Event Details
Club: | Lakeland Lanequests |
Event Name: | Lakeland Bike O - Staveley |
Date: | 09/07/13 |
Format: | Bike O |
Mapping: | Ordnance Survey |
Time Limit: | 2 hours |
National League: | - |
League: | Lakeland Bike O 2013 (Round 6 of 6) |
Electronic Punch: | No |
Event Report
Lakeland Lanequest 2013 event 6//
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//Mountain biker, Bryan Singleton, took to his road bike to win the final event of the Lakeland Lanequest series, finally breaking Tom Gibbs’ winning run. However, Gibbs was the convincing winner of the series, having won five of the six events.//
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//From the traditional last event base at Staveley, organiser, Ray Morriss had managed to include in his course roads not previously used, towards Troutbeck, along with the usual challenge of the gated roads around Borwick Fold and the lanes north of Crosthwaite. It was a very hot evening and riders enjoyed their refreshment outside Wilf’s Café along with presentation of the series awards by Toby Dalton of sponsors Wheelbase.//
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//Singleton (304 points) finished inside the two hour time limit, with Gibbs (288) second, ahead of consistent David Heffernan (272). The final series placings were: Gibbs first, Singleton second, and Heffernan third. Whilst Gibbs and Heffernan had ridden all six events, their best four scores counting for the series, Singleton achieved his placing by riding just four events.//
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//In the women’s class Helen Jackson (244) scored her second win of the series, with Astrid Gibbs (240) second and Anne Plant (230) third. Plant’s consistency won her the series, with Jackson second and Jo Cleary third. Jackson and Cleary have both won events in this series, so next year’s women’s competition will be interesting, especially if Gibbs rides more events.//
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//Juniors Akiko Smith (130) and Will Leedham (130) tied on the night, with, Mike Fry (120) third. Smith won the series, Fry was second, and the pair of Didi Davies & Vicky Leedham third.//
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//Peter Thompson & Zack Barrow (212) won this round of the generation pairs, ahead of Jack & James Smith (210) with Annie & Ben Kent (150) and Hannah Cleary-Hughes & Chris Stevens (150) equal third. The Smiths took the series, with Gary Thomason & George Taylor, second and Cleary-Hughes & Stevens, third.//
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//Tandemists Mike & Rachel Toyn (242) completed a clean sweep of the adult pairs events. Beth Jackson & Will Hall (226) were second, ahead of Bruce Attwood & Sally Ward (220). The Toyns took the series, with Jackson & Hall second and Andrew & Sarah Crozier third. //
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//As well as competing successfully, Rachel Toyn organised the series, having taken over from Carol McNeill who stepped down after 17 years. Carol was sixth in the women’s class, riding a new carbon road bike with electronic gears, the envy of all the lads. This year 236 competitors took part in the Lakeland Lanequests, some taking it very seriously, and many others just enjoying a potter round the lanes on a summer evening. These are great social events for anyone who likes cycling. Look out for next year’s series.//
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//Bryan Singleton finally took to his road bike to beat Tom Gibbs, although Tom had trouble locating control 22, so the real showdown will have to wait until next year. Here’s Bryan’s account, starting with his post-event “while the sun shines” activity://
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//“Sorry had to dash last night as I was helping out with hay making! Firstly, thanks to Ray/Rob for a cracking final event, which certainly had me thinking in terms of time in that middle section. //
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//Went for the bigger hills first with fresher legs- North of Staveley and Troutbeck, then down the West of the map and finished through Crook. I pretty much did Ray's route in reverse. Lucky with a couple of open gates and the road bike helped too. Was nice and hot and an early start was a bit odd as Dave said, but the lanes were quiet.//
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//Thoroughly enjoyed the series and a pity I could not have done a few more of them. Well done, Tom for some super consistent rides and is that three in a row now?”//
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//Tom Gibbs enjoyed the series and hints that the Gibbs family may be challenging for the women’s prize next year://
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//“Another cracking series - I really enjoy the Lanequests and this year we had much better weather. I still enjoyed Foxfield as it felt an adventure. Best location for me was Orton (though next time no midges please!) - great riding on the moors - can we have more of this sort of riding next year?//
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//I think Ray did a good job of the last one as it's very difficult to do a different ride from Staveley. Must admit it is not my favourite, feels fiddly and doesn't have the journey/long ride feel of some other locations, plus all those gates!//
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//Well done to Bryan, a good ride - I'd also like to mention my wife, Astrid scoring 240 and getting 2nd in the Ladies, another 2 events and she would have been mixing it for the series!//
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//I started out going clockwise so I had the choice about the ones around Troutbeck and Staveley later in the ride. Got to 19 with about 45 mins to go and knew I'd clear it. Got to 22 and just couldn't find it, spent about 3 minutes looking at every stick of wood between the pub and the river and never saw a fingerpost. Had to ditch it and then knew I'd be tight for time. Got the rest and got back a minute late, otherwise think I'd have been close to Bryan. Apologies to Ray if I was a bit "heated" but I always believe that control locations should be obvious and feedback I had from some others was that it wasn't the easiest to find. Doesn't help that the 1:50k is not detailed enough and that it was on a busy A road with a lot of roadside furniture.//
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//Did 26-30-27-28-4-5-13-29-10-6-7-8-9-11-14-15-16-17-20-19-(22)-24-12-23-21-18-25-2-1-3//
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//Looking forward to next year already - I might even organise one myself!”//
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//Having planned two events myself now, I know how difficult it can be to make all the control locations obvious. What looks OK a month before the event can disappear in chest high grass by the time you have had the map printed. We have to use 1:50k maps to cover the area on A4, but these are not always as accurate as we need. Finger posts not close to the road is another problem, how far off is acceptable? My own view is that it should be visible from the road. I’m sure we will discuss all this at next week’s organiser’s meeting//
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//David Heffernan not only rides competitively, but also gets the results out on the night. With over 150 riders some weeks, that’s impressive – thanks David. Here’s his account of the final event of the series://
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//“It was very hot last night, wasn't it?! I set off super early so that I had time for results, and it was different riding alone. Quite pleasant. Almost came a cropper with a couple of cars on the way home from work on the lanes though.//
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//The map was good, controls all bang on. I didn't think there was really much in the way of route choice if you go for all 30. The all 30 route was, for me://
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//26 30 27 28 4 5 13 29 10 6 7 8 9 11 14 15 16 17 20 19 22 24 12 23 21 18 25 2 1 3//
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//I did this but was over time as I entered Staveley. So I sneaked up to control 3 and still got back just over three minutes late for a score of 272. I think the gates slowed us down a little. There were a lot! I really enjoyed the climb from 22 up to 24, have never ridden that road before.//
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//The score for the all 30 route was 127 as I measured it. Combine the narrow roads and the gates, and Bryan's score looks pretty good.//
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//You'll no doubt hear from Trevor, but having seen his control card I can see what happened to him. He did the same basic route as me, but the large loop in reverse. He must have been out of time at the end and had to drop 30 and 3. Which is a real shame as they probably only cost 3-4 in total, yet gain 20 points! Sometimes the time limit just catches you out and penalises you more than you deserve. It was certainly very very close between Trevor and myself this year for third, much closer than the scores suggest. I'll have to up my game next year if I want to stay ahead of him I think.”//
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//Trevor Smith had a close battle with David all the series://
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//“I chose to hit the steeper hills first with fresher legs as Bryan did, going past Dubbs to Troutbeck first. The climb from Troutbeck Bridge surprised me with it's steepness, but my legs came back after the A591 as I headed south completing the same route as Dave but in reverse. In the end I missed 30, 3, 1 & 2, as the heat really got the better of me and I started to struggle on the hills; ideally I would have dropped the hilly 28 and gone for 30 instead and come back on time. //
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//A fantastic ride by Bryan on the night to get all 30 in the hot conditions and congratulations to Tom for his strong riding throughout the series. I've really enjoyed the series this year, the battle with Dave for 3rd place has been a real highlight for me, I certainly need to up my game if I'm going to deprive Dave of 3rd place next year.//
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//A big thanks to all the event and course organisers, and the ever present Ray Morris at the start line for offering his encouragement. See you next year.”//
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//Supervet Martin Oglesby offers his view from the midfield://
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//“Having ridden eleven or so LQ’s from Staveley it was pleasing to see Ray’s map had some unused territory to the NW for a change. For a ‘mid-fielder’ and mere mortal the choice of which checkpoints to miss out was the challenge. I opted to head for the Windermere / Troutbeck area as I hadn’t ridden those roads before - surprisingly quiet apart from hay-timing tractors. I was thrown by the closed road between C18 & C19 and stopped to consider a rethink before following the diversion. //
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//All the controls were spot on and fell to hand easily (no overshoots for a change!). The gated Blackmoss road really slowed progress, but it made a nice change to find myself descending to Crook instead of climbing north as previous events. Determined not to be late I arrived 3 min’s early - should have gone for another! //
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//Not the most efficient route choice by me as indicated by my route being longer and and more climbing than Rod Carter’s for less points (but more interesting)! //
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//Another amazing summer evening allowed the big entry to continue enjoying the sun whilst eating and re-hydrating outside Wilf’s. The outdoor prize-giving was a bonus too. The series goes from strength to strength, thanks to all.”//
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//As Rachel T announced there is a post event review meeting for organisers next Tuesday at the Strickland Arms; if you have any comments / criticisms for discussion perhaps you could put them up on the Facebook page ....//
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//https://www.facebook.com/groups/533101300084139///
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