Riders in the Polaris Challenge will have to ride the night too

Charge your lights as night riding has been added to the Polaris Challenge on 6-7 October at Malham, Yorkshire Dales, with the 12hr event included a 2hr stint in the dark.

The format sees riders ride for 6hrs on Saturday with a 2hr night time stage later in the evening. To complete the full weekend challenge riders will awake for a further 4hrs on Sunday. There’s also the option to just ride the Saturday stages if completing the whole weekend seems a bit too much.

This is the first time a Polaris Challenge has included a night time period, and it’s also the first time the venue, Malham has been used. A multiple Polaris Challenge winner, John Houlihan, has been involved in the planning and has put his extensive knowledge of the trails to good use.

“With three different maps for each of the three stages, you are in for some good varied riding,” John says. “This event will continue the recent and great Polaris Challenge trend of making the best riding the major planning objective. Great descents come at a price, and there is going to be some climbing needed to win them. Courses are not going to involve bog bashing, crossing open moors on poorly defined routes, doing long road miles, or looking for hidden controls.”

“With relatively small maps areas, the control density is fairly high, so competitors will need to be concentrating on their navigation and hitting plenty of controls. The night stage is designed for maximum fun and for many it will be the first time they have navigated in a new area at night.

The scoring twist, and another difference from any previous Polaris is that the scoring will be balanced across the three stages. Final details are yet to be announced, but to be competitive riders will need to be good on all three stages. This format also allows for the Saturday to become a special ‘1 Day Polaris Challenge’, which may suit those that are new to the event.

The event camping village will be catered for by Wilf’s Café, and there’ll be a bar for vital rehydration. For full details on the event see www.polarischallenge.com.