Category: Competitions

http://www.staffordshirenewsletter.co.uk/Sport/Orienteer-Stodgell-rides-on-after-injury.htm

I am in the local paper again this week !

It’s now less than a month till the start of the World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships 2010, to be held in Monalegre, Portugal.

I will be flying out on Friday 9th July with the rest of the British team, for 9 days of training and racing.
The event website at http://mtbwoc2010.fpo.pt/ is starting to come alive with details of entrants, and a trickle of more final details.

This years MTBO World Champs has entries from 25 countries totaling 96 men and 61 women. 80 juniors will also be racing for glory in the Junior World MTBO Championships.
The Programme for the week is as follows:

Friday, 09th July	Teams arrival (afternoon)
Saturday, 10th July	Teams arrival Model Event Sprint
Sunday, 11th July	Sprint Final (morning) Opening Ceremony
Monday, 12th July	Model Event
Tuesday, 13th July	Middle Distance Final Open Race (Middle Distance)
Wednesday, 14th July	Long Distance Qualification

Thursday, 15thJuly	Rest Day Open Race (Long Distance)
Friday, 16th July	Long Distance Final
Saturday, 17th July	Relay Event Open Race (Middle Distance) Closing Ceremony, Banquet
Sunday, 18th July	Teams departure

MTBO WOC /JWOC 2010 has a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/people/Woc-Jwoc-Mtb-o-Portugal/100000749239311

As the sprint was an early morning event I travelled up to York the night before and stayed with SPLOT Helen, leaving me with a fairly short drive to the event on Saturday.

Unfortunately, with many of the students either still doing exams or in post exam party mode, plus the Polaris being on the same weekend numbers were fairly low for Andrew Windrum’s Driffield Airfield Sprint race.

I’d had had a look at the map and aerial photography before hand and knew that it was a 4WD/tank training area with lots of holes, and it was a shame the rain of the last few days had filled them with water.

Riding to the start in the sunshine, there was a very stiff head wind, but at least the recent rain was keeping the dust down. I started and immediately struggled to get into the scale of the map – 1:5000 – and overshot the first control losing 30 seconds. I rode well on 2 & 3 but on the way to number 4 I started to get fed up with having to ride around all the huge ‘puddles’ on the tank tracks so decided to ride through one. Not a good plan, it was about 3 feet deep and I exited the bike over the handlebars to a very wet landing as the water stopped me in my tracks.

Out of 4 and disaster: I headed out of the semi butterfly in the wrong direction riding for 15, instead of 5 (as did Andy Conn). It was only when I got there I realised what I had done. Back across the map then to the real number 5 and then the long run on the perimeter road to 5.  I then cocked up number 8, going for number 15 again and then heading to 14. I’m not sure what was going on in my head but once I realised what I had done I decided I’d lost so much time I’d turn it into a training race. So, rather than going straight to 8 I headed back towards 7 and started the leg again.

I then rode cleanly to the end catching Andy Conn at 13. We played cat and mouse to the end but my route choice round the quarry area to 16 rather than through it proved about 10 seconds slower and Andy finished just ahead of me.

Cycling back to the car, the bike was in a right state. The combination of muck, sand and water taking its toll, we wondered how on earth we could get them functioning properly again for a 3 hour score that afternoon. I even considered going off to find a jet wash. In the end I went and cleaned both myself and the bike in one of the huge tank holes and finished it off with some deftly squirted water from a bottle.

So not a great day for me, particularly after messing up number 5. It was won by Killian with Ben just behind.

This coming weekend will be a test of stamina for riders, a double header organised by NYMBO.
Saturday morning will be a MTBO long sprint, and from the air it seems to be a cracking area for it.
The afternoon brings a 3 hour MBO score in the rolling wolds countryside.

http://www.bmbo.org.uk/calendar/details.php?event_id=82

http://www.bmbo.org.uk/calendar/details.php?event_id=29

Some riders who think this is still a bit lightweight for a weekend are also competing at the Nutcracker XC race on Sunday up the road at Dalby Forest but I think a day at home with the family is called for for me.
http://www.nutcrackermtb.co.uk/

I wore a head cam for the start of the Relay, shame the battery was nearly out.

I had no idea how to pronounce the venue for the World Cup Long race in Gdansk.

Wzniesienie Marii 2 RjnO !! a huge steep hilly forest just on the outskirts of the city. The finish and spectator control were located in a beautiful meadow nestling in a forested valley in the centre of the map.

After a good warm up avoiding the somewhat stroppy locals trying to get up into the hills to their dachas for the weekend I decided to take it fairly easy for the first half until the spectator control and then open up a bit if my legs could take it.

I had fun on the way to the first control throwing my nice shiny Bow over the top of two huge fallen trees (not on the map) but luckily I got the right track into the flag. I made a little error on the way to 3 but just cut down through the forest to the path below correcting the overshoot. On the way to 4 I had perhaps my worst mistake of an otherwise great ride, choosing to ride around on the road rather than cutting cross country up the steep climb, though until I see the splits I’m not sure how much time I lost.

The decent down from number 4 was bonkers, right on the limit of adhesion feathering the front brake I made it to the bottom with a huge smile on my face bum hanging right over the rear wheel, very pleased I held my nerve. The punishment for fun then came with an equally steep climb backup the other side to number 5. Leg 6-7 was the first of the big route choice legs, right across the map. I decided to head west on what I felt was the best route for me, but again the splits will tell if I made the right choice. The course carried on towards the spectator control with steep climbs, lots of cutting through and big route choice decisions, but I felt I was riding really well, making no mistakes.

The route into spectator took us teetering over a stream on a fallen tree and then screaming down a steep bank to yet another stream crossing which I chose to run rather than risk riding.

I took a safe route choice to number 16, choosing to refuel and plan the rest of the course on a long vehicle track climb. A couple of tricky controls led us to a horrendously steep carry/push up a ridge to number 18 where I passed Christine Schaffner who had just climbed up the ridge from the opposite direction. She must have been all in after the climb and it sounded like the centre court of Wimbledon as I rode away, but it was good enough for second place on Women’s Elite for her just 20 seconds behind Michaela Gigon.

The tracks surrounding 19-22 were mainly vague forest extraction lanes and I navigated mainly by the contours, it often being quicker to ride cross country.

I took a huge risk to number 22 using a 600m long difficult to ride track along the ridge rather than descending and climbing back up. I really thought I’d blown it to start with with horrendous, mud and fallen trees but some aggression and running with the bike got me through and soon the track opened up into faster riding.

The sprint for home then started. I carved down a steep decent, weaving my though trees, masters and juniors climbing up right on the edge, before facing a evil climb over to the last control.

As I shouldered my bike I reflected between gasps of breath and screaming calves that no matter my placing I’d had a great ride and really put some demons to bed that have been nagging my confidence over the last month.

I nearly ‘Haselsbergerd’ the finish control, coming in way too fast to notice at the last minute the sandy track. I desperately fought the handlebars and brakes but managed not to do a ‘Kevin’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1QIuN_vhcw for a great clip of the master at work and his website at http://www.kevin-haselsberger.at/

The commentator grabbed me for an interview (us Brits are always popular because it makes it easy for them) and announced that I was currently in 13^th position, only 15 mins down. Although I knew there was still the red group of elites still to finish I was ecstatic. I then had to sit patiently and see how far I slipped down the table.

An eventual 26^th (out of 64 starters) though has achieved my first goal of the year (a top 30 at a world event) and although I keep on saying it is my best international performance to date.

Em had a very tough race to take 11=, Heather 21^st and Bobby in his first international race 51^st.

The masters GB team had its highs and lows. Unfortunately in the Men’s 40+ Bryan joined the many mechanical retrials with a bent frame after ripping off his rear mech (apparently having to visit a building site on the way back to the finish to get them to bend it back a bit so the rear wheel would go round).

Andy Conn started his race with a huge crack in his frame but it survived to take 7th only to be pipped on the line by BMBO chair John Houlihan by 13 secs to go into 6^th Place. Dickie Jones was 13^th. In men’s 50+ Tony was 7^th, and John 24^th.

Charlie and Sarah’s form continues with two wins in Women’s 40+ and 50+, Sarah by 12 mins so team GB will be waving the flag at the prize giving tonight.

Full results available at http://www.harpagan.pl/worldcup/?page=results&lang=en