This years British MTBO long distance champs was held at Longleat. The last time I orienteered at Longleat was 1989 ! It was my 17th birthday and I drove home afterwards, probably scaring my Dad half to death !
I seem also to remember writing ‘CHEESE’ in huge letters with electrical tape on my tent when we camped that weekend at the Shepton Mallet showground, no idea why…… happy days.….
With the Center Parcs right in the middle of the map now, planning was always going to be challenging. Unfortunately some confusion over the marking of out of bounds roads overshadowed what was a fantastic area with some challenging route choices and some vicious hills.
I had a reasonable ride, a little unsettled when I realised I had been OOBs but felt happy with my split times generally. A great ride by Andy Simpson, an old MTBO stalwart returning to the sport after a break of a few years, gave him the win. Em Benham took the women’s race.