Welcome to West Yorkshire’s mud. At least we had a fine day.
Thanks to all of you for coming and for the many kind comments.
I enjoyed checking out the bridleways (mostly done earlier in the year when, curiously, they were drier) and planning the course. The turnout was almost as good as at the more usual North Yorkshire areas despite the trek for many of you to Keighley.
From a quick scan of the routes, very few people braved Ilkley Moor. Very wise. Only two people visited control 13 at the Cow and Calf, and one (Martyn) did so by going off the map from Baildon to the NE. Nuno managed to fit in 54km, a fair bit if it on the road getting back from Ilkley. Of those who remained in the Aire valley, there was little consensus about the best way to tackle the controls. The towpath and roads which made the NW end look tempting were counterbalanced by the difficulty of the bridleways W of Rivock Forest.
Apologies to the many muddy people who endured the uphill trudge from 28. It was marked as ‘unsurfaced and/or grotty’ but it wasn’t so bad when I surveyed it and put the control there.
Two or three people said that controls didn’t register on MapRun(notably 21 and 23). Looking at their GPS tracks it is clear that those who complained were not in the right place. Check your track next time before you say that you’re sure you’ve been there – MapRun is now pretty reliable if the planning is done carefully.
My thanks to Tim for map printing and helping with the organisation as always, and to Pete and Chris who manned the start. And to Susie, the manager of the Airedale Heifer, for kindly hosting us. I’ve started thinking about next year…….

Tony Thornley