Ulverston's David Heffernan leads the way in the men's solo class at the halfway point of the Lakeland Lanequest series, although he could have had an even bigger advantage over his rivals.

A fine summer evening greeted the riders who ventured into Lancashire on Tuesday for the third round of this year’s Wheelbase Lakeland Lanequest series.

Following two soggy nights on the previous Tuesdays, not to get soaked to the skin made a pleasant change for everybody involved.

Planner Martin Oglesby devised a map with the start and finish at the Green Man at Inglewhite.

With variable route choices, including some easy riding in the lanes around Chipping and more challenging terrain for the serious competitors around Beacon Fell and the infamous Jeffrey Hill, there was plenty to tempt riders into overextending their routes and running late.

Not so for Backbarrow's Tom Gibbs, who majestically cleared all 30 check points with seven minutes to spare to run up the highest solo and overall score on the night.

Close rival Heffernan opted to miss one control and arrived home within the two-hour limit, kicking himself for having the time in hand to have cleared all 30, whilst Dave Hollingham punctured, but still managed an excellent tied second place with Heffernan on 290.

In the ladies’ solo category, Helen Jackson elected to miss out a couple of controls atop Jeffrey Hill, and arrived at the finish early, still winning the stage on 280 points.

Not quite so close behind this week was Jo Cleary on 260 points and she was followed by Angela Brand-Barker, Hannah Cleary Hughes (despite falling into a ditch) and Rebecca Beedle.

The winners in the pairs class were James Annan and Julia Hargreaves, with the consistent teams of Richard Davies and Julia Richardson and Colin and Gillian Fell close behind.

At the halfway mark, only Heffernan and Jackson have accumulated over 800 points to respectively lead their classes and the overall standings, and with three rounds to go, it is still all to play for.

A 55-point gap currently separates Heffernan and Hollingham in the men's standings, although Gibbs, who has finished first in the last two events, is sure to challenge hard.

Heffernan will look to stay at the top of the men's standings during stage for, which starts and finishes at the Royal Oak in Cartmel next Tuesday, with the penultimate event taking place from the Stag Inn at Dufton the following weeks, as the series nears its conclusion.