MTBO WORLD CHAMPS

The Worlds in Czech Republic, plus…

Kay Haarsma

Four of our team raced in the Polish 6 Day at Nowa Kalecki not only as lead up events for MTB-WOC 2007, but also to examine the terrain for the 2008 Worlds which will be held nearby.

WE stayed in a hotel on a lake and the races were held in the large adjoining forest area. Relatively flat, a little sandy in places, a confusing myriad of tracks and the option to ride through the bush all made for difficult route choice decisions and speedy map reading. MTB-WOC 2008 will suit good navigators and be enjoyable riding. Animals likely to be sighted include deer, squirrels, storks and perhaps a wild pig, while walkers and mushroom pickers abound. The food will take more getting used to with cherry juice, thick soups, meatballs and purple pasta (blueberries added) being routine lunch. Breakfast and dinner both consisted of bread, cheese, and sausage. During the 6 Day, David Simpfendorfer, Alex Randall and Paul Darvodelsky all incurred the penalty of paying for dinner with a DNF each. Paul reckoned he didn’t DNF as he mistakenly took and rode the women’s course! This punishment seemed to work as none of the boys mispunched in the WOC events. David earned his “Larry” nickname for often being late. The best example was in the 6 Day relay when he was away warming up when he should have been going out as No. 2 rider - Alex had to substitute. The team all came together 10 days before WOC for a Euro cup meeting in the Polish mountains at Ladek Zdroj, near the Czech border. This was a beautiful spa town setting. We had a Sprint, Long Distance and mass start event all on the same ultra-hilly map. With the initial “sprint” involving one lap of

David Simpfendorfer in the Middle Distance event Alex Randall has competed in all five MTB-WOCs.

good value for money. They also ran a multi day Foot O event on the same map. Their “sprint” was more traditional being around the detailed town and having the elites interviewed on stage in the minute before starting. Thorlene Egerton, being a bit hyperactive, laced up her sandshoes and impressed in taking 3rd in the women’s A class. Our training then moved to Blansko (near Brno) and then Zahradky (near Telc) for more specific Czech terrain conditions for the last week.

Spare time

was largely spent in coffee shops, eating, reading and … riding. Czech is heavily forested with numerous marked riding and walking trails so it was hard to stop people going for scenic tours. David Wood, an endurance racer, was also preparing for the upcoming Crocodile Trophy. He raced several mountain bike world cups in Europe before joining us. Thorlene, an adventure race aficionado, often took in the sites at a run and had an amazing ability to drop off to sleep exactly on cue. Tony Clark’s big frame didn’t like economy seats and this initially gave him some back problems. He did enjoy the cycle friendly roads in Czech where even buses are polite. Paul Darvo liked his long lunches and supposedly requested his girlfriend fly over to wax his legs. David S studied endlessly any Financial Review that he could get his hands on while Alex Randall’s reading propensity saw him read the last Harry Potter book not once but twice.

Television coverage of World Championships

is now sought by the IOF. In Czech the Sprint was covered live on national TV and riders had cameras literally in their faces at the start and around the course. There was also some TV coverage of the other events. I was a member of the jury and we were able to access footage as evidence in disqualifying competitors who rode illegally through the forest. In Czech you are allowed to carry your bike through the forest but not ride it. In Poland you are allowed to ride through the bush and this is occasionally the ideal route. Another interesting jury matter was when a competitor inadvertently stayed in a start box an extra minute. Initially he was given that minute back by the organizers but it was deducted (and he went from 2nd to 4th) when the jury had to adjudicate on a protest. The fact that the starts were all silent during the week inferred that it was the competitor’s responsibility to start at the correct time. The WOC Relay had a rent-a-crowd of some 1500 extras, as Czech’s famous 2-day Bike Adventure was deliberately programmed to start on that afternoon. This is a bike Rogaine for pairs, normally over 12 hours. Similar to the Polaris but the start & finish area is the campground so no gear needs to be carried. Quite a number of WOC riders raced in the Relay and then headed out on the Bike Adventure. Martin Ševcík, a member of the Czech silver medal Relay team, was in the winning men’s team beating some 238 teams in the elite division. Hungarian team members Anna Fuzy and Veronika Cseh had to settle for 3rd in the women’s category. If you are heading to Europe in July this is an event to target as the Czech forests are heavily tracked and ideal for MTBO. Ian Dalton (WA) planned his o/s holidays around WOC. Initially he had just planned to race the public events and spectate but he was offered the Media liaison role for our team. He was officially accredited and sent out in the field with his digital camera, wrote the reports for OA and helped with the team blog. A tremendous support to the team. His funniest moment was observing (and hearing) Irish competitor John Houlihan when his SI string got caught on a control and then the flag itself got wrapped in his back wheel.

WOC results

Our small team did quite well with the men getting three top20 results plus Alex’s excellent Relay ride. The men’s depth has improved dramatically since MTBO started and making the top-10 is now very difficult. Most were relatively happy with most rides and need more MTBO-racing to improve. Getting over to Europe to race other events before the Worlds is important. Thorlene, in her first Worlds, improved with every event. The women’s field doesn’t have so much depth and there are opportunities there for the taking, if we can entice more women to race.

Bike traveling hassles

This year both Paul and I had our bikes lost at Heathrow for some days. Qantas and many airlines only allow you 20 kg and one piece of luggage. Tony Clark was the only one of us who managed to meet this limit. One person got charged $1000 excess on the way over and I got stung for a couple of hundred on the way back. British Airways currently allow bikes free as extra items. So before you travel check this aspect out thoroughly as it is often worth paying more for the flight, as excess could be charged on each leg. I cart my bike around in a normal cardboard bike box, which is light and easily attainable at bike shops worldwide. The downside is that taxis often refuse to take such a big object. Soft bike bags with some additional padding are probably the best method as they are smaller in size. Either way ensure you have wheels or a little trolley for transport.

Michaela Gigon

MTBO’s best known female rider, has been one of 200 professional athletes in the Austrian army for some years. She receives a monthly wage and in return has to sign in at the Vienna base every morning when not traveling and send in her training details. Michaela spent some time in Australia in 2004. She was World Champion in the Middle Distance in 2004, ‘05, ‘06 and in the Long Distance in 2007. Michaela is a great promoter of MTBO and collates the international ranking list. This can be accessed via her website at www.michigigon. at/

The Scott 24 hour

The biggest in the world with 3,000 competitors, moved back to its original home in Stromlo forest, Canberra recently. There were many MTBO’ers racing on the new purpose-built track with Adrian Jackson and Julie Quinn being stand-out performers. Adrian had the 14th fastest day and the 3rd fastest night lap and was in the 2nd placed pro team. Julie was 13th fastest by day and 6th by night and with fellow orienteers Andrew Rowe and David Baldwin won the mixed 4 class. Ian Prosser was in a 3rd placed team, while the young gun team of Julian Dent, Seb Dunne, Mace Neve, Felicity Brown, David Shepherd and Kerrin Rattray were a close 4th in the mixed 6 category. A Czech event that I assisted at was “The Rockyman” – an Orienteering hardcore duathlon. This involved 10kms Foot O, 200km of MTBO and 5kms of Foot O. It started in Czech Paradise, a lovely area of rock stacks near Jicin and finished in the ski town of Rokytnice. Competitors had to carry their passports because the race went over some Polish mountains. After 12 hours of racing Martin Wurz won by just a few seconds. All competitors were accommodated for the night in ski huts complete with kegs of beer that I had helped roll down the mountain.

Heinz Leuenberger (SA) during the Long Champs, on his way to 6th in M50. Photo: Troy Merchant .

Bill Chalmers M60 (NSW) avoiding a puddle at Cessnock Photo: Troy Merchant Bob Prentice (NSW) 2nd in M50 in the Long and 3rd in the Sprint. Photo: Troy Merchant .

Melanie Simpson (NSW) 3rd in Women’s Elite in the Long and Sprint races Photo: Troy Merchant

Australian team rep Thor Egerton (QLD) was second in the Middle and Sprint and 4th in the Long race. Photo: Dion Keech Adrian Jackson (VIC) won all three Championships and gained maximum points in the World Ranking events. Photo: Dion Keech Alex Randall (VIC) was second Men’s Elite in the three races. Photo: Dion Keech