Race Report Allerdale Bike Challenge Rd2 – Uldale.
This area is always renowned for being the tough one of the series due to the many hills around Uldale. We responded by making it about 20% shorter than a normal event and creating a cluster of controls relatively close to the start to make sure everyone got a decent score. What we could not plan, of course, was the weather. Blazing hot and a fresh breeze made the going really tough judging by the exhausted expressions as you staggered towards the download!
The free water and orange slices provided by Mae’s was a gesture well appreciated by many. Thanks Mark & Julie.
We put a few controls at the far North of the map to stretch the ambitions of the fitter amongst you. Some of those who were then drawn to the loop back via # 21, 5 & 23 suddenly realised that they were not so fit and ambitious as they thought. A monster climb whether you tackled it from the North or South.
Congratulations go to Tom Gibbs who showed oodles of fitness and ambition to make a clean sweep with a mere 18 seconds to spare. Equally impressive was the ride from Alex Reed who scored 238pts on his first attempt at Bike orienteering. Watch out Tom!
Astrid Gibbs narrowly pipped Caitlin Pearson by reversing the 10-point lead Caitlin had at the last event thus ensure a good battle to the end of the season.
It was great to see so many of you staying behind to enjoy the food and refreshments on offer from Mark and his team at Mae’s Tea Room. Noted that many of you discovered that it is not only tea that he serves. Cheers! Mark always makes us feel really welcome, and I am sure that the very social atmosphere he has created at the old school house soon makes up for the tortures of the previous two hours. Many thanks Mark.
The next event in the series is from Mawbray. We are hoping to run it from the Lowther Arms in the village but the pub is due to be sold any day soon. If this happens before next Wednesday, we will operate from the car park at the Nature reserve on the coast road by the entrance to the village. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for final details.
Did I forget to mention? The next event is FLAT!
Results are on the bmbo website.
Tony & Angela