It seems hardly any time at all since we started the season but it is all over for another year. Sunday saw the final event of the season from Wheelbase, Staveley followed by a prize giving in Wilf’s afterwards.

Many thankyous are deserved, from the planners

Tony & Angela Brand-Barker - Witherslack,

Dave Cowgill - Hawkshead

Peter Strong - Lorton

Bruce Wilkinson & Simon Farrell - Uldale

Andrew & Rachel Slattery - Dentdale

Chris Naylor & Becky Scott - Keswick

Ray & Stephen Morriss - Staveley

who produced some excellent courses, to the Wheelbase Cycles who generously provided us with the prize Vouchers once again this year and kindly hosted the last event, to you, the riders, who turn up whatever the weather to make it all worthwhile and forgive us for the occasional mistakes.

Congratulations to all of you for achieving your own individual goals but especially well done to the Prize winners.

Tom Gibbs retained his overall trophy with 6 straight wins, but couldn’t quite make it a clean sweep due to a puncture on the last event.

Sharon Hutchinson was the top Woman this year putting a new name on the role of honour.

M21 - Alex Relby

M40 - James Chapman

M50 - Tom Gibbs

M60 - Chris Swift

M70 - Steve Willis

W40 - Fiona Wright

W50 - Sharon Hutchinson

W60 Helen Bagley

W70 - Ruth Walton

Mixed 21 - Esther Illman & Rob Nuthall

Mixed 50 - Rachel & Andrew Slattery

M Ebike - Mike Hayward

W Ebike - Lisa Stout.

Staveley Report
The final event never produced the promised sunshine and riders had to contend with dreary, foggy conditions, fortunately not bad enough to affect visibility on the roads. Ray had made use of the area south of the A591 this year rather than going up into Kentmere which kept riders below the cloud level. An area with many short Bridleways and Byways linked with small lanes, it required some careful navigation and thoughtful route choice. No one managed to come close to clearing the area with a top score of 470 out of a possible 660pts.

Well done to Mike Hayward (ebike) for top honours with Edwyn Oliver-Evans just 5 pts behind.

Sharon Hutchinson was first Woman while Andrew & Rachel Slattery consolidated their lead in the MIXED category.

Well that is it for 2025 in the Lakes. Next event is the BMBO AGM in November. If you have any suggestions to about the future of our sport then this is the opportunity to make your voice heard. Any proposals or nominations need to be with Chairman by 27th October ready for an on-line meeting on the 24th November. Further details are on the BMBO calendar.

2026 Lakes MBO Series
Great news! We have several volunteers to organise events next year but we need more!

We aim to offer 7 events again running from the Spring until the Autumn. Events will once again be using SiTiming. You do not need to worry about the technical and admin aspects of organising. That is all sorted for you. You just need to identify some good checkpoint locations to produce a course. If you cannot produce the map on the computer yourself, I can do that for you.

If you have enjoyed your rides this year and would like to contribute the sport we all enjoy then please get in touch. All offers from the experienced riders, to riders just starting out on their MBO Score adventure with Lakes MBO, are welcome to have a go at planning. As much advice and help as you need is available. Teaming up with another rider is a great way to introduce your self to planning.

As Becky & Chris proved you can be fairly new to the sport and still provide an excellent course.

I look forward to nearing from you.

Tony

mbolakes@gmail.com