MTBO Camp – Middle Race

Another forest adjacent to Ahus town centre was the venue for the last event of the MTBO camp, a middle distance race. The area was classic Scandinavian sand dune forest with low ground cover and lots of intricate contour detail that made the riding sublime. Add to this a dense network of tracks and paths, the area was perfect for MTBO.

I latched onto the back of the Danish team peleton as we weaved our way through the town to the event. The roar of 30 mountain bike tyres on the smooth tarmac turned a few heads.

After a brief chat with Swedish IOF advisor, Patrik, who I met in Israel, I lined up with everyone else at the start. I played safe on the way to number 1 tucking in behind Austrian, Kevin Hasselburger, but noticed him floundering on some of the path junctions. I concentrated on my own race on this leg, perhaps the hardest of the course and left him scratching his head at the top of a dune 🙂

  

I then came into a group of women riders including Em, but I still managed to maintain contact with the map and spotted the tiny path I needed, nailing the control.

The course continued to wind its way up and down the map before a map exchange at the half way point. My room mate, Berni (who didn’t smell, snore or do anything gross all weekend), unfortunately, did not realise there was a second half on the back of the map and rode back to the finish. Not finding anyone there, he rode back to the hotel only then to realise his mistake!

I then got into a head to head race with a group of about 8 riders, including Patrik. I slowly realed them in and pulled ahead with 3 controls to go. However, they caught me back up when I caught my front wheel in a sandy path crossing and went sailing over the handlebars. Luckily only two of them got back in front and I managed to keep my position till the end.

Other than being a little scrappy on some legs and playing safe on others in terms of route choice, I had a great ride. My position 17^th is probably my best international performance to date and a great way to finish the camp.

Even better was the feeling at the final prize giving watching a fellow Brit being crowned Womens Elite Camp Champion – well done Em Benham on some great performances.