Event Details
Club: | Lakeland Orienteering Club |
Event Name: | Lakeland Bike O 12 Series 4 |
Date: | 03/07/12 |
Format: | Bike O |
Mapping: | Ordnance Survey |
Time Limit: | 2 hours |
National League: | - |
League: | Lakeland Bike O 2012 (Round 4 of ) |
Electronic Punch: | No |
Event Report
Brow Edge man Tom Gibbs (Wilierbikes.co.uk) won this week’s Lanequest event in the Burneside area. Gibbs visited all 30 controls and was 18 minutes inside the 2 hour time limit. Four other competitors beat the time limit on a hilly course, which others found quite challenging in the wet conditions.
135 competitors tackled Tim Goffe’s course, based on Burneside Cricket Club using the network of lanes north of Burneside and Kendal.
For the third week in succession, series leader, Mike Toyn (Wheelbase.co.uk), 326 points, was left wondering what he needs to do to win again, having beaten the time limit by 13 minutes, only to find Gibbs (336) was 5 minutes faster. Brian Singleton (322), David Heffernan (304) and Dave Hollingham (304), also visited all 30 controls inside the time limit.
Bryony Halcrow (260) recorded her first win of the series in women’s solo, but had to share the honours with Helen Jackson and Lisa Whetter, who also scored 260. This score has put Halcrow into the lead for the series. Junior Carrie Beadle scored 185.
Parris Huitson and Stuart Walker (240) returned to winning form in generation pairs, but were matched by Jack and James Smith on the same score. However, this has given Huitson and Walker the series lead, with 2 events to go.
Mike Brooks & Andy Beck (276) were the best adult pair, with Sally Ward & Bruce Attwood (250) second. Brooks and Beck are series leaders in this class.
This was a very different course to the previous week at Greystoke. Riders were tempted by white roads, labelled on the map as “rough roads”, which potentially provided shorter routes, but at the expense of speed, and a higher risk of punctures for those on light tyres. That said, the white roads could be avoided and Mike Toyn managed to find an effective route staying on the tarmac. The road conditions were poor, with a lot of debris washed down by recent heavy rain. At times during the evening there was dense drizzly rain, leading some at least to proceed with caution. The overall distance/climb needed to visit all 30 controls was less than usual, leading to 5 riders beating the time limit. However, many other riders scored much the same as usual.
Burneside Cricket Club provided a spacious headquarters with plenty of parking space and good hot food and generous portions of cake, as well as a reasonably-priced bar.
Organiser Tim Goffe summed up the conditions:
“All the Lanequesters who took a punt on the conditions at LQ4 at Burneside on Tuesday night were rewarded with a short, almost dry(!!!?), break in the weather system. Nevertheless, the roads were still very tricky in the aftermath of the storms with mud, stones, debris, pot holes and deep water hazards abounding in many places. There had also been a concern about negotiating the temporary traffic lights and the regular closing of the level crossing gates, but in practice, this seemed to cause no real problems for the riders on the night.
The complex road network was ideal for planning, and the control selection objective was to give riders multiple route choices - I'm not sure there was a single optimum route. It was satisfying to see that those competitors who cleared all the controls took quite different routes. My abject apologies for siting control 29 in the wrong place (it was on a similar feature 400m closer to Grayrigg) and hope it didn't cause too great a hold up for those in a hurry -we hope we ensured all those who said they visited it were credited.
We were very grateful to have been able to use the spacious clubhouse, bar and parking facilities at the Burneside Cricket Club and big thanks to them and to Linda Knowles for providing the excellent hot chilli and cake refreshment afterwards”.
Winner Tom Gibbs (Wilierbikes.co.uk) only used one section of white road:
“The area itself was a bit more familiar to me than last week. With the larger scale map it looked a short route, which it was, but of course lumpy and on rougher roads. I was surprised about the inclusion of some rough white roads and tried to put together a route to avoid the risk of falls or punctures. In the end I only used the short bit between 8 and 11 and as an uphill as I thought this would minimise any issues.
My route was 1-2-4-10-17-21-18-24-19-25-26-27-28-30-29-13-23-14-15-20-22-16-12-9-6-8-11-7-5-3. Seemed to flow reasonably well with a few out and backs. However talking to Mike Toyn afterwards I think he had a better route from 14 onwards which avoided the rough road and in hindsight, if I had of spotted it, I'd have taken his route. 14-9-6-8-12-15-20-22-16-11-7-5-3.
Realised about Grayrigg that I would clear, as long as I didn't get a puncture, then it was all about keeping the pace on to get bonuses, which can be tricky. Very happy to clear with 18mins to spare, perhaps the organiser could have put a control on the top of the Whinfell Radio-mast road to test some climbing legs!”
Dave Hollingham encountered agricultural traffic and used 2 rough road sections:
“Very tricky riding last night with the roads in various states of repair, large herds of sheep moving around, tractors carrying silage and rough roads in a complex area.
For myself my route was 3,5,7,11,8,6,9,12,15,20,14,23,13,29,30,28,27,26,25,22,16,19,24,18,21,17,10,4,1,2, finish, which I estimated at 43km.
By 26 I had 18 controls under my belt and was just over 1 hour. Then I met a very large flock of sheep before Patton Bridge and had a nice chat for a few minutes with the farmer explaining all the cyclists darting about. Fortunately the sheep were on their way up to 24 and I was going to 25. I took the rough road between 16 and 19 impressed by the performance of 23mm tyres on tracks! Having survived the rough roads and debris I was unfortunate to puncture just after 2 on normal roads and felt the back end lose pressure approaching Burneside.
Definitely an exciting ride, even if unorthodox. I hope the roads are in better condition for next week's event”.
David Heffernan provides a comparison of his route with that of some of the other leading men:
“It was certainly an odd night. I decided to follow the traditional rules and stick to the tarmac and therefore not use the so-called "rough roads". Unfortunately I completely failed to spot Mike's route, which is utter genius. Hat's off to Mike, that's just brilliant.
My route was 8 6 16 22 20 15 12 9 14 23 13 29 30 28 27 26 25 24 19 18 21 17 10 7 11 4 1 2 5 3
My route through the Mealbank group can be improved using Tom's route, but there's not a lot in it, about a minute I think. I mapped up some of the routes and scored them with the formula:
My route: 29.9 miles, 1217 feet, 110 minutes.
Tom's route: 27.1 miles, 1161 feet, 101 minutes.
Mike's route: 27.9 miles, 1151 feet, 103 minutes.
Dave’s route: 27.1 miles, 1053 feet, 99 minutes!
So Dave’s route is shortest yet. Of course, Mike's route without any of the rough roads may actually be faster. I guess Dave must have been held up for a while with those sheep.
So, whilst Tom's route scores a little less than Mike's, the slow nature of Garth Row probably means that there's no much between them. Congratulations to Mike for staying true to the Lanequest rules, sticking to tarmac, and still finding a route to compete with the much more obvious Garth Row variant.
Once again the distance formula proves to be quite accurate. Tom and Mike have been bettering it thus far in the series (they are fitter than the rider it was calibrated with). Last night the formula won out but I put that down to the treacherous road conditions.
This was my favourite event thus far. It presented the most interesting pre-ride planning challenges that we have had so far. I think that's in part down to the nature of the road system. It's been a few years since we visited those roads and I remember last time I road them in a Lanequest that it was fun too”.
Mike Toyn (Wheelbase.co.uk) summarised the evening:
“This event offered a very challenging map as it utilised the network of small lanes in the area meaning that there was no obvious loop to follow. It meant that competitors spent a long time looking at the map and weighing up their options. The course area also had a number of short sharp hills that were in contrast to the more gentle ascents that have characterised the previous events.
A further factor was the inclusion of some rough tracks on the map meaning that riders on mountain bikes had more route options that would save some considerable distance over road bikes. Although this is frowned upon in the course planners’ notes, I think it added an interesting dimension to the event.
The riding was great and the lanes were very scenic, even if they were pretty rough in places following the heavy rain that affected the area last week. My route was pretty convoluted but I opted to stay on tarmac for quick riding and thus needed to twist and turn to get all the checkpoints.
My highlight was the slab of cake at the end. My only critique is that the course could have been a bit longer”.