LMBO Event report – Witherslack – 8th March 2025

On the way home from Witherslack, the local radio station announced that Cumbria had been “hotter than Ibiza”! I think most riders found riding in these temperatures a bit of a shock as 2 days earlier there had been morning frosts! Thankfully the village hall provided a “cool” venue (that warmed up a little by opening all the doors that we had keys for!).
Feedback from the finishing riders was that they had enjoyed the challenge that we presented them by having the event area both sides of the A590. We had been out checking the course area in January and February and found some bridleways to be very unpleasant so elected not to place checkpoints along these. Warning about the “twitchy limestone” was given at the start and we understand a few of you found the areas north-east and south-west of Witherslack challenging to ride in a straight line. There was some mud near checkpoints 23 and 30 but this was found to be rideable when the SI boxes were put out on Thursday (unlike the swamps found during an earlier recce!).
A post on Facebook appealing for a few cakes resulted in an amazing response – a heartfelt thanks to all who slaved over a hot stove prior to the event.
Another post on Facebook showing the holly tree at checkpoint 17 caused one orienteer to get all poetic: -

A very tall man I do recall, Hung a box on a tree so tall
It was so far above my head, Rude words – they were said
It was immune to attack (This was way before SiAC)
Well, I jumped up and down, and got the bough to the ground
Dibbing now done, but only ten points won!

As members of the Cumbrian Sporting Community, we held a “pause for thought” on the start line to remember the 10-year-old footballer who was killed in Kendal 3 days prior to our event. LMBO have now donated to the “gofundme” site.
The top scoring riders were familiar names – Tom Gibbs, Claire Riley and Mike Hayward. Most of the top sores belonged to LMBO club riders so we are now in the lead in the inter Club shield league. Full results on BMBO website.
It was also lovely to see a lot of faces new to MBO score – we hope you enjoyed this event and are now inspired to try other events listed on BMBO calendar. You will be assured of a warm welcome wherever you venture and be prepared for a whole variety of different terrains – no two events are ever the same!
Thank you all for coming and your kind comments. Look forward to seeing you again,
Angela & Tony BB (LMBO event planners)
PS Next LMBO event is at Hawkshead on 12th April and planner Dave Cowgill has been out making sure we can all have some challenging and enjoyable riding.