Pawel Pulawski

Bradley Woodruffe

Stuart  Percival

Rupert Robinson

Rob Webb

Rob Lucas

Dominik   Bokstaller

Karl Somers

Hamish  Carrick

Matthew Vickers

Josh  Reid

Chris Marton

Seb  Baucutt

Nicky   Shaw

Katie Butler

Mark Agar

Nikki  Ray

David  Alderson

Patrick  Douglas

Adna Dumitrescu

Joe Le Sage

Jaimi Wilson

Tracy  Makin

Alex Armstrong

Fiona  Sharp

Nicolas Howarth

Usman  Omar

Callum James

Elizabeth  Hughes

Nick   Livermore

Ken Woodhouse

Kris  Willaert

Junaid   Ibrahim

Matthew   Garthwaite

Kevin Stuart

Jake McCreedy-Evans

Kate Hargreaves

Samuel Yates

Abby  Sommers

Oliver  Poynton

Mike Sheldrake

Chris Herbert

Alex Turner

Aubin Laurent

Kirsten  Morgan

Cass  Stuttard

Robbie   Ferri

Andi  Smith

Chris Skelhorn

Ruth Gamwell

Alice  Lake

Jacob Dobson

Ruth Sutherland

Simon Everett

Maja Naumczyk

Heiko Franz

Gabriel   Davies

Fiona  Ridley

Filip   Bieleszuk

Amy  Powell

Andrei Nenciu

Sheila Woollam

Chris  Rhodes

Vikki  Bean

Andy  Cribb

Lucy  Cook

Daniel Vipond

Daniel   Jones

Bernhard Peuckert

Vicky Mathwin

Nicola  Smith

Josie  Allchin

Holly   Carter

Rob Donaghy

Helen  Kellar

James Milne

Ross  Maclean

Karen   Radband

Nadia   Kerr

Lucy   Hurn

Rachel  Batt

Jim Stewart

Matt Charnley

Louis Moorehead

Alison  Wood

Dulce  Pedroso

Hector Kidds

Farooq  Chaudhry

Fazl  Buchari

Alice Clews-Smith

Katherine Dennis

Media


# Welcome to the North

Hello and welcome to the Dotwatcher coverage of All Points North. I’m Tom Probert, I competed in the inaugural edition in 2019 as a pair, and this year I’ll be bringing you coverage of the race from the depths of the cold dark north itself as I scour the landscape hunting down riders. I can confirm that it’s a beast of a race; no matter where the checkpoints are, riders will be clocking up some serious vertical metres and there’s always the potential for inclement weather on exposed terrain.

All Points North is a self-supported, ultra-distance, self-routing, endurance cycling event. Riders will set off from the event HQ (A Different Gear, Sheffield) on Thursday 2nd June with the challenge to ride to 10 control points spread around the north of England and return for a finisher’s meal at 8pm on Sunday 5th June.

Riders are able to choose their own route to hit the checkpoints in any order, and can either ride solo or as a pair. Whichever way they route, the race will be around 1000km, and will have somewhere north of 12,000m of climbing. Once out on the road, riders have to be completely self-sufficient, are unable to accept support from anyone and must follow the event rules. Competitors are split into two categories: Rookies and Solos, the former setting off earlier and thus getting more time to complete their route.

This year there are 100 riders: 30 rookies, 50 solos and 10 pairs.

This is the third official edition of the race series, which started in 2019. In 2020, the race was put on hold due to Covid, with ‘Not APN’ filling the gap as an unofficial ride. The race was back last year, albeit taking place in September, and this year it’s back to its original early June start.

![Screenshot 2022-06-01 at 21.13.33](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6KGBwFNTEE5YIXTryEtm5G/c9ed6c644574c8c8cf5a522fd483687a/Screenshot_2022-06-01_at_21.13.33.png)

## Route

As usual, the APN checkpoints are scattered far and wide, and placed awkwardly so that it’s impossible to make a neat loop without having to go drastically out of your way or do an agonising out-and-back to a remote checkpoint. The race starts and ends in Sheffield, with all checkpoints to the north.

The most remote and farthest-flung checkpoint is the imposing Norman castle at Bamburgh, perched on a rocky outcrop on the Northumberland coast in the very top corner of England. It’s almost 300km as the crow flies from Sheffield, and at least 130km from the nearest checkpoint at Bewcastle, sitting close to the Scottish border itself.

There are some serious climbs littering the route. Riders approaching the checkpoint at Ulpha in the Lake District will find the infamous Kirkstone Pass in their way, meanwhile in the Pennines, 327m of Chapel Fell stands between riders and the CP at Cow Green reservoir. In the Yorkshire Dales, riders will have to climb the 5.5km long Fleet Moss on their way to the Semer Water Cp, as well as Buttertubs Pass along with countless others in a brutal 200km of climbing around the cluster of central checkpoints.

![Pavel vs Bradley](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/10yIlLWzDkUKqgDD7aVvOV/130ab178f002a2955e3ac63eee138615/Pavel_vs_Bradley.jpg)

## Riders

Last year’s race culminated in an impossibly dramatic finish with winner Bradley Woodruffe beating Pawel Pulawski by 30 seconds. Both riders return for a mouth watering rematch this year. But can anyone spoil their party? 

Two riders who will be looking to do just that are Nicki Shaw and Jaimi Wilson, who are both coming into this in fine form with lots of kms in their legs. Liz Hughes is another one to watch, after finishing as 3rd woman at Badlands last year, with Katie Butler and Adna Dumetrescu two strong riders with experience of this race who are worth keeping your eye on. 

Some other interesting characters to watch are Dominic Bokstaller, the organiser of the ‘Dead Ends and Cake’ race in Switzerland, and Mike Sheldrake if he makes it back from riding the HT550 in time is a stalwart of the scene. 

## Stay Tuned...

The riders set off tomorrow in two waves: the rookies at midday and the solos at 8pm. Stay tuned for more updates from race HQ tomorrow as the excitement ramps up...


All Points North 22 - Race Preview

![XT24755](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3S8eZBXifdT5Ic7NC00lPM/7ea3d118254ea03c8aaa807389380eaf/_XT24755.jpg)

## Rookies and Veterans

The rookies set off from Sheffield event HQ at midday Thursday, giving them an 8 hour head-start on the main pack. Talking to race organiser Angela Walker about this interesting split-field format, she explained "We want riders to finish" "If you're not the fastest and see yourself dropping behind the other riders, it's sometimes so hard to keep going." "Whereas if you get that time advantage at the beginning, even if other riders do start to catch you up, you're not dropping so far behind that you end up thinking 'I'm going to end up 3 days behind everyone else!' - So a neat way to keep riders of all levels motivated to keep going.

With the Rookies on the road and splitting into two distinct groups heading towards opposite coasts, the empty race HQ courtyard gradually started to re-fill with riders throughout the afternoon, ready for the second grand-depart at 8pm.

![D060122-31](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/WgUmOuZP8F06Ritd1lXXC/7220d6ea3e08ea87d172e1f0b19aa567/D060122-31.jpg)

![D060122-48](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2E12NFGSP0sXLdMquEDHTx/03518aca62e192d2c5f0097ad4d22275/D060122-48.jpg)

## Pre-Race Tactics

Bradley Woodruffe, last year's winner, was keen to take the pressure off himself, insisting that there are so many things that can go wrong over this much distance that you can only plan so much. He did have a clear strategy planned out however, aiming to leverage the time trial training he's been doing this year by planning a longer, flatter route. Once again him and his arch nemesis, Pawel have chosen opposite directions, so we're in for another fascinating showdown.

![XT32271-2](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3QVpUleZxkU6wmlcXuAugw/e52687c92166ffcf8bd23742eba6d260/_XT32271-2.jpg)

Nicky Shaw was feeling confident in her single-minded route planning. Often riders create multiple versions to adapt on the fly, but Nicky's experience has given her the confidence to stick with one plan. Or she's just lazy. The word on the street is that Nicki's doing an ultra race every month this year, rumours she was keen to play down, explaining she's reduced the amount of racing to focus on preparing for All Points North.

![Screenshot 2022-06-02 at 21.47.16](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/196q2UFyFkAn7UNLjoTOCE/1e470f71336798e935ae5ea8c52a99e0/Screenshot_2022-06-02_at_21.47.16.png)

## East or West?

This was the big question on everyones' lips. Some riders wanted to get most of the climbing done early, heading out west towards the viscious climbs of the Lake District. Some were concerned about a band of rain coming in from the west, and were trying to avoid an 8 hour overnight drenching by heading out towards the east coast. 

Once the pre-race briefing was out of the way and the riders flowed out down the hill and into the distance, a look at the tracker revealed a roughly 60/30 split in favour of the western route.

## 12 Hours In

As we approach the 12 hour mark, the field is settling into a pattern with some early contenders emerging. On the western front, Nick Livermore stormed out at a frightening pace to establish a lead over Pawel Pulawski and Dominik Bokstaller. Nicky Shaw took a noticably different route to the main pack, staying much further south heading towards Rochdale. Nick was first to summit the Nick O'Pendle checkpoint at just after 11pm, followed closely by Pawel and Dominik, with a bunch of riders arriving over 2 hours later.

Nicki rejoined the main pack hot on the heels of Elizabeth Hughes with Katie Butler close behind as they ticked off their first checkpoint just after midnight. Most of the western group then swung north east towards Skyreholme, with Dominik and Jake McReedy-Evans two exceptions, heading straight to Ulpha.

Meanwhile out east, Bradley lead out the pack all the way to the first checkpoint at Hornsea Mere, with Samuel Yates, Seb Baucutt and Stuart Percival not letting him out of their sight. Jaimi Wilson and Fiona Sharp look to be starting an interesting battle as they rounded the CP neck and neck just before 1am. There was then a split between riders heading inland to Byland Abbey first, or continuing up the coast to Goathland Station.


And They're Off!

The first night threw hours of relentless rain at many of the riders out on the course, and the morning brought with it a wave of scratches: 

18 – Kate Hargreaves, 19 – Abby Sommers, 40 – Matthew Garthwaite, 42 – Oliver Poynton, 49 – Kevin Stuart, 56 - Bernhard Peuckert, 61 – Daniel Vipond, 69 – Daniel Jones, 70 – Josie Allchin, 74 – Nicola Smith, 78 – Vicky Mathwin, 105A – Hector Kidds

Cap 42, Oliver Poynton had a scary end to his ride as he reports here:

> "Unfortunately a distracted driver ended my ride before the first checkpoint. APN is a journey of self discovery, this time I have discovered that I bounce. My bike has seen the last of its days but luckily I managed to avoid breaking any bones, feeling extremely fortunate. Side note: a mini cooper bumper makes for quite the launchpad"

Commiserations to the first scratchees, hopefully you'll come back and try to finish the rout enext year. Oliver, we're thankful you're ok and wish you a speedy recovery from your ordeal!

Scratch Report

The riders that left Sheffield at 8pm last night have now been on the road for 24hrs, so how are things shaping up?

I’ve met a few riders today, including ultra-couple Rachel Batt & Jim Stewart, and rookie Ruth Sutherland. The theme was rain. The pair had chosen to battle through the rain, and it nearly broke them in a bus stop early this morning, but they were in good spirits again after a change into dry kit, and a change in the weather. Ruth arrived at Ulpha with a fully loaded washing line on her aero bars, drying out what looked like a full set of kit from the night before. She’d mistimed the rain completely, sleeping while it was dry and setting off again just as the rain started.  

On the western front, the leaders approached Ulpha in every possible combination: Dominic Bokstaller was first through the CP at 6am, coming in from South then going over the top to tackle the Kirkstone Pass. Nick approached and left from the North in an out and back raid – double climbs?! Pawel launched a raid from the south, leaving by the same flatter route, followed by Nicky 10.30am, who favoured the same ‘from the south then over the top’ strategy as Dominic.

At the 24hr mark, Dominic has almost reached the east coast, as he bears down on his 5th CP at Bamburgh, while Bradley is closing in on his 5th at Bewcastle, although you’d expect him to have the more climbing remaining of the two.

On the eastern front: Bradley Woodruffe has pulled out into a commanding lead over the ‘east coast massive’, arriving at Bamburgh at 3pm Friday. 85km behind him, Jaimi Wilson and Josh Reid have been duking it out all day. Further inland, the other splinter group hit Byland at around 6am and turned north with Alex Armstrong and Seb Baucutt leading the way with Fiona Sahrp and Alice Lake hot on their heels.

![Screenshot 2022-06-03 at 20.56.11](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7F3qgxqYOmlCEQvmAMUKNV/d45b2a6d1bd6953e41c0ac28190c7fe8/Screenshot_2022-06-03_at_20.56.11.png)

## The cross over

At just after 5.30pm, we witnessed a magical moment as East met West – Bradley crossed paths with Dominic at the top points of their loops, just east of Jedburgh. It’s difficult to tell exactly who’s in the lead at this cross-over point, but looking at distance at the 24hr mark would suggest Bradley has covered more of his route, having bagged 602km, while Dominik has only covered 480km. However, we know that Bradley planned a longer route, so maybe we can’t read too much into it. If we do a similar comparison with the top girls, Jaimi has covered the most ground at 493km, then Fiona with 478km, followed by Nicky with 462km.

![Scratch Report Day2](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4dFahO0SD872djL8kJ6VAi/1bfb95c978da468e036baa449fbd299e/Scratch_Report_Day2.jpg)

## Scratch Report

Two big hitters have scratched, including the early leader, 41 - Nick Livermore, and 17 - Callum James, who was right up there and going strong. Unlucky guys, hopefully we'll see you back next year.

## Rookie Watch

![1L4A4156](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2HLU5VmGpf99XiRsMMdaAF/f8d7b67ed3bf20932e0016d8e192c625/1L4A4156.jpg)

![1L4A4093](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5dIj2rp9jAF6YPDSZ8Erfx/caed984f58efce6a014499a95e7bfc16/1L4A4093.jpg)

![1L4A4212](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/601PXXUErUFiOPsEmxfB1P/89b94545e988e68edbe69753574ec86e/1L4A4212.jpg)

A few rookies are putting in eye-catching performances, in particular Alice Lake, Andi Smith, Jacob Dobson, and Maja Naumczyk, who have all made great progress and find themselves around the northern limits of the course. Simon Everett’s route is a bit different – he headed east to Hornsea, but then picked of Goathland as an out-and-back, before heading west to Byland Abbey, then north to Semer Water and Cow Green.

![Screenshot 2022-06-03 at 21.00.26](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/35ylFTHYWcwvC5E6gsAGZo/a2b0b3a99149a11312d8937ba8e06d74/Screenshot_2022-06-03_at_21.00.26.png)

Who can predict where he’s going to head next? Is he just picking checkpoints at random? If we had to guess, we’d say he’ll go up to the castle next, then swing round to pick off all the western CPs, finishing with Nick O’ Pendle. It’s worth noting that Rookie Amy Powell has done the same route so far, who knows how many other deviants are out there pulling similar stunts?!


24 Hours In

## Sleep

The riders have been out for two full nights now. At this stage of the race sleep strategy is a crucial factor as it becomes impossible to simply keep riding. Riders have to choose carefully when and for how long they sleep, and riders' differing physiologies result in different strategies. 

![Bradley vs Dominik](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1enApB7dcnJjVwRqfp566Z/4848bd7e4eaad09096cb8ef26bd10b29/Bradley_vs_Dominik.png)

Comparing Bradley (purple) and Dominik's (green) race flow shows a massive difference. Distance is shown on the Y axis and elapsed time is shown on the X, so a steeper line is faster. A flat line shows when a rider has stopped, usually for sleep. Dominik's speed is slower overall but the real shift happens when he takes a sleep at around 10pm, stopping for a huge 5 hours.

![Bradley vs Pawel](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7litLWamn142fxZwFaaZO7/e189e50507bdfad179d1e3be366933cd/Bradley_vs_Pawel.png)

But Bradley, by his standards has taken a fairly long sleep of his own this morning, stopping for 2 hours at around 4am. In comparison, his arch rival Pawel basically hasn't stopped, taking a half hour mid-morning nap after the first night, then only stopping for at most 10 minutes at a time. The question of course is: can he keep that up? With Bradley now refreshed ahead of tackling Austhwaite Brow on his way to Ulpha, he's banked a bit of sleep credit over his rival.

![Jaimi vs Nicky Annotated](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5Ce4ksONe4yOrnTjYpzqMy/b3b96404704f8bff0b3cd880909e94aa/Jaimi_vs_Nicky_Annotated.jpg)

Here we're comparing Jaimi Wilson (grey) and Nicky Shaw (yellow). These two are both on regular, consistent sleep strategies. Whereas Bradley and Pawel would have planned to do the whole race with no proper sleep (and we've seen Bradley have to adapt his strategy) here it's pretty clear that Jaimi and Nicky have built sleep into their plans from the outset. Jaimi has taken three fairly big sleep stops of around an hour each, whereas Nicky's have been shorter and more regular, and you can see how they've become longer in duration and more frequent as she's fatigued. But again, we have to factor in the different directions of the two riders here, with Jaimi having more climbing to come.

* Photography by Jonathan Kambskard-Bennett

36 Hours In

![Bradley vs Pawel Routes](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/BMiTcfPuvZjGWTe5yPyX5/0b0f0f285e44c3dc0456bf8d755472c1/Bradley_vs_Pawel_Routes.png)

As Bradley reaches Cow Green Reservoir CP with 4 mountainous checkpoints to go, Pawel is homing in on his penultimate checkpoint and an expanse of flat between him and the finish line, it looks like Pawel has this one sewn up.

Bradley took an extreme approach to the Ulpha CP, skirting the western side of the Lakes to avoid climbing, but it's added a huge amount of distance to his route, and it must be psychologically hard having to go back up so far north to get to Cow Green. Has he done these CPs in the right order? Has his extreme stance on avoiding climbing ultimately cost him the race?

I just spoke to him, and it seems the problem lay elsewhere: gloves. Last night got very cold in the Lakes and although he felt fresh and strong, he got too cold and without a warmer jacket or gloves to turn to, Bradley went on a crazed search for a pair of discarded gardening gloves - there must be some laying around somewhere at 3am right?! Eventually he was forced to shelter in a camp site shower cubicle and wait for a couple of hours until it warmed up. By then, Pawel was out of sight. 

The Picture Becomes Clearer

## Race for the Finish

![Screenshot 2022-06-04 at 20.47.37](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3fPNgWIR6TIHN0F37Q4xSy/8d8d1821ee43b265c98476e3242af443/Screenshot_2022-06-04_at_20.47.37.png)

Pawel has the rest of the field in check-mate as he rounds the final checkpoint for a flat 120km dash back to Sheffield. We expect the winner to come in around midnight/1am, maybe in time for a ropey late night kebab to celebrate.

![Bradley Leaves](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/ZbSnR1HRQvgtEN1NNiCt8/6696263ff11912d0cd074dd8386fd87d/Bradley_Leaves.jpg)

Bradley is approaching from the same direction as Dominik, but has completed two fewer checkpoints and as such will be forced into more mountainous terrain to finish. As he's not carrying any sleeping gear, he's unable to adapt his strategy so has no choice but to keep riding hard until he finishes.

![Dominik Cow Green](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/ynbNlqs3YVdrrde76T8w4/2d5a53fae51d1679c4ce66b3172fa21b/Dominik_Cow_Green.jpg)

*Dominik at Cow Green this morning*

Stuart Percival is an intriguing one over this side of the map: he's just down the road from the dynamic duo of Josh and Jaimi at Ulpha, but crucially he's already snuck in the Skyreholme checkpoint, so he'll have a shorter, quicker route back.

Coming down from the east, the next competitors to Pawel and Dominik are Rupert Robinson and Rob Lucas, who have taken almost identical routes and find themselves within about 15km of one another as they approach Goathland. Hamish Carrick and Rob Webb sit about 35km behind them, with Nicky Shaw close behind as she leaves Newcastle. 

![Screenshot 2022-06-04 at 19.51.18](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/A8UR2CPAwvGX7UbYhZvPb/bbac2b76c5a71728f68c4879bbcd9b76/Screenshot_2022-06-04_at_19.51.18.png)

The distant battle between Nicky and Jaimi still looks interesting and hard to work out: They both have three CPs remaining, and while Nicky looks much further away, we know the eastern route is significantly flatter and faster, so how much will that be a factor? Both girls have felt the need for a sleep today, with Nicky stopping for two hours this afternoon, and Jaimi using the  'Old Traveller's Rest' at Ulpha to do what it says on the tin.

![Andi vs Chris](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1dhwsGuQ6I4b5TDjaaGUoG/84834bc49b62aea89c334fd08815be00/Andi_vs_Chris.png)

Andi Smith looks to be lead Rookie, sitting in amongst the 'Rob' group on the east coast approaching Goathland. Rookie Chris Skelhorn is approaching from further inland after his visit to Cow Green with a fast flat run across to those last three east coast checkpoints, so he could still be in contention here. From their race flow graphs it seems they've both had a similar sleep strategy, including two substantial stops with Andi banking a bit more rest without compromising his lead - could this be critical in the final run-in to the finish?


48 Hours In

Pawel Pulawski arrived in Sheffield just after midnight on Saturday to win All Points North 2022 in 2 Days, 4 hours, 10 minutes. It's been a commanding performance from the Pole, with a combined total of 17 minutes of sleep giving him a lead of at least 8 hours over any of his closest rivals, who are all yet to finish.

As Pawel started to round up the final checkpoints on the east yesterday evening it became obvious how much faster that part of the course is, and how much time the 'clockwise' riders had already banked by tackling the Lake District first.

Huge congratulations to Pawel on what must feel like a particularly satisfying win after the dissapointment of losing out by such a close margin last year.

![WhatsApp Image 2022-06-05 at 12.33.23 AM](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2zI25zWFjFrltOhh6LxyZa/aeeb9134eefa91bf6eae4a0b43f7a8ba/WhatsApp_Image_2022-06-05_at_12.33.23_AM.jpeg)

![WhatsApp Image 2022-06-05 at 12.38.16 AM](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2viC4bNhlcVF2SAr6XowfN/a9c6f57cf817d117d5083758dad50f35/WhatsApp_Image_2022-06-05_at_12.38.16_AM.jpeg)

![WhatsApp Image 2022-06-05 at 12.38.17 AM](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3fHTJZ4qEa5AgfKujrzfPy/6e837aecdc8ac7bc81a8685a9809d371/WhatsApp_Image_2022-06-05_at_12.38.17_AM.jpeg)


Pawel Wins All Points North '22!

## Race for the podium

![Screenshot 2022-06-05 at 08.02.20](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/29obiLJgwPHYlyM1RnYSKl/239a800347e55ce35d65c2f125237659/Screenshot_2022-06-05_at_08.02.20.png)

With Pawel taking first place at midnight, the race was on for second, with a genuine contest emerging between Bradley Woodruffe and Stuart Percival coming in from the same direction. Bradley just pipped him to the post, arriving at 9.15, completely soaked through and grinning like a mad man.

![1L4A4596](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1kgaytgNyqCngk8IyBM8ZK/341f0bf8b69609a716a0b3a88d7ce367/1L4A4596.jpg)

![1L4A4604](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/21uE4zf6rAAE62DAunhnJC/e32d982e2b8d7b4b1489417ac228a13d/1L4A4604.jpg)

10 minutes later, Stuart crested the final climb up to the finish line to take the final podium spot, looking equally soaked and completely drained of all energy. Massive congratulations to our top 3 riders this year, chapeau!

![WhatsApp Image 2022-06-05 at 9.36.28 AM (1)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/MWpFqKpDDGIMSn9aKQzID/ef6f6f2e1f7e3631ff85f2846ca03d55/WhatsApp_Image_2022-06-05_at_9.36.28_AM__1_.jpeg)

** Photography by Jonathan Kambskard-Bennett*

APN 22 Podium

![Screenshot 2022-06-05 at 11.49.02](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1M4YqZQ69HZDQLvnOvOw2m/ff567d6af8d01372d53f8a982177b863/Screenshot_2022-06-05_at_11.49.02.png)

With our podium filled, there was a dramatic race for 4th place between Rupert Robinson and Rob Webb. From our vantage point on the finish line, a small group gathered in eager anticipation of our fist sight of a rider at the bottom of the final climb - who would appear first?!

It was Rupert, teeth gritted in determination. Immediately after he rounded the corner into sight, Rob emerged behind him going full gas at the foot of the climb. We were treated to a dramatic flat-out sprint up the hill, and Rupert managed to hold off the challenger to claim 4th spot. Both riders were completely destroyed, this morning's heavy rain adding an extra level of adversity to the final stretch.

![1L4A4620](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4lqeFr1Tu7MPhQOmvCSks2/03632f7b567d4a175d787bd93d269b2f/1L4A4620.jpg)

![1L4A4642 (1)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/529WZkTRdsP3ihVJtwgacW/16dd5c579ec22f9b02e04bc18b238ae4/1L4A4642__1_.jpg)

![1L4A4637](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6bDBsYu2NKOuBbPQjdEMu7/8be73a8e878b904ba43633bd32c1457f/1L4A4637.jpg)

The Battle for 4th

Northern England's free route race offers a dotwatcher's delight as riders meander between the 10 checkpoints on the rough and exposed English countryside on a wide variety of routes. This year's edition includes some out-and-back checkpoints and some unavoidable tough climbs.

All Points North

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