Event Photos and Tales / Online Sales

Click here to go to Sleepmonsters and see the stories of Mick Smith and Buff rider Neil Atkinson. Once in SleepMonsters you can then get through to the photo sales section. Scott Watson got hundreds, possibly thousands of shots from all over the course. Day, Night, Day, Starts and Finishes. Take a look. You WILL be there somewhere!

Light and Nighted......News 10/10/07

This report says it all....

It was the event we had all been waiting for – the inaugural Polaris “Light & Night” – a new format for a tried and tested classic event – whereby an hour’s riding was to be shaved from both the Saturday and Sunday rides to give an “extra” ride - two hours in total darkness on the Saturday night! The other big change was to run all three stages from base camp, with no “wilderness” camp – that one will be saved for what will now become the spring “classic” event.

But organiser Gary Tompsett was hardly taking any risks with the new format, as he chose the stunning corner of the Yorkshire Dales that surrounds Malham as the backdrop for the event, and enduro/MTBO legend John Houlihan (Santa Cruz) to set out all three courses.

Friday afternoon gave a promise of the weather to come with Malham welcoming us with a rare dose of early autumn sunshine. We pitched our tent within easy reach of what was rather optimistically called the “toilet block”, rebuilt our bikes, signed in and eagerly devoured the Saturday day-time map. I’d been here before and was pleased to see that some favourite trails would feature in our rides. The campsite was filling up fast. Everyone seemed to be comparing this season’s “must haves” – brand new halogen light sets!

A chilly night was replaced by a gorgeous morning and we were soon forcing noodles down our throats on top of the previous evening’s spaghetti ready to fuel the day’s exertions. We elected for an early start and soon found that climbing out of Malham was harder than escaping from Alcatraz, but once up on the moors the riding was fast and furious – totally awesome and exactly what mountain bikes were made for. Our modest loops took us along the Stockdale Road then via Stainforth to Malham Tarn then past Street Gate for the big climb towards Hawkswick Cote. No casualties to report, unless you include the cow standing guard over its long-dead calf just south of checkpoint 19.

Back to base and time to push pasta into our faces and fit those shiny new lights. Boys and their toys! Saturday evening grew very dark, very cold, with no moonlight and no city street light haze. Everyone seemed eager to be the first to try out the long awaited night section, and soon the fells surrounding Malham were done up like Christmas trees. Words just cannot do this experience justice, but here goes. Awesome. Bizarre. Surreal. Get the idea? Throw in some drifting mist around Malham Tarn and you found yourself as an extra cast in remakes of “An American Werewolf in London” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Out of the pitch blackness would appear a silent blue-white haze, then dancing blinding blue airborne lights, then totally mad people thrashing bikes around trails navigated by touch as much as sight. Never has two hours sped by so quickly. And never has the phrase “battery life up to two hours” been so sorely tested! Incredible!

Sunday’s ride might have been an anti-climax but it wasn’t. More top trails, top weather, and topped off with a Wilf’s classic end of ride meal. He who dares – wins! And Gary and the Detail Events team have struck gold with this format. See you next year!

Haardaarss (aka Mick Smith)

Final Details Light & Night ..... News dated 26th Sept

Here are the Final Details for the inaugural Light and Night Polaris Challenge. So you already know it’s Malham, that it’ll be hilly, potentially moist, sometimes windy, and at one stage in particular – very dark. It’s a stunning area, and if you get the chance you should walk up to Malham Cove and look up at the high grade climbing routes or the limestone pavement above.

The event centre is PERMANENTLY based in the Malham Showfield. It’s unmissable at 898624. That’s the grid ref of the loo block shown on the OS map. We will have all the usual rural Challenge comforts; marquee, Wilf’s Café, beer, music, fire, marshmallows, urbanadventuregear.com and The Bicycle Shop from Skipton - please call ahead on 01756 794 386 with any special requests for bike equipment. There are decent loos on site, at least 2 mains water supplies, and a very nice village just up the road.

We ask that you all come to the event with clean bikes, especially tyres and shoes. This will create a good impression amongst local residents. If you are travelling from near the infected area in Surrey, then please disinfect tyres and shoes before leaving your home. You may be aware, that this weekend the 3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross has been cancelled due to F&M concerns presented about 10 days ago. The Polaris Challenge is not in any danger of being cancelled or postponed unless there is a serious outbreak of F&M in the last few days before the event. The National Park has been consulted on this decision to go ahead with the event. There could be a disinfecting operation at the entrance to the event. If there are, please be patient, get the job done, then park.

Although the event field has a good entrance and some good surface roadway under grass, it is subject to mud and harm in very bad weather. If we get hit with bad weather, then parking might start to take up the very wide road verges, where we think we can fit about 100 cars. If you have a larger vehicle, caravan or camper, and if the weather is bad, then please try and arrive early to get a good spot to park, and avoid parking on the road verge. The nearby National Park visitor centre has a good car park, but this will cost £3 per day to use. The visitor centre will welcome your visit, but they do not encourage use of their car park, as this will frustrate their ambient custom. Parking in the village is strictly forbidden, unless you are accommodated there.

Camping will be beside your car, unless the weather very wet, when we will ask that you camp in an area away from the cars, about 200m distant. We encourage all participants to pack away your own rubbish by the end of the weekend. In this way, you are able to make your own recycling decisions. It is disheartening for our few volunteers and event crew to clear away your rubbish after an event.

Registration is open from 6pm until midnight, and then again from 7am until 8am. Some entries with paper maps are available on the day, but please make every effort to enter online before midweek next week.

Thank you for entering the new format for the Challenge this autumn. As suggested in earlier mailings, we have a format that is set to challenge you. It’s almost tactical. There will be the same points ‘on the table’ for each of the three stages. No rider will clear the course, and some might save themselves a little for a key stage:

Saturday; start at leisure between 8 and 10am – 6hrs duration
Saturday; start at leisure between 7 and 7.30pm – 2hrs duration
Sunday; start at leisure between 8 and 10 am – 4hrs duration

This format allows for the Saturday to become a special 1-day Polaris Challenge, and may suit those that are new to the event. Entry for this is £20 – please email info@polarischallenge to organise your entry for the 1-day option.

Saturday A3 map is a ‘northern’ sheet. Issued at registration.
Saturday A4 night map is a ‘central’ sheet. Issued upon starting. Poly bag supplied.
Sunday A3 map is a ‘southern’ sheet. Issued after night stage.

Map cases are recommended if you have not ordered a laminated map. We cannot take further entries for the laminated map at this late stage – these are in production.

Solo riders please start before 9am each morning, and at 7pm on the night stage. This is for your own safety, should you have a serious accident when out riding.

Prizes are provided by planetFear, Outdoor Designs, OMM and UAG, with further product kindly provided by ForGoodnessShakes. Please take some time to investigate their websites to look at their product ranges. Note this fantastic UAG opportunity to get the right light for the event: - UAG have stepped up their support yet further to offer a 25% discount off RRP on Niterider lighting systems. Look now. Buy now. Just add the code ‘Polarislights’ when checking out of the UAG online shop. It will be valid until 13th October on Niterider lights.

Local to the area and providing help with some local consultations are the people at Paganum. Have a look at the web link in the sidebar to see their online farmers market.

SleepMonsters will have their photographer Scott in attendance for the Saturday, bringing in the shots day and night. Talking of which; there are only 8 days remaining on the Photo Sales from the Summer Challenge. Go to; http://www.sleepmonsters.co.uk/photoshop.php?basket_ID=1190804179&event_id=4434

Equipment: The mandatory equipment for this event has changed slightly, and yes, we know it’s not updated on the website pages yet. Sorry. Remember, you are not carrying your kitchen and camping gear on your back – it’s a base camp event. The equipment list is as per the Summer Event list with the following additions;

Waterproof Jacket and Trousers MUST be worn or carried. (A jacket with an integral hood is strongly advised)

Front and Rear Lights MUST be fitted or worn for the night stage. (A spare front light and spare batteries are strongly recommended)

A head torch is advisable. You may want this for map reading anyway.

Warm headgear MUST be worn or carried.

Volunteers: We always welcome volunteers to the event, to supplement our core crew. Please email Dorota on info@polarischallenge.com and we can dial you into the tasks for the weekend, whether this is the placement of checkpoints, marshalling out on the course, or building the infrastructure at the event centre.

Cheating: There has been an interesting thread on the forum. Please read this. It started after the summer event, where several roads were accessed even though marked as out of bounds on the map, and where certain paths were accessed but were not legal. The latter can cause significant problems for landowners and the organisers.

There are no OOB roads for this next event, but there are some paths that are not to be ridden. Please read the Rules page on the website.

Familiarise yourselves with the OS symbol markings for;

Bridleway. Red (magenta) long dashes.
Road used as a public path. (RUPP). Red short and long dashes.
Byway open to all traffic. (BOAT). Red short dashes and crosses.
Other route with public access. (ORPA). Red dots.
FOOTPATHS ARE STRICTLY OUT OF BOUNDS*
BLACK DASHED PATHS AND WHITE DOUBLE DASHED LANES ARE OOB*

*Unless marked otherwise by our overprinting and special permissions.

Line symbols are shown here; http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/education/pdf/50KLegend-Eng.pdf

Regards, The Polaris Challenge Crew

Another PC done and dusted (wetted!)...News dated 5th July

We are getting great feedback across the forum and beyond on the Summer Polaris Challenge. The terrain for this event proved surprising in two respects; 1) that it held up well despite recent rainfall and 2) that it had high miles of offroad - and great credit to the course planner Dave Evans, for liberating that. A special note and congratulations to Neil and Bryan of Team Buff for their (first) overall win in the Polaris Challenge, and to Ant and Ali (mixed) of Team The North Face for their second place overall - this is unprecedented and Polaris wins are very e-l-u-s-i-v-e.

You will have experienced another great map from Jens Strain and increased numbers from the Trailquesters from NYMBO on shorter courses. Thanks must also go to Wilf's Cafe, Dave and Sue of SPORTident, Steve Willis and his many volunteer control point 'agents' and volunteers Jens and Ilene, Amy Crawley of active-physio.co.uk, SleepMonsters.co.uk photographer Scott Watson. Also sponsors planetFear.com with their excellent event shop and prizes from planetFear, Outdoor Designs, UAG-urbanadventuregear.com, MB7.com, Balloonbed and For Goodness Shakes, bringing their very welcome recovery drinks. Lastly, big hand to Jim and Joel of Buff for continued Buff seamless textile greatness and massive infrastructure support with extraordinary vehicles.

Photography Sales

Please go to www.sleepmonsters.co.uk and locate your photo from Sunday in the Photosales section. These pics are really well organised into start and finish times. You could choose both a before and after pic! See the web link on the right. >>>

Results

As well as the overall results - hit the tab on the right >>>
we have also loaded up the splits for your detailed perusal.

Misc.

There was a rider injured and hospitalised on the Saturday (dislocated shoulder), and he would especially like to thank all the riders that stopped and helped.

Here's looking forward to the Light and Night conditions of the planetFear Autumn Polaris Challenge - keep fit.