BMBO Middle DistanceGisburn ForestSat 06 October, 2018

Local level event

Explanation of Event levels

Training events are non competitive events used for training and coaching, aimed at members of the club, but they can attract people from neighbouring clubs, and are often ideal for newcomers to try the sport.
Local events are usually low key and in the 'localised' area, ideal for newcomers to try the sport. Most clubs run some 'mini series' throughout the year as local mid week events.
Regional events attract participants from around the local Region.
National events are high quality competitions that will attract people from far away,
Major events are Major Events such as a British Championships or the annual JK competition.

Report

Results

Results for Gisburn MTBO Middle Distance event.
RouteGadget

LOST PROPERTY: One adhesive compass capsule. Found at the finish! I think it belongs to a female competitor. If it's yours, e-mail me and I'll send ()

Planner's comments:

Planning a course is somewhat tricky if you want to make it fun and challenging, but not a ride around the red trail itself! I hope that's what came off at yesterday's event and that all the competitors enjoyed the course.

Please accept our apologies for the last minute change of Control 14, its location wasn't ideal for other trail users moving at speed so we felt it safer to move it slightly.

We also decided on having a joint A/B Course, the idea behind this is that there's some value for money and a decent length for those travelling from afar (including Ukraine!). Thankfully the choice of Gisburn allowed for some riding after the event or even some great riding home over Bowland Knotts (Alex Pilkington!) with stunning views on what turned out be a fantastic day weather wise. That said it rained for 24 hours prior to the event, so there were a fair amount of puddles and slippy roots about, which may have given some riders a test of their abilities on the singletrack, however it soon dried out later in the day.

Hopefully there were enough new areas to the forest that riders didn't know about and can incorporate into a ride in the future as there's so much more than "The 8" (hopefully no-one felt the need to do the drop-offs and gap jumps on the downhill trails to get between checkpoints)

Of course the other problem with holding events like this at trail centres (See Dalby and Cannock events) are the other users from families with kids and beginners to experienced riders. It would appear that everyone remained courteous throughout and there were no issues and we'll be allowed back in the future!

Congratulations to Graham Tibbot with a winning time of 54:55 (Who only managed to get half of the ride on Strava - so only half of it happened!) closely followed by Ian Nixon, only 7 seconds behind!
In the ladies, Charlotte Somers Cocks was the leader with a time of 76:48.

It's also great to see a good turnout of the M21 class in an MTBO event, World Champs anyone?

Overall, I hope everyone enjoyed the event and I may even been convinced to plan a few more, cheers!

Ben Martin - Planner.

Organiser's Comments:

BMBO asked PFO to assist with putting on an MTBO Middle event at Gisburn.

Our role was to provide support for the planner, course maps, on-site registration/download, results and additional manpower for start and finish duties. Organising at Gisburn is relatively easy as the parking and toilets are sorted and the on-site Hub cafe provideds excellent fare. On top of that overnight rain gave way to perfect cool, breezy and, eventually, sunny weather. Perfect!

Ben Martin, of BMBO, planned the courses and did all the on-course legwork. I listened to some of the post race analysis and Ben got the thumbs up from everyone for his challenging courses which included both tough route choices and tough riding in places. For anyone missing a turn there were long time lapses to get back on course. By all accounts, enjoyed by all.

One apology from Ben and myself - a late change to include the final control (14) and then a late change to it's actual location due to safety issues at the planned position meant that anyone approaching from the west was disadvantaged to those coming from the north. At least two competitors missed it altogether - one went back, the other didn't. Our combined apologies.

PFO will publish Routgadget of the course ASAP. Please post your route choices.
Photos to follow.

Congratulations to the winners! PFO will be ready next time you want to ride at Gisburn Forest.

George Crawford-Smith PFO - Organiser.

Pre-event details below here:
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British Middle Distance BMBO Championship:

Mountain-bike Orienteering returns to Gisburn Forest in Lancashire. BMBO and PFO have teamed up to put this event on.

Gisburn Forest is a large area of working forest managed by the Forestry Commission. It is the water catchment area for Stocks Reservoir which feeds Blackpool, and as such is moist in places and has many valleys. It sits in an elevated position with terrain from 180-370m! The path network comes on a grand scale with forest roads, trail centre style single track and some more organic paths.

The special edition mountain bike map, originally drawn by Alan Hartley shows the spiders web of forest roads, trails, single-track paths and skills sections. Bike single-tracks are one-way and the map will use a black chevron arrowhead to highlight the obligatory direction of travel on these sections

To take part, full membership of BMBO or "Day Rider" membership is obligatory, as this covers your event insurance. See Entry Details for more information and links.
Due to BMBO insurance restrictions juniors born in year 2003 or later must be shadowed by an adult. Starting at 10:00AM will allow shadowers to compete individually first.

The base for the weekend is The Hub at Stephen Park in the forest. There is a cafe and a well-appointed toilet block.

RouteGadget

Is a web browser app for sharing and comparing orienteering routes. You can draw your own route or upload a GPS track from your watch. It also allows you to watch an animated replay with a simulated mass start.

Go to the Pendle Forest Routegadget now