The sprints were held at Neot Kdumim, again near to the event centre. I had drawn a very late start just before the red ‘top 10’ group and was hoping for a good result if I could get pulled along as they came past me. The first couple of controls were easy and I quickly got into the map and then nailed # 3,4,5 but got distracted by the eventual winner Adrian Jackson as he came through on the way to #2 and picked a duff route choice to #6 , perhaps losing 1 min or so. I then rode really well and started to realise that cutting through carrying the bike off track was an option. I really blasted the last big hill and cut across the open to # where I was caught by Lasse (2nd place) and we both took a daft short cut down some terraced farm land. Lasse didn’t hesitate and jumped 2 metres off a wall, bike in hand. I stopped, saw no alternative and jumped too. I pulled back ahead slightly with another carried shortcut and I sprinted up to the finish to take 44th place just 30 secs off some world ranking points and 6 mins down on the winner, my best international result to date.
World MTBO Champs – Relay
The sun was high in the sky at 2.30pm as we left our accomodation to cycle up to the relay assembly area. The cool breeze and shade near the finish gave a false sense of security the start line being out in the full glare of the sun as we lined up Le Mans style for the sprint to our bikes. Riding first for Team GB I got a cracking start and stayed in the top 3 for the first couple of controls before the strength and speed of the other athletes told and I was overtaken on the next hill by the pack. I stayed in touch through the next couple but lost them when I fluffed a punch and had to go back for it. I then made one bad error taking the wrong single track forcing a climb back up to the control and putting me well down. A bonkers decent down a rocky single track took us down to the TV cameras and another little mistake before I made another huge route choice error. Pulling myself together I started to reel back in the teams in front, passing the Japanese just after the spectator and a small pack in an intricate path network. I gave it all ip the last hill and handed over to Andy Conn. Andy had a solid ride which brought us up a few places. Brian Singleton on anchor was going well before a huge crash saw him lose a few places, so a disappointing result for the mens team.
After the prize giving at the assembly area the mens team however won the race for dinner beating all the other teams back to the event centre. Maybe this could be a new dicipline next year
World MTBO Champs – Rest Day
Today was rest day, or rather, a day off from competition. Team GB were in breakfast early as everyone was off to see Jerusalem and the dead sea. Well everyone except me, as I had the IOF advisors course to do (see posting to be published later).
I met the Swedish rep at lunch, and as he was off to the model event (for the long race) I tagged along to look at the terrain and go for a bit of a bimble.
I was just getting in to the 1:20,000 map with 10m contours when a cricket noise seemed to start following me. I turned another corner and it still followed me. Suspecting a flat I stopped and checked the rear wheel.
Poking out if the tyre was an inch of stick with lots of bubbling latex doing it’s best to keep the air in. Remarkably it stopped but I thought it prudent to cycle
the 2km back to the car rather than risking getting stuck miles from anywhere.
The ‘just riding along’ latex milk worked a treat and even managed to plug the hole when I eventually pulled out the 5 cm sharp stick but I decided to replace the tyre with my spare rather than risk racing on it.
My Swedish pal had an even worse time, though. He had a huge “off”, lacerating his elbow, knee and right hand as he slid off on the loose gravel, certainly a lesson in not forgetting gloves!
The team returned from their dead sea mud baths later in the evening in high spirits and we are all looking forward to the relays tommorrow.
Hot as a hot thing, thorny as a thorny thing
Well, we have arrived. A few problems picking up the hire cars, a puncture and a car with a tiny boot, which isn’t the best for carrying bikes! We now have an upgrade to a Skoda Roomster – which lives up to its name….
The accommodation is basic but great and the food very plentiful and yummy, if a little odd at times. It is very hot and humid, but not as bad as I feared. We have been out for a shakedown ride after building the bikes and many have had punctures already. The riding is very technical with lots of rocky trails to trip us up, as well as the thorns. I will go out again late this afternoon with the map to do a few controls at race speed to finish tuning in, then its lots of rest and fluid to get ready for the first race the long qualifier tomorrow morning.
I was pleased to get a value of 3 million euros in the Fantasy MTBO team competition (many of the Japanese and Spanish got 1 million euro values) and now have to think about my team for the competition. I’m going to go for youth and ignore the 10 million euro big guns as we only have 30 million to spend !!!
Off to Israel
Well the bags are packed and weighed (28 kilograms is all we get !) Bike serviced and tested, EMIT card sourced and I’m ready to go. Most of the team are staying with me tonight so we can travel to Heathrow together in the morning. Ive had a couple of colds in the last few weeks and the training has been a little disjointed but I feel very fresh and have tapered well getting lots of sleep.
I’m not sure of the internet connectivity at our accomodation in Israel but Ill try and blog every night if I can.
You can keep up to date at the WOC site http://www.nivut.org.il/mtbo/
Or at British Orienteering – www.britishorienteering.org.uk and the TCA at www.trailquest.co.uk
OO cup MTBO – Slovenian-Croatian MTB-O League
The final details of the OO Cup mentioned an MTBO to be held in the afternoon of the Friday after the main foot O competition. After a few helpful emails from Slovenia before departure from the UK I lined myself up with a hire bike and travelled out with pedals, shoes, helmet and mapboard intending to race the event.
Unfortunately I could only hire a fully suspended ‘enduro or all mountain’ bike from Tandem of Logatec. It was a Slovenian
manufactured Cultbike with a huge Marzocchi Bomber front shock. It was of quite high spec with XT thoughout and wasn’t too heavy (about 30lbs I would think) but I spent an hour on Thursday night trying to dial out as much suspension as possible, lengthening the reach and swapping the breaks over so I didn’t launch myself into space accidentally (for those that don’t know the Europeans have their breaks set the other way with the front brake on the right). I’ve since learnt it was a prototype model for their new Mania bike. Cults are made in Logatec and a very nice Carbon Hardtail was given to George Bush on his visit to Slovenia last year !
My start time for the foot orienteering race was very late so I only had about 2 hours to get re-hydrated (it was about 34 degrees) and get ready to do battle with the forest again but this time by bike. I started well and took a couple of route choices influenced by the bike. It really didn’t climb well on road or hard packed tracks as the rear wouldn’t fully lock out, so I to
ok steeper more direct routes. I seemed to pass most of the field in front and was going well when I was suddenly caught by two riders who appeared from a different direction having taken a road option. We then had a great head to head for a few controls with each of us challenging for the lead until I took a different route choice option and made a small error. I caught them again just before the finish but by then my legs were feeling the excess’s of the foot O race of earlier and they pulled about 30 secs in front on the last two controls.
I was really pleased with 3rd place as 2nd place went to Slovenias best MTBOer (who hadn’t raced 
earlier that day) and 1st to a Belgian who again was not competing in the OO cup foot races.
The navigation was very intense on the small rocky tracks and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I spent most of the race cursing the heavy sofa I was riding but a little loving the way it soaked up the huge rocks that littered the paths and liked the way it climbed over particularly loose rocky ascents but a light hard tail would have knocked a bit of time off.
Full results at http://www.orientacijska-zveza.si/index.php?id=43&rid=439
Some photos at http://picasaweb.google.si/matjazmk/MTBOPokalIdrije2009#
OO Cup 2009 – Slovenia
This years OO cup (foot orienteering) was centered on the town of Logatec near to Ljubljana. As a 
family holiday we all jetted to Trieste in northern Italy hired a car and stayed in a pretty hotel 2km away from days 1-3 in the village of Crni Vrh.
We flew out on the Monday evening deliberately so we could do the model event, held on the Tuesday nearby. It was a complete eye opener to what was to come and I spent an hour thrashing around in the complex contour detail of the Limestone ‘Karst’ forest trying to understand how it was mapped.
The 5 day event was excellent with great weather, maps and planning and efficient, informal organisation. The 1000 or so competitors came from 27 countries and it was really noticeable how many Elites had made the trip in preparation for the world champs next month.
My performances got better during the week as I got used to the mapping style and bonkers terrain. I was mostly mid table on M35 but managed a 7th and ended up 12th overall which I was very happy with but I did have one of my biggest mistakes of recent years on day 4 – 17 mins…… The terrain was very tough underfoot with lots of rocks and tough undergrowth.
Day 3 also saw me competing in an MTBO – see seperate posting.
The planning for Holly (6 years old but the youngest category is W10) 
was very challenging with several legs completely off track and many legs having 5 or six decision points, but she managed OK and got her medal along with all the other W /M10s at the prize giving on the last day which was a nice touch to encourage the youngsters.
She also gave Cath a close call on the run in split time only being beaten by 1 second 🙂
The OOcup was a fantastic event and I would recommend it to experienced orienteers as a really challenging 5 day, plus the little country of Slovenia has lots to offer for apres Karst…..
Event Report – Dark & White Sumer League #4
Another evening of fantastic weather brought the Dark and White league to Millers Dale on the Monsal Trail near to Tideswell, a new location for me. I recognised a couple of tracks in the area but most of the map was unfamilar.
I started fairly late after getting stuck in Stockport’s nightmare that is 5pm and spent slightly longer planning a route than the normal cursory glance and the headed off up towards #3 planning to try and get them all. I think the planning was fairly kind as many competitors had spent the weekend competing either at the MTBO British Champs or the Polaris.
I was feeling really strong on the hills and was very confident on the navigation, relying mainly on map memory to keep things smooth.
The views were spectacular, with the whole of the White Peak unfolding below as we circumnavigated one of the higher areas of the South Peak District.
Feeling I was going to comfortably make it in in time with all the controls I relaxed a little and then made a mistake, cruising past a road junction on the way to #4 losing myself about 3 mins as I climbed back up cursing my lapse of concentration. It was then a race against the clock giving it all along the Monsal Trail to avoid being late back which I knew would drop me from a likely tied first place. I made it with 15 secs to spare.
Killian, Ben Plowman and I all had cleared the course in under 2 hours, giving us a tied first place. Looking at the splits Killian and I are just a couple of seconds apart on legs now so the racing in Denmark will be very close.
Results available at here..
stats – 1hour 59 mins 47 secs, 42.6km ridden