---

Maximum Choice at Malham

Dave Watson / 05.09.2006

The best news was the weather. Although it had been a wet week, on the day of the event the rain held off until the very end of the afternoon. Rain isn\'t good at any time, but on limestone it can be lethal. Once again fully marked laminated maps were available but also ordinary paper ones for those, like me, who prefer them.

In some trailquests the routes are almost self-selecting, the only real choice being whether to go clockwise or anti-clockwise. Not at Malham, There were lots of options and those making poor ones were heavily penalised. Time management was also crucial - no fewer than 51 out of 120 incurred time penalties. This could be partly due to there being some high point controls relatively close to the finish leading to some last minute gambling.

The area was extensive - the Ribble valley to the west, the Wharfe/Litton valley to the east and almost to Halton Gill in the north. There were three possible routes to and from both Ribblesdale and Littondale. The highest scores went to those with the courage (and speed) to go right to the top of the map.

The results couldn\'t have been closer. First in the men\'s class A was Neil Atkinson with 630 points which was matched exactly by first Vet, Bryan Singleton but Bryan was fastest - by exactly one second. James Taylor picked up 640 points but his eight minutes late return cost him 11 penalty points giving him a net 629. One minute faster and he would have won by a single point. So after four hours of riding it was all decided on a handful of seconds. James may be regretting choosing a route that saw him having to climb twice out of Littondale.

See All Stories On This Race