8 minute read
MTBO AUST CHAMPS
A Silver Lining for NZL at the National Championships
Blake Gordon OA MTBO Coordinator
DI 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
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) With steady rain over Friday night, we awoke to a warm humid from fast-finishing Jacqui Sinclair (NZL) but Alison MacDonald’s day with little wind, lots of flies and mud & puddles the order (NZL) 3rd place won the day for the Silver Ferns NZL 4, AUS 3. of the day. The organisers were on site when we arrived, but the truck with toilets aboard managed to wedge itself halfway up the Sprint Distance on Saturday Afternoon 300-metre track to the assembly area. So we assembled our bikes First order of business was to wash the mud out of the chain and (still in the Ground Effects bike bags) by the side of the road. rear forks – and then lube up the chain for the afternoon Sprint. The usual scramble for air pumps, lost/misplaced SI sticks and This combination of events – two in one day – with a Middle zingers, map boards to attach and pedals to thread on – all part Distance event followed by a Sprint – had never been tried in of the preparation that MTBOers have learned to master. At least Australia. But the Big Foot organisers were up to the task - all was we had two races today (value for preparation) – both at the same ready at 3pm for the first starters. The automated start – with a assembly area with remote starts. mechanical recorded voice calling you up, giving instructions, 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 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. (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 New Zealand team members Andrew Bott, Bruce Meder, and Michael Wood accept the ANZ MTBO Challenge their way through the puddles and trophy from Australian team members Dion Keech (Manager), Adrian and Carolyn Jackson. Photo: Troy Merchant
Tim Hay (QLD) and Jiri Cech (NSW) concentrating hard on their maps during the Sprint race. Photo: Dion Keech The mad scramble finding and punching your SI at controls. Photo: Troy Merchant
Sunday – after the Thunderstorm
They had not had rain in Cessnock since June, but on Saturday night it bucketed down, complete with lightning and thunder. They thanked us for bringing the rain as we checked out, but we wondered what it had done to the tracks at “Astley’s Tower”, in Kitchener, just 10 minutes from Cessnock. The day was bright and sunny with a nice breeze, but the single track was slippery and the sandy roads had turned sticky with sizeable puddles. But it was another day and conditions were the same for all riders – improving as the day went on. How were we going to turn the tables on the rampaging Kiwis? Everyone had their own strategy – make less mistakes, ride faster, take the single-track, avoid the climbs, concentrate – and most of all - enjoy the ride. The M21 Elite were just as rock solid as they had been on Saturday. Adrian Jackson scored an impressive 13minute win over team-mate Alex Randall 2nd , with Stu Adams (Newcastle) in 3rd and David Simpfendorfer 4th. The M40 class continued to baffle the selector’s choices with three non-team Australians – Craig Steffens (Qld), Graeme Hall (Qld), and local Patrick Dellagiacoma – taking out the top 3 places, but NZL team members took 4th (Peter Swanson) and 5th (David King) and picked up the valuable point. AUS 1, NZL 1. Lee Merchant (AUS) was next to finish – topping the M50’s for the second time and when Eoin Rothery (AUS) took 3rd, that made the score 2 – 1 in AUS favour. Then the AUS Women’s Elite combination of Carolyn Jackson 2nd and Melanie Simpson 3rd scored a hard-fought victory, despite Marquita Gelderman’s third win of the weekend – a narrow 28secs margin over Jackson. Tension mounting: AUS 3 – NZL 1. If Australia could just win two of the remaining classes - M60, W40, and W50 - the banner would stay in Australia. The AUS M60 team had won both the Middle Distance and Sprint races on Saturday. Tim Dent (AUS) was first up on the board in just over 72 minutes, but that was bettered by the consistent Michael Wood (NZL) who navigated well to vault into first with a time of 68.22. News came back that Peter Hoban (AUS) had not completed the course, and when Tom Clarkson (NZL) beat Ray Sheldon (AUS) by 1 1/2 minutes, the Kiwis were assured of a vital second point. AUS 3, NZL 2. So it would be up to the W40’s and W50’s to decide the winner of the 3rd ANZ Challenge. Both groups were out over 90 minutes, but when New Zealand’s W50 Jacqui Sinclair and Alison MacDonald finished first and second, the Challenge was decided. The AUS W40’s Lyn Stichbury and Joanna Parr managed a courageous 15minute winning margin over their Kiwi rivals, but the final score read AUS 4 NZL 3 for the Long Distance event. The Challenge over three races finished NZL 11, AUS 10. In the closest tussle between the two nations yet, the riders from the land of the long white cloud took home the banner by a single point. There were some consolations for the Australians. Adrian Jackson won the Resident Champion Men Elite Trophy while his mother Carolyn won the Resident Champion Women Elite Trophy. In the battle of the States, the shield went back to Victoria (30 points)), with NSW 2nd (24 points), Queensland 3rd (18), South Australia 4th (10), ACT 5th (5), WA 6th (1), TAS 6th (1). After the record attendance at these MTBO nationals, we look forward to next year’s titles in “it better be sunny” Queensland.
