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.