... following on from Ben’s report on the Saturday leg of the Champs. It quickly became clear that one person organising a two day event 50 miles from home whilst balancing the demands of work and a family was going to be a big ask. The COVID situation meant that an early start on planning was going to be difficult. Living only a few minutes from the area I jumped in and volunteered to take on Day 2 planning based on Ben’s original ideas.
The area is a lesser-known corner of the Lake District National Park and apart from the track up Borrowdale I only saw two other people out on the fells that we used during the whole of the planning/recce process. Not even a farmer! Our closely guarded secret …don’t tell anyone.
Wild, trackless in parts, and devoid of any useful mapped features for use as control sites, meant that I had to add a lot of walls to the map. Hopefully you found them useful navigation features as well. My biggest fear was that the cloud would have been down. Birkbeck and Roundthwaite Commons could have become very disorientating. The ford at the head of Borrowdale, if impassable as it often can be in heavy rain storms, would also take away a few route options by forcing everyone onto the A6. In the event, the cooler but very dry conditions made for a good competition. I do not think anyone would have got near to clearing it if the weather had been bad. As it was Andy Conn and Tom Gibbs both got all bar one control. Brilliant efforts.
The infamous Breast High Road appeared to strike trepidation and fear into the hearts of many a hardened rider judging by the pre-race comments. It just wouldn’t have been right to leave it out though. Well done to all those who went all the way over the top. Now you know what the M in BMBO stands for!
Also, a big well done to all of the winners. Andy Conn and Tom Gibbs shared the two days between them but in the end, Tom Gibbs just had the edge to take the overall honours. Rachel Drew proved dominant by winning both days. Apologies to other half, Liam Drew, who we managed to miss out during the presentation but he did have the honour of winning the family battle by a mere two points as well as being second overall in the M40 class.
Full Day 2 results will be on the website for a couple of days, so you can see your splits, before I swap to the overall results.
Huge thankyou to Ben for all of his hard work setting up the weekend and Day 1 planning. Gemma and Eli can have their husband and & Dad back now. Thanks also to the Cross Keys who provided us with an excellent venue.
We hope that you had safe journeys home and will make the trip back up North to enjoy some more of the excellent riding in the Lakes District in the future. Look up the LakesMBO series on the website and our Facebook page. The next event will be in the hills above Staveley, 5th September. Some classic Lakeland trails.
Have a good summer
Tony Brand-Barker
BMBO Chairman