59 entered.
38 started.
9 finished.
The 4th running of the Delightful Dales 200 was essentially a ride of two halves.
Part One:
36 riders started at 07:30 am with the benefit of a very strong tailwind. They were followed shortly by 2 late starters, including former CTT National Hill-Climb champion, Jim Henderson. The wind was behind the riders all the way to the first control at Middleham where those first on the road arrived shortly after opening time. Whilst following the riders in the car, I stopped at the control at Middleham and asked some of the riders where Jim Henderson had passed them? "he passed us going over Park Rash" - no surprise there then!
After leaving the control at Middleham, the route then turned north, passing army land en-route to Swaledale to battle the expected headwind over Birkdale Common, where Paul Julien, Bob Johnson and some of the Condor riders (Peter Horne, Chris Smith) were the first on the road, along with Jim Henderson and a couple of riders from Halifax. I was wondering whether the title of this thread was going to have to be re-named the, "When did Jim Henderson pass you?" thread.
Part Two:
The next 100 km weren't as "delightful" as the first as suddenly, the event took off on a rather unpleasant and unexpected turn due to adverse weather conditions.
The first riders were far enough up the road to avoid the worst of the weather over Birkdale Common en-route to Nateby, with just heavy hail and horizontal sleet to contend with. The later riders weren't so lucky! Snowfall, with reports of up to 8-inches of snow falling within an hour, bringing the later riders to a standstill. Fortunately, most riders made it to Nateby whilst the last three on the road were assisted by the local mountain rescue team.
Whilst many riders abandoned at Nateby, managing to catch a train to Skipton from Kirkby Stephen, some attempted riding the final leg back home. Some were forced to pack and caught the train from Dent, whilst 1 rider was given a lift to Settle by the police (not so much rescued, just picked up by the police because they were heading in the same direction).
Finally, all riders were accounted for and 9 managed to finish the ride with just the 1 reportable accident.
Next year's edition has been set for Sunday 03 April 2016.
Let's hope for better weather next year.
Andy Corless
