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The steeply wooded and semi-open, seemingly mountainous hills surrounding the town of Chaves were the venue for the long race qualification. Where as in the women’s race the numbers of entrants at present do not exceed 60 the men’s field of over 90 riders needed to be cut to 60 for the final on Friday.

All the men were split into 3 courses of similar length by world ranking, then 3 riders start at once on the 3 courses every 3 minutes. The top 20 from each course then qualify for the final.

The finish area was in a little village square, complete with little cafe, elderly locals and old gnarly trees. Dust clouds blew up from time to time, the hot Portuguese summer now quickly drying the plush green countryside. Some commented it was like a scene from a Western movie, just needing a group of bandits to ride into the square on horseback!

I got a good, long warm up before heading to the start. I was apprehensive because I knew it was, again, going to be a very physically demanding course, but I was fairly relaxed. Starting with MTBO legend Lasse Brun Pedersen and the Italian pocket rocket Giaime Origgi, I was surprised that I could keep up quite well and felt confident after seeing Giaime make a mistake. I roared down a steep track towards the first control, unfortunately miss-reading a track junction (I know others did exactly the same or even crashed here), and performed a classic parallel error until I realised what I had done, possibly losing a minute or so before punching. After a short leg we then had a massive route choice leg with an evil climb across the map. On the ascent I felt fairly good and settled into a much better rhythm than on the shorter steeper climbs of the middle race. We then had another route-choice leg with a manic descent into a village. I made a small mistake losing perhaps a minute in the dense streets, the little alleys mapped at 1:20,000 being very hard to read.

There then followed another big climb back up to the ridge before another mad descent into a river gorge, the rough track twisting and turning following the valley side. By this time I was starting to tire and for the first time had to get off and push for the last few metres on the way into number 8. The climb up to number 9 was just bonkers, & with the sun on the back of the neck I was forced into the granny ring as I ground my way up, sweat pouring down my face.

I refused to let it beat me and eventually it flattened out. After another control I started the final descent towards the finish but took a safe route into the penultimate control. I then gave it everything to the last control and on to the finish line.

I was completely spent and could have given nothing more. I went light headed and collapsed in a heap by my bike trying to keep my feet high in the air, pouring cold water over myself. One of the Swedes kindly grabbed a cereal bar which I forced down, luckily the sugar hit immediately revived me enough to be able to get back on the bike for a warm down.

Then the disappointment of not qualifying for the long final hit home, but although I may have lost 4 minutes or so in mistakes, a clean ride would still not have got me through. The easy navigation and massive climb favoured the stronger riders.

My altimeter showed 860metres of climb!

Cath texted me following the race with the words ‘Mechanical, mental or physical?’ I didn’t exactly know how to answer.

Todays was my worst international result for a long time, and following the race I was gutted. Although I felt the course was too physical for me, post race analysis shows everyone was having a tough time of the climbs so I was not doing as badly as I felt at the time, and I was on course for a top 50 finish (which I would have been very happy with) when the real problem struck: a slow puncture that started on the mad rocky descent to number 7. To cut a long story short I tried 4 times to pump the tyre back up, but in the end I could only get to one control before it needed doing again. I was really struggling with the skwirming back tyre both on the climbs and  on the descents where it was just dangerous ( I nearly rolled the tyre off the rim at one point, had a burp and nearly hit a wall!). In the end, on the way to number 13, I gave in and put a tube in (I run tubeless so a real pain in the neck).I then immediately made a silly mistake, the stress and heat getting to me. I ended the race in a whole world of fuzzy pain, and in a foul mood. Hopefully I wasn’t too rude to my fellow team mates, and thank you to Andy W who got me into the rier to cool off.

When I got back to the flat I started a damage assessment on my rear wheel. Luckily I had not damage the rim riding it so flat, but the rim tape was off in several places. I had no choice to either beg and borrow some tubes for the rest of the week or go to Chaves to a bike shop. The fantastic people at “Run and Bike” in Chaves replaced the rim tape and put on my spare tyre, they were just brilliant: one of the best bike shops I have ever visited. Thank you!

I have to mention Ben Plowman’s fantastic result, his climbing ability shining through with a 31^st place, a great result at his first international event. Unfortunately, Helen’s awesome 6^th place on the JWOC course didn’t stand when the course was voided, so she hs to do it all again tomorrow.

More photos are in the gallery.

I have updated the Gallery with lots more photos from the opening ceremony. I will probably update it most days so keep checking !

WOC 2010 Album click here

Most exciting bits condensed to 6 mins. Watch out for speeding cars, near crashes with other riders, steps and a open manhole in the moat !

Following the Sprint Final, Monday was a rest day with a model event available for those who wanted to use it.

Most teams opted to go to the model event, based in the town of Boticas, in the morning to avoid the lunchtime/afternoon heat. Team GB did the same but Windy and I (Windy navigating, I might add) managed to take a more leisurely tourist route to the event, so started somewhat later than the others!

We went out together on the 1:15,000 map to get an idea of the types of terrain we would encounter in the following days and to see how the various track symbology is used in Portugal. We learnt straight away that the fast riding forest roads were generally not that quick, being loose and criss crossed in places by storm water run off. Many of the smaller tracks were very rough and Windy’s 4 inch full-susspension bike was a definite advantage, soaking up the lumps and bumps.

We also tried several route choice options as a pair to see what was quicker.

Our last control was at the top of a hill in a beautiful old village, complete with all the old farmers and their wives we had seen in the opening ceremony video the night before, sitting on benches or standing in their doors, watching us mad, brightly-dressed MTBOers scuttling past on the cobbles.

The rest of the team went off to a lake to swim in the afternoon but I decided to stay in and around Montalegre and relax after a great lunch of lots of the smoked meats the town is famous for.

The 2010 World MTBO Sprint Championships was held in the old town of Chaves, in Northern Portugal. All competitors were quarantined inside a football stadium 30 minutes before the first start to ensure a fair competition, and the stadium was where the competition would culminate after 25 minutes of frantic racing round the narrow alleys and parks of the town.

There then started a bizarre warm up with most competitors riding round and round the cinder running track that surrounded the pitch. I had a reasonably late start and by the time I came to warm up, a cloud of dust had lifted over the track. Eventually I decided after about 20 minutes that the amount of dust going into my eyes and lungs was probably counter-productive to the warm up, so I stopped and went to the toilets to wash off. Taking my helmet off I looked like a badger: great brown dusty stripes in the pattern of my helmet vents all over my bald head. Someone said I looked like I’d just finished the Paris Roubaix!

We started just outside the stadium with a fairly difficult first control where I lost some time. Although I saw the entrance I should have taken off the street, I thought it looked a little too private so carried on. I soon realised it was the correct way in and turned around, perhaps losing 30 seconds, before I belted across a slippery tiled terrace to get back on track.

From there on I rode fairly well, though possibly taking safe route choices a little too often and losing a few seconds here and there.

I nearly bottled the long flight of steps coming out of number 3, but decided (as there were 3 or 4 half-landings) I would be OK. The head cam footage shows it to be a little scary, but I rode it cleanly. Next we went over the river to a park area for some very fast controls on tight paths, being careful not to corner cut and risk disqualification. There were many marshals lining the route whistles in hand at all the major junctions enabling us to commit flat out to some blind road junctions, but they were also there to make sure no-one cut any corners.

We then had a very picturesque control on an old stone bridge before the climb back up to some controls in the old town walls and castle.

I then made my only other big mistake, accidentally riding to number 1 on the way to 15. I realised fairly late and lost possibly up to a minute but managed not to let it get to me for the remaining controls.

Finally, we came to the area we had looked at the day before on the recce, a huge castle near the stadium. I nailed the route down into the castle moat as several top riders blatted past me. I stopped for perhaps 3 seconds just to make sure but felt very smug descending the metal ramp as they all streamed past.

Disaster nearly struck (as it did Chris BB), but I just missed an open manhole cover in the grass of the moat. I saw it at the last second and swerved round it at speed. I kept up the pace into the last control and got a very good finish time after a fast standing punch on the last control.

I finished with no idea how I had done, but I had enjoyed the event and had a big smile on my face and was full of adrenaline. Although I probably lost 1.30 in mistakes on numbers 1 and 15, I felt I had a good ride and was pleased with the mid table-position of 47^th considering, though a top 40 would have been nice.

I rode with a head-cam on and I will try and publish something later tonight if my netbook will process the video.

Results available at http://mtbwoc2010.fpo.pt/images/stories/lists/sprint_final_results.html

WOC 2010 Album click here

Saturday morning 5.30am: cockadoodle doooooo!!! Ben struggled with the blinds to try and stop Portuguese sunshine belting through our bedroom window. I rolled over and went back to sleep…..7:30am saw me sat in a locals cafe, espresso in hand taking in the atmosphere, before a quick shopping trip to get the breakfast in. We came back laden with hot baguettes, jams, cheese and more importantly a budget coffee maker, a bargain at 7 euros!

We also met our house guests the Swedes, who arrived very tired after an all night travel-fest: their plane had had to divert following a bird strike  which had smashed the cockpit window!

After team registration we all jumped into the hire cars for a familiarisation trip to Chaves where the sprint is to be held tomorrow. Careful to not break the embargo rules we bumbled our way round first the castle then the old town, tuning into the terrain. We met many international friends also wandering around in the mid day heat. So back to Montalegre and after a leisurely lunch it was training or ‘model’ event time. It was becoming hot and the steep climbs on cobbled narrow streets were testing. Many struggled with the intricate navigation required. I was navigating well but struggling with my front brake. In the end I finished the course and returned to the hotel for some spanner work. I went out again after and everything now seems fine ready for the sprint in the morning.

By 11am UK time tomorrow, the sprint will be all over as the portugese organisers are taking advantage of the moderate temperatures and quiet streets of first thing Sunday morning.

Keep an eye on the event website for results…..

Friday has seen Team GB flying to Portugal for the start of the World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships 2010, based in the town of Montalegre.

The men’s team of Andy Conn, Ben Plowman, Andy Windrum and myself is joined by junior Chris Brand Barker who will be riding in the World Junior Championships alongside women’s junior competitor Helen Clayton.

The women’s senior team line up is Emily Benham, Beth Clayton (Helen’s Mum!) and Lucy Harris.

 The team is a great mix of age and experience with lots of young blood looking good for the future of MTBO in the UK.

Emily, Helen and Lucy flew out early in a bid to acclimatise to the promised fearsome midday heat and have already reported temperatures of 38 degrees C. Saturday will be spent training and tuning into the terrain of northern Portugal ready for the first race, the urban sprint in the town of Chaves on Sunday morning.

http://mtbwoc2010.fpo.pt/