickly so I will remind all future planners!

I thoroughly enjoyed my ride, despite those 4 mistakes, having decided to head clockwise into Wykeham then across the valley through Broxa onto the northern escarpment so that I finished down Whisperdale. Everything went according to plan and some of the views were fantastic. These are working forests so there have been a few changes which Dave hadn’t spotted such as the new track between #47 and #42 and the new forest road between #45 and #51. Jens will add these and others to the map before next time – but thanks for another excellent map. Thanks also to the helpers especially Geoff Moorhouse who stepped in at the last minute so that I could have a ride.

Rik Thompson (M21) took advantage of Andy & Andrew’s absence to record the highest score of the day for the first time this year with 463. Graham Fielding (M50) came 2^nd with 435 and Martin & Max Vesty tied for 3^rd place with John Galway on 400 (2^nd M50) who was riding for the first time this year and used his local knowledge to good effect. Conrad Ellison won M40 with 395 and Geoff Moorhouse won M60 with 376 – – funny how the person in charge of download always seems to do well!!!!

In the Women’s section, Jill Ellison won W40 with 280 followed by Karen Blackburn W60-260, Ceri Williams W50-240 then Brittany Scowcroft W21-235. Andrea & Steve Foster won X50 with 358 well ahead of Ralph & Chris Defty (293), X21 Simon Walker & Katy Cawthorn (310) and X60 Karen Clark & Steve Roberts (275). Finally, Brendan & Evan Smurthwaite won the Generation class with 205 points thanks to Max & Martin riding M21.

John Dixon will add these (and Malham) results to the league which will be posted in the next couple of days. We have decided to ignore Kevin Smith’s brilliant score at Malham for the NYMBO League so your percentage will be based on Graham Fielding’s score of 697.

I am planning the Westmorland OMM Bike event from Orton (near Tebay) on Saturday & Sunday 6/7^th September and Jens has drawn the map. It’s a great area that is rarely visited but online entries for the main courses have now closed. However, there is a Non-Competitive 3 hour course available each day and you can still enter online at www.bmbo.org.uk.

If you don’t want to compete but fancy riding in this area I still need a couple of volunteers to help me put out or collect controls from Friday to Monday. Please email me at stevewillis3@btinternet.com if you would like to help. OMM will pay your travel expenses and provide a free evening meal each evening!!

Our next league event is at Dalby Forest on Saturday 20^th September

You can make it a full weekend if you ride in the Moors Marathon on Sunday and camping is available at the event centre at the Fox & Rabbit.

Hope to see you at another event soon..

Here is the updated League table after the Cropton weekend

NYMBO League 14 after 7 events

Here are both Score event maps

2014 Cropton and Newtondale 30000 Working Drawing with Controls 17th June

2014 Rosedale 50000 Working Drawing with Controls 6th July

Here are the combined Score events results

National Champs Combined Results

Here are the combined results for all 3 events

Cropton Weekend Combined Results

Splits for all 3 events are on the Results page

National Weekend Organiser’s Comments

The New Inn made an excellent event centre for a busy weekend of mountain bike orienteering which was blessed with beautiful weather until Saturday night followed by some of the wettest, muddiest riding this year on Sunday. Camping was idyllic and the planners had designed three very different but testing courses – and at least the sun returned for the prizegiving.

Thanks to Emily Benham and Jens for 3 excellent maps, the helpers and especially the control collectors who went out after their rides.

MTBO Saturday morning

It was a 3k ride to the start which warmed everybody up then a furious dash around the forest with Al Powell, Tim Evans and Euan Tebbitt leading the field on the 3 courses. There was some confusion as to what was legal riding as Andrew had planned some legs where riders had to cut through the forest. Unfortunately, we hadn’t realised that this isn’t allowed at IOF events but, as most of our riders didn’t know this and Andrew had said to some riders that it was ok, we have decided not to amend the results. Apologies to Charley who rode to IOF standard and lessons for Andrew and me for next time – if we’re asked!!

MBO Score – Cropton Forest

It was good warm up for the afternoon event planned by Michael Brough who had given us an excellent spread of controls across both forests. Andrew Windrum used his morning ride collecting controls to good effect only missing 4 controls. The forest is getting more overgrown each year – especially after the summer we have had – so some of the tracks weren’t as good as when Michael planned his course. I approached 41 from the north and regretted it – but the lovely bridleway down through 55 made up for it.

MBO Score – Rosedale

It’s a pity the weather changed for this event as Tony had planned an excellent and challenging course at his first attempt. Scores would have been slightly higher if the tracks had still been firm and dry but I must apologise for not realising that the competition area was far too large. It was intended to be a 5 hour event initially but I decided to change it to 4 hours to fit into the NYMBO league. I know that the low scores spoiled the event for many riders but at least we all get a proportion of Andrew’s winning score of only 339 points! I didn’t enjoy the first hour of my ride as I plodged across the field bridleways west of Appleton le Moor – except for the lovely descent into Hutton le Hole. Rudland Rigg was tough but the singletrack from West Gill Head through the heather and bracken tunnel was exhilarating. I knew it was going to be a tough climb out of Farndale to Blakey Rigg but the ride along the old railway line overlooking Rosedale then down across Spaunton Moor was brilliant.

Thanks to Spaunton & Rosedale estates for letting us use some private tracks and the permissive bridleway on the old railway free of charge. (Please remember that we only had permission to ride the private tracks on Sunday). We have been able to donate £1 per rider (so £53) to the Scarborough & Ryedale Search & Rescue Team.

Rosedale Planner’s Comments

What happened on Saturday night? Apart from some excessive vegetation growth the trails were hard and fast on Saturday. The transformation over night was remarkable and more like we would expect after a week of rain. Sorry but that was totally out of my hands. This was always going to be a tough course over a large area with some big climbs at the top of the map. The deluge at the start added to the conditions and I was very impressed with the smiley faces and patience of the competitors waiting to start.

This was my first attempt at planning and Steve gave me a challenging introduction with Rosedale and Farndale. I ride this area a lot but still found a few bridleways which were new to me during the early stages of the planning. I wanting to give riders an opportunity to visit many of the wonderful single tracks we have in this area. I kept the roadside controls to a minimum. There was some “easy” riding if you got onto the old railway and took the moorland top tracks south back towards Cropton.

There were two points of contention. Control 86 in the woods north of Gillamoor was about 100m from where it was marked on the map so my apologies and anyone who didn’t find it has been awarded the points. The only other point I know about was some riders had difficulty locating the start of the bridleway from the road to control 91. It is there. The first 30 metres were a little over grown and it starts about 10 meters south of the bridleway post but you can still make out the single track striking south west from the road. Is this something that I should have pointed out at the start? So a few things learnt should I have the opportunity to plan another one.

I hope those that managed to ride the single track off Rudland Rigg to Low Mill enjoyed it despite the Jurassic bracken growth. It’s got to be one of the top five single tracks on the moors and I do recommend coming back and riding in dry conditions.

As a natural worrier the control collection has been niggling me for months especially considering the size of the area. So a huge thanks to those who helped bring them in after a tough four hours beforehand.

Finally I should give James and Sam a mention who ride with my ‘muddybums’ group and stick with me for numerous trips into the area as well as helping putting the controls out, collection and planning parts of the course.

I think that’s it. Manchester airport is waiting for me.

Tony Harker

Combined BMBO Championship Results

Scores from both events counted for the overall Championships so congratulations to the winners although it’s a pity that only 32 riders rode in both events.

M40 & Overall Mens Champion – Andrew Windrum

W50 & Overall Women’s Champion – Charlotte Somers- Cocks

M21 Chris Dodd

M50 Graham Fielding

M60 John Dixon

W40 Sheila Pearce

W60 Karen Blackburn

X50 Andrea & Steve Foster

X60 Karen Clark & Steve Roberts

PS Does anyone know where the Men’s trophy is?

Combined NYMBO Weekend Results

I changed Saturday morning’s times into points and added them to the combined Score event points and was able to give prizes to 6 of the 10 riders who competed in all 3 events. So congratulations to Alan Hartley (M40-702), Charley Somers-Cocks (W50-681), John Rawden (M50-672), Ben Martin (M21-606), John Butler (M60-574), Mary Carrick (W60-315).

Our next 2 events are on the August Bank Holiday as usual.

Saturday 23^rd August – Malham Show– 4 hours

Monday 25^th August – Wykeham & Broxa Forest – 3 hours

Hope you can make it to them both.

Steve

Here is the full map of the forest for Saturday morning. Riders will be given a pre-marked extract at 1-16,000 when they Start. The Start is on the east edge of Spiers House Campsite

Cropton MTBO 2014

We have got 25 entries for Saturday morning, 70 entries for Saturday afternoon and 50 entries for Sunday. There will be spare maps as usual for entries on the day. Hope to see you there.