North Yorkshire Water Park, near Scarborough, hosted the second of the winter series events. 25 hardy riders braved the biblical forecast of the fast approaching storm Darragh. Fortunately, the storm held off for everyone, with only a strengthening wind in the later stages. The Waterpark also hosts a regular parkrun on a Saturday morning and 5 keen competitors decided to take part in both events. These were Tim Evans, David Steel, Dave Robertson, Edwyn Oliver-Evans and Isaac Pressley. Of these Isaac came out top with an excellent second place and 18:00 for 5k. Not far behind was Edwyn in seventh place.
The course was split by the A170 with 210 points available on the pan flat south side and the rest in the hillier north. The North covered ground that some riders may remember, going into the village of Sawdon and the up to the edge of Wykeham forest.
All riders opted to clear some of the control to the south of the road, before moving north. With loops around Sawdon to the west, above Wykeham in the centre, and Hutton Buscel to the east playing a part in most riders’ route planning. Only Edwin cleared the course followed by Nuno missing just one control. However both riders were over the magic 10 min late and so took heavy penalties. Results are still provisional at the time of writing, however it looks like Edwin will take the overall. Second and third will be decided by the penalties. Isaac backed up his excellent run in the Parkrun with 490 points and only 45s late.
Special thanks to the Wykeham Estates for allowing access to the private roads in the area and the Waterpark for providing a great base for the event, hopefully we can return in sunnier times and attract more riders. Many riders certainly appreciated the log fire in the café after the event.