MTBO NEWS
A Silver Lining for NZL at the National Championships
Blake Gordon OA MTBO Coordinator
D
I Michels, the New Zealand manager, said to me when I met her at Killingworth, NSW, just before setting off to the start, “We’ve left some of our best at home – trying to blood a few new riders”. The rules were simple. New Zealand, as visiting nation, selected the seven age classes they could contest (must include M21 Elite and W21 Elite) in the Australia-New Zealand Challenge. Three riders could compete for each country in each of the selected age classes; the sum of the top two selected riders times from each nation were compared and the lowest total time won a point. With seven classes over each of the three days, a tie was not possible.
Saturday - Flies, Mud and Riding the Yellow With steady rain over Friday night, we awoke to a warm humid day with little wind, lots of flies and mud & puddles the order of the day. The organisers were on site when we arrived, but the truck with toilets aboard managed to wedge itself halfway up the 300-metre track to the assembly area. So we assembled our bikes (still in the Ground Effects bike bags) by the side of the road. The usual scramble for air pumps, lost/misplaced SI sticks and zingers, map boards to attach and pedals to thread on – all part of the preparation that MTBOers have learned to master. At least we had two races today (value for preparation) – both at the same assembly area with remote starts. The ride to the start gave us a chance to sort out some of the big features – two large power/transmission lines with 100metre wide rough open areas. We could ride on any yellow today so these areas might be crucial to route choice. Under the freeway, through a dip with a stream and along the muddy track filled with puddles to the start / map distribution area. All seemed in order. The news at the finish was good – our M21 Elites Adrian Jackson, Alex Randall and David Simpfendorfer had taken 1st, 2nd and 4th in that order with Damian Welbourne from Newcastle in 3rd. AUS 1, NZL 0. But soon after came the first surprise – our M40’s had taken 2nd (Tim Hatley) and 7th (Tim Hay) while Peter Swanson (NZL) had blitzed the field to take1st and David King (NZL) 5th - good enough for a 6minute win to the Kiwis. It mattered little that Craig Steffens (Qld) and Graeme Hall (Qld) had pinched 3rd and 4th behind the leaders – they had embarrassed the selectors – but the score stood AUS 1, NZL 1. Next out were the Women 21 Elite with Marquita Gelderman (NZL) setting a cracking pace in the slippery conditions to score a 9 _ minute win over Thorlene Egerton (AUS) with Angela Eccles (NZL) 3rd, 7 1/2 minutes in front of Carolyn Jackson. All of a sudden it was NZL 2, AUS 1. Next scheduled classes to start were the M60 and W50 on Course 4. First off in M60 was Michael Wood (NZL) who had run so well at the Foot-O Oceania events only a month ago in Canberra. Then Dick Ogilvie (NSW) and Hub Carter (Qld) wove their way through the puddles and 38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2007
disappeared out of sight. At 11:12 the officials called halt to the start order - not enough Course 4 maps. Quick thinking – several meetings and 1 1/2 hours later – new Course 4 maps were handed out to the assembled M60’s and W50’s. Meanwhile at the finish – the day was hotting up – as was the competition. Australia’s M50’s swept the top two places with Eoin Rothery 1st and Lee Merchant 2nd clear Challenge winners over Rob Garden 6th and Bruce Meder 7th. But New Zealand’s W40 team of strong-riding Di Michels 1st and Viv Prince 4th scored a 7-minute win over Australia’s Lyn Stichbury 2nd and Carol Osborne 3rd. Things were looking up for the Kiwis with NZL 3, AUS 2. So with two classes to go – the delayed M60’s and W50’s – the first day was tilting New Zealand’s way. The M60’s was decided early in the delayed race when news came back that Tom Clarkson (NZL) had mispunched giving the win to Tim Dent 2nd and Peter Hoban 4th with NZL Michael Wood in 3rd. Leigh Privett (VIC), back from injury, had embarrassed the selectors again to win the M60 class, but all hinged on the final class – the W50’s. Kate Chown (AUS) narrowly won (by 30secs) from fast-finishing Jacqui Sinclair (NZL) but Alison MacDonald’s (NZL) 3rd place won the day for the Silver Ferns NZL 4, AUS 3.
Sprint Distance on Saturday Afternoon First order of business was to wash the mud out of the chain and rear forks – and then lube up the chain for the afternoon Sprint. This combination of events – two in one day – with a Middle Distance event followed by a Sprint – had never been tried in Australia. But the Big Foot organisers were up to the task - all was ready at 3pm for the first starters. The automated start – with a mechanical recorded voice calling you up, giving instructions, then “Ready, Steady, Go” – worked well (and attracted many positive comments). The courses were fast and furious – with winning times in all classes under 23 minutes. The area had dried out a bit, but there were still motor bikes and an odd 4WD spinning in the muddy bits. It did not stop the Kiwis who seemed to revel in the conditions (“just like home” I heard several times) – but the result was the same. AUS won the M21 Elite, M50, M60; NZL won the M40, W21 Elite, W40, and W50. So we went “home” to caravan parks, tents, motor homes and motels – to clean our bikes, shower, eat dinner and work on a strategy to overcome the 8 – 6 margin that had developed over the two Saturday races.
New Zealand team members Andrew Bott, Bruce Meder, and Michael Wood accept the ANZ MTBO Challenge trophy from Australian team members Dion Keech (Manager), Adrian and Carolyn Jackson. Photo: Troy Merchant
