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.
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.
After a dull week it was great to see 56 riders take advantage of the autumn sunshine in Lower Wensleydale. The course took riders though rolling countryside and picturesque villages either side of the River Ure. John Rawden scored an excellent 350 points to win overall, Martin & Max Vesty scored an unbelievable 305 points to win the Generation class and finish 3rd overall, Alice & Neil Hamblin came over from Keswick to win the Mixed category while Karen Blackburn was first lady rider. The Buck Inn at Thornton Watlass made us very welcome and provided excellent bar meals and welcome drinks afterwards. I enjoyed planning the course (and my short ride) so looking forward to the next event at Sicklinghall on December 10th which has been planned by Tim Patterson. Hope to see you there.
Steve Willis
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
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
M21 Rob Harrison
W21 Louise Granger
M40 Andy Conn
W40 Sheila Pearce
M50 John Rawden
W50 Ceri Williams
X50 Steve & Andrea Foster
M60 John Dixon
W60 Karen Blackburn
Youth Sam Wilson Gen Tim and Edwin Oliver-Evans
We held 9 league events this year with an average of 107 riders which is slightly down on last year but still made a small profit.
Thanks to the planners for all their hard work – Andy Parsons, Dave Evans, Ralph Defty, Steve Roberts, ChrisWildman, Dave Lloyd, Frank Appleton and David Day.
Thanks also to all of the helpers who made these events run so smoothly that I could get out for my ride – especially Dave & Sue Relton who have retired after taking the entries and running the SI system for the last 8 years and want to ride next year.
Dave Robertson has done a brilliant job in writing the new NYMBO web page which he will continue to develop over the next few months. The page is also linked to Facebook and Twitter so I hope you find these useful.
The 4 winter events are advertised on the web pages and start at Thornton Watlass on November 12th.
Next year, we will be organising 9 events between March and October with your best 5 scores to count. I am also planning the Polaris in the Yorkshire Dales in September which may be added to the league. There will also be 4 summer evening events, the 100km Moors Marathon and a NEMBOS league of at least 5 events so plenty of riding.
It is brilliant that we have already got planners for all of these events except for 2 of the summer evening events so if you want to volunteer please let me know soon.
As some of you prefer the longer events and some of you the shorter ones I am thinking of having 2 leagues next year called Long and Short!! The Long courses will be 3,4 or 5 hours and the Short course will always be 2 hours. There will also be 20k and 10k suggested routes for non-competitive riders.
Another suggestion is to have a team competition with a maximum of 12 riders but only 6 to count in any category. The teams would be based on cycling clubs or geographical areas.
Finally, we still need more publicity. The new web page will definitely help and the BMBO site is excellent but it is also up to you. Please print off the League and Event fliers and take them to your local bike shops and riding clubs.
Full results and details of all our MBO events are on the 3 web pages
Hope to see you at one of our events in the near future
Steve Willis
Planner’s Comments
NYMBO were last at Sawley village hall 4 years ago so the challenge was to produce a different version of what I considered at the time to be an ideal course. The map area used was shrunk slightly with almost all control sites different. I split the area into 4 quadrants with 7 or 8 controls in each; the nearest SW & SE sections had 115 & 130 points respectively in each, NW & NE sections further away were worth 145 & 135 points. The northern controls generally had faster minor roads and tracks to link them up whilst the southern half contained more bridleways for route choice. Despite the drizzle during the event, the off road tracks would be nearly all firm underfoot, due to the longish dry period in September.
Examining the results, it was pleasing to see that there was no unanimity of route choice, although most leading riders set off in a SE direction before heading around the area in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. Male winner Andy Conn was successful due to his riding speed but also because he judiciously missed out 5 point controls which would have cost time for little reward. Also in M40 and second overall was Al Powell who had a 40 minute/ 15 km chase back to the finish from his penultimate control, only picking up 15 points on the way. Easy winner of the female class and W50 Angela Brand Barker took a radically different route by heading west initially and then clockwise. W40 and second lady Sue Booth was also faced with a 34 minute/9km chase back having chosen to ride 4km away from the finish to collect a 30 pointer at her penultimate control; her brave decision resulted in the loss of only 4 penalties.
I hope that you all enjoyed the event, I know that some riders suffered from thorn punctures but it is the time of year when farmers slash the hedges (there were none to be seen when I planned the course). My personal solution is to use slime filled tubes which seems to do the trick. A few riders told me that the map was wrong around control 25; apart from trees that had grown around the farm buildings everything seems spot on to me, the bridleway from the control to the road at the west had been cut with a machine that harvested the heather so if you were not on that surface, you were in the wrong place!
The entries may have been the biggest NYMBO turnout of the year, at one time we thought that the maps would run out but we just made it; thanks for those pairs who only took one map to help. Thanks also to control collectors Will & Sammy Wilson, Andrew Windrum and fellow planner, Roz Bardon, all controls were safely retrieved before night fell.
Organiser’s Comments
David Day planned a great course and the splits make interesting reading. It was a large area so no-one was going to clear up. However, there were some excellent scores but also some very heavy penalties. As the start was in the middle of the map there was a huge variety of routes chosen. I headed northeast and only saw 4 other riders in the first 2 hours but then met everyone heading the other way around #15 and #25. I rode 66k but there was probably too much distance between controls to the north to get the points needed to beat John Dixon.
Thanks to Jens for another excellent map and the helpers who helped to make everything run smoothly. Special thanks to Dave & Sue who were running SI for the last time as they want to ride next year. I will be taking the entries but if anyone wants to help at registration or download please let me know.
The splits are on the new NYMBO web page written by Dave Robertson and the basic results are on the BMBO site but you can also follow us and add your own comments on Facebook and Twitter.
Congratulations to the winners on the day who all received prizes as it was the last event in the National Series. Andy Conn led the way again with an impressive score. Timothy Martin won M21 and beat his Dad’s winning M50 score while John Dixon got it right to win M60. Angela Brand-Barker won W50 and was the overall women’s winner. Ralph & Chris Defty won the battle of the Mixed pairs with Steve & Andrea having a mechanical problem. Impressive scoring from Martin & Max Vesty to win the Generation class and Sam Wilson was the clear Youth winner.
Trophies were also awarded to the National League winners but, with so few counting riders, a few of the trophies weren’t contested. We need to think about the future and I am sure the committee would appreciate your opinions. They would also appreciate volunteers to replace the 3 officials who are standing down at theAGM.
Prizes were also awarded to the NYMBO League winners. Thanks to Tony Harker of Muddybums who sponsored the end of season T-shirts and to Halfords of Northallerton who provided the prizes at a vastly reduced price. I will write a separate article about the League once John Dixon has had chance to send me the final version. I will also write a summary of the 2012 season with thoughts about next year.
Finally, a great big thanks to the 9 volunteers who planned the courses this year.
The next NYMBO event will be at The Buck Inn, Thornton Watlass near Masham on Saturday 12th November. You can enter online or send an email to me at nymboevents@btinternet.com
Full results and details of all our MBO events are on the 3 web pages
Please let me know if there are any errors in the results, any links that don’t work on the NYMBO page or you want your details removing from the mailing list.
Hope to see you at one of our events in the near future
Steve Willis
nymbo : north yorkshire mountain bike orienteers 