Event Details
Club: | Pendle Forest Orienteers |
Event Name: | Lee & Cragg Quarries - British Championship Sprints |
Date: | 30/06/12 |
Format: | MTBO |
Mapping: | Orienteering |
Time Limit: | |
National League: | - |
League: | - |
Electronic Punch: | SportIdent |
Event Report
The event format was two courses one in each of the quarries, with a timed-out ride between the two, the result being the sum of the two course times. While fast and furious as you would expect from sprint races, the courses were very technical in both navigation and riding, and quite a physical challenge in places with steep damp rocky slopes to contend with.
Killian Lomas defended his British Sprint title (which he shared with Andy Conn last year), and after a few years without much MTBO Helen Winskill showed she hasn’t lost any speed to claim the women’s title.
Split times available here:
http://www.splitsbrowser.org.uk/splitsgraph.php?eventId=5815 (Lee Quarry)
http://www.splitsbrowser.org.uk/splitsgraph.php?eventId=5818 (Cragg Quarry)
Routegadget available here:
http://www.pfo.routegadget.co.uk/pfo/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=33&kieli= (Lee Quarry)
http://www.pfo.routegadget.co.uk/pfo/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=34&kieli= (Cragg Quarry)
Planner’s Comments
In some ways planning in the quarries was easy, there are so many features not far off the tracks which are hidden in a wealth of contour detail that you can pretty much pick your best control sites and then decide which order to put them in to fit with the singletrack flow.
The hard bit was the mapping. Cragg Quarry did have an existing foot-o map which only really needed the singletrack and new fences adding, and a few tweaks here and there to cope with the fact it was originally mapped for 1:10,000 not 1:5,000. However Lee Quarry was basically a blank piece of paper, with neither OS mapping or photo-plot providing anything useable inside the quarry. Hopefully you didn’t find too many errors, I think the depression which contained number 3 could’ve been better mapped so apologies if you lost time there.
The on-track riding in the quarries is pretty tough and physical, and obviously off-track is harder still. The recent inclement weather has certainly made things tougher again with much soil being very loose and damp, also in some places vegetation is higher than when the mapping and planning was done. I know a few of you found yourselves pushing perhaps more than you would expect on an MTBO but I would say the course was 90% rideable if you chose such a route. If you go cross-country all the time you get what you ask for! I think the courses were testing of both Mountain Biking and Orienteering ability and that ticks all the boxes for me, this is sort of MTBO I would like so I hope you enjoyed it too.
Many thanks go to PFO without whom the event would have been impossible. George Crawford-Smith for much organising work including sorting the map printing; Dave Rose for controlling; the three brave souls who stood out in the hail running starts and finishes; and the registration/download team. I’m sure there’s somebody I’ve forgotten.
Many thanks also go to Lancashire County Council for use of the two quarries, which were provided free of charge. They were enthusiastic about the event and had a can-do attitude which is quite refreshing.
Finally thanks to Sarah for putting up with me spending evenings on OCAD and getting up with me at 0430 to help make the event run smoothly.
Alan Hartley