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LAKELAND LANEQUESTS 6th event
The Final - Wheelbase / Wilfs Cafe, Staveley
Tuesday evening 6th July 2010

Click here for photos of the prize presentation

Click here for photos from the Lakeland Lanequest 2010 series

A thrilling and closely fought competition was a fitting finale to this year’s Lakeland Lanequest series, the last event of six which started from Wheelbase at Staveley, and was followed by the traditional presentations and prize giving at Wilfs cafe.

The Mens Solo league competition was very close and with Mike Toyn, who was a previous winner of the overall Men’s Solo league competition in 2008 and 2009, unable to ride the final event and improve his score, as he and his wife Rachel were organising the final event. To ensure the final event was entirely fair to all, whatever the positions in the league might be, Mike and Rachel had planned the controls and map well before the first event. In actual fact, Mike was only just leading the overall competition, and David Heffernan would need 302 points to tie with Mike.

An initial look at the scattering of controls, shown on the event map around Staveley, looked to be a deceptively compact area including Bannerigg, down around Bateman Fold and Crook, Burneside, Mislet and the lower Kentmere Valley. Closer inspection of the map showed some challenging climbs, as well as numerous route options available to try to link the controls in an economical way to visit as many as possible within the 2 hours allowed. This would be a fittingly challenging event, to be the ultimate decider for the final series places.

The final results for the overall league positions for the best four scores from the six events were decided. David Heffernan just gained the extra 2 points he needed to secure the Solo Mens overall series titles, with 1218 points from Mike Toyn a very close second with 1216, and David Hollingham 1167 for third place.

Anne Plant was the winner of the Solo Women’s title with 1092 points from Jo Cleary in second with 942 and Rachel Toyn with 903 for third place.
The Juniors saw Bryony Halcrow a clear winner with 966, a very commendable performance that would have placed her second in the Solo Women, and gained her a special prize of a Wheelbase jersey, from the series sponsors WHEELBASE, as the most improved rider. In second place was Joseph Oglesby with 770 points. The Generation pairs saw a draw for first place shared between both Matt and Katie Woods, and Steve and Jake Mason, both pairs scoring 1006 points, with in third place Tom and Matthew Phillips with 915 points. In the Adults pairs/3’s, Andy and Sarah Crozier took first place with 1020, from second placed Mike Brooks/ Andy Beck and Andy Douglas 984, with Tony and Pauline Richardson 936 in third.

The results for the final event from Staveley were; in the Solo Men David Heffernan (Ulverston) and David Hollingham (Endmoor) tied for first place with 304 points each, closely followed by Ben Oglesby who also visited all 30 controls but incurred time penalties for 298, five riders all tied for equal fourth place, with 270 points, Alan Goldsmith, Alan Hartley, Mike Taylor, Phil Morgan and Ray Morriss.

The first two riders who tied in first place both chose different routes and arrived inside 2 hours and within seconds of each other-
David Heffernan’s route:
1, 3, 24, 27, 5, 29, 10, 28, 17, 9, 25, 20, 19, 13, 6, 30, 7, 8 ,16, 26, 2, 12, 18, 11, 21, 4, 22, 23, 14, 15.

This includes the climb between 10 - 28, and also a delay of around 30 seconds at the level crossing.
David Hollingham’s route: 20,25,9,28,17,6,30,7,8,16,13,19,2,26,18,11,21,4,12,22,23,1,3,24,27,5,29,10,15,14, finish.

The main gain is avoiding having to go between 28 and 10, and so allowing 14 and 15 as a loop, so shorter and less climbing.

Some careful thought was needed with the various options to try to find an optimum route, which often seems to be more apparent the day after!

Anne Plant in the Solo Women scored 268, to win from in second, Jo Cleary 250, and Heather Milligan 230. The Juniors saw rising star, Bryony Halcrow score a winning 254, from Natalie and Carrie Beadle 168. The Generation Pairs saw a close competition between first placed Matt and Katie Woods, 256 points and in second Steve and Jake Mason 250 points, with third Richard Tiley and Angus Dobson 226. An impressive 270 from Mike Brooks/Andy Beck/Andy Douglas took first place, from Tony and Pauline Richardson 250, and third placed Toby Dalton and Matt Woods 240.

This year’s series of six events has raised more than £2,000 for charities, which means over the last 15 years the events have been able to give a total of around £14,000 to charities, as well as giving fun to lots of cyclists, of all ages.

During the ‘Winners Cut the Cake’ to announce the league winners, decided on the best four scores in the series, Carol McNeill, the series organiser, said the events had continued in popularity. Carol had a special mention for the heartening entries from the younger riders and all the junior riders at the presentation were given medals and certificates, and all the winners from the series were presented with WHEELBASE vouchers by Toby Dalton from WHEELBASE the series sponsors. Toby also confirmed that they would like to continue as sponsor for next year’s series of Lakeland Lanequests. Carol McNeill later announced that plans are under way for next year’s events and that she had already recruited some organisers. The first event of 2011 is to be organised by Dave Heffernan, and the second by Mike and Rachel Toyn, and so the series looks to be assured of another great year to come.