Training Log Archive: Almost Good

Most controls ok, but wasted a lot of time on 2 controls investigating un-mapped tracks close to the ones I was actually after. 5th in mens open,

Ride to the event start.

Event: Australian MTBO Championships
 

Deserved last, but somehow beat someone for 6th of 8. For the second time in a day was not able to spot the tracks...

Planned to go straight then right onto to a E-W track from the start, Changed my mind and turned to an E-W track right away, then forgot and headed right at a junction and rode away to the south instead of north. Corrected this, but already out of the hunt, and could not find track opening to control 2. Went down a parallel track, and back out. Feeling a bit puzzled until a rider came through the long grass at the track opening and gave its location away. 12min to control 2 when it should have been about 3-4min. Had competitive splits for the rest of the race, but overall a disaster.

Not happy with my ride today. Could not find tracks! Lost significant chunks of time on 2 controls, and on both occasions found the track junction, but dismissed it as being a track based on it being thick undergrowth - thicker than the adjacent forest in fact. One of the tracks I dismissed 3 times before seeing someone ride out of it - and yes, it was the one I wanted. The rows between the trees looked more like tracks to me than the actual tracks!

In the latter half of the event I began to do long ride around route choices to ensure good attack points - and this cost me any chance of being competitive.

6th of 9 in the mens open.

Cruised around the model event area. Was concerned about not being able to find some track entrances easily on one section, and one track i could not find at all, despite cruising back and forth past the junction at walking pace several times. This turned out to be the track to control 2 on the sprint, so finding it today would have been an advantage!

A good event, read the map well overall, and ran fast. Posted a competitive time for the category, and managed not to let the team down.

Blew the first 2 controls. Ran to 2 first by mistake, then back to 1. turned around to sprint back to 2 as I knew where it was - or thought I did. over-ran (or under ran, who knows?) and lost map contact. had to relocate, but stuffed that up too, so had to relocate again...

The rest of the event was not bad.

9th of 13 in the M40A

Somehow won the M40A sprint title. Read the map well, apart form a couple of small errors.

Glad to be in M40, not M45 as I note Russell Blatchford did 3 seconds faster than me on the same course for 3rd place in the M45.

3 hour enduro score course run by Mountain Devils. Cleared he course, came 5th. One significant very suboptimal route choice probably cost 5-7minutes and 2 places...

Event: 2008 Australian Championships
 

Mixed format spanish score event followed by a line course. Easy nav, fast wide hardpack (non-technical) tracks. A road biker with street directory reading skills would have gone well...

Still fun though.