Mountain Devils Orienteering Club

Mountain bike orienteering headed down to the South Coast of NSW for the first time last weekend.  Currambene State Forest, just south of Nowra, was the venue for the 2008 NSW State Championships.  Another new map prepared by Andrew Slattery, and excellent first-time courses by Graeme Garlick, saw over 80 riders participate in the Long event on Sunday, whilst nearly 50 riders fronted up for some short sharp navigating on a tight portion of the map for the Spring on Saturday.

Although it wasn’t warm, we were blessed with fine weather for almost the entire weekend (a few brief light showers of rain fell around midday on Sunday).  Luckily, for both organisers and riders, because it was clear from the amount of muddy spots on the tracks that when it did rain, the tracks would become slippery quite quickly.

From our youngest competitor, Sonya McNee Darrach in the W8 class, to our elder statesman, Kevin Paine in the M70 class, everybody seemed to have a great time.  It was pleasing to see visitors from Victoria and the ACT – and it seems that whilst most of our National Team were already in Poland enjoying the summer sun in preparation for the Worlds next month, the event proved to be good training for National representative David Simpfendorfer, who took out both races in the Mens Open category.

Of course, there were also a few tales of woe from the weekend – from Graeme Dawson’s decapitated rear derailleur to Mary Fien’s disintegrating map (don’t fall in the mud next time!) – and of course course-setter Graeme Garlick’s attempts to demonstrate his Toyota Prius’ capabilities in the mud. 

A hardy few camped overnight beneath the powerlines – but even with a roaring campfire and a few fortifying refreshments, we couldn’t hear either the rugby league or the Bledisloe Cup on the radio for the static.  Finally, a few late night owls stood around the dwindling fire following Cadel’s progress in the Tour de France time trial on the internet (thank goodness for mobile phones!).

Thanks to our very generous sponsors, Cranks Bikes, for donating prizes – it makes the presentation following the Championships a real occasion.  When you’re looking for that new accessory, part or even a whole new bike – drop into Crank Bikes in Chatswood, North Sydney (just off the expressway) or Balmain and tell them you’re a mountain bike orienteer!

Thanks also to all who helped out over the weekend – it makes organising the event so much easier to have such a wonderful pool of people assisting.

Sponsors (prizes):         Cranks Bikes, Kate Chown
Course-setter:               Graeme Garlick
Vetters:                        David West, Rik Eagles
Organiser:                     David West
Registration:                  Simon Nott, Wendy Kingston
Starts:                           Graeme Garlick, Andy Halliday, David West
SI:                                Rik Eagles, David West
Setup/packup:              Too many people to name – thank you everybody!
Control collection:         Simon Nott, Jiri Cech, Andy Halliday, Jim Anderson, Kate Chown, Chris Bayliss, Graeme Oddy, Michael Roylance, Miroslav Simanek, Jiri Albrecht