NYMBO Report by Sammy Wilson

There is one thing I have learnt from the last three NYMBO events: timing is crucial. On Saturday at Cropton Forest I learnt the hard way. Setting off north into the forest, I managed to pick up an encouraging amount of points on a winding route which eventually led to Spiers House. With half an hour left, I headed into the inappropiately named Paradise Plantation aiming for two 30 point controls, and, even with the prior advice of "young trees hiding the paths", managed to take a wrong turning and mess my route up completely. This, combined with a worrying energy burnout, meant I came in 28 minutes late and lost 225 of my initial 285 points. Disappointed, I vowed to do justice to the day's poor ride on the Newtondale course the following day.

This was my favourite ride of the season so far, and I was extremely pleased with myself after picking up 4 of the 30 point controls within the first hour (and control no.53 which had turned into a motorway of mud by the time I got there), before heading south through more mud to the bottom of the map and listening to the steam trains going by around Raper's Farm. It was here I was faced with the dilemma of whether to risk yet another time penalty by carrying on towards Levisham for an extra 2 big controls, or looping back on myself for a more speedy and risk-free finish. I decided on the latter and finished 7 minutes early, delighted with a personal-best of 320. 

It was back into action tonight for the 'local' summer lanequest in Bishop Wilton, a ride which I enjoyed immensely, even though I got my timing wrong again . My route was a large loop of the Wolds, taking in Givendale, Millington, Kilnwick Percy, Warter and Huggate and culminating with the exhilarating (as well as potentially rather dangerous) 45mph finish down the infamous Garrowby Hill. I was 15 minutes too slow on the run-in from Huggate meaning a final score of 217. However, score aside, the ride was fantastic.

As with any NYMBO event, whizzing along a traffic-free country lane; navigating a narrow forest single track or taking in he stunning Yorkshire scenery from high up on a ridge top bridleway with a 30 point control in sight - your league number proudly fixed to the front of the bike and a map full of endless possibilties in front of you - gives a brilliant feeling. A mix of competitive nature (both personally and against the other riders); the satisfaction with a good choice of route; the challenging climbs and exciting desents; the relief when making it to the finish with 10 seconds to spare and the impressiveness of the scenery makes the rider at a NYMBO event pleasently happy, whether it be for 2 hours, 5 hours or an entire season.