Winter Night Event - Results
This was a bit of an experiment in event scheduling for our club, a second night event for the year, this one falling in winter, maybe not in the middle of winter, but winter never the less. Would we get a cold wet evening that would put a dampener on enthusiasm levels and see numbers dwindle? The other part of the scheduling equation was that it was sandwiched between two Super Series MTBO events in the local area. Would this work to our advantage with MTBO participants backing up on foot or would they be too pooped after pedalling their way around the adjacent Brush Creek map during the afternoon?
About 45 competitors turned out on an evening kept mild due to overcast conditions. Only a couple were backing up from the MTBO event but one of these did happen to win both events that day. Steven Todkill had beaten all on Course1 at the MTBO event and then backed it up with a win in the Long Red night course, a mighty effort. Nicole Haigh was the only female to brave the 5.5 km long course but had an unhappy night navigationally. Kirrilee Russell pipped recent Hunter Valley Champ, Sally Anne Henderson by 13 second to take out the 3.5 km Short Red with veteran Robert Preston a considerable time adrift in third place. Nicholas Rixon was a clear cut winner over the 3.7 km Orange with Allison Appleby taking out the 2.0 km Green.
Many thanks for their efforts in organising this event to recent club signings, Scott Simson and Gayle Quantock who have sensibly decided to settle here from Queensland.
Here is a report from Scott…….
The courses seemed to go quite well especially the Orange. The Reds and Green courses proved much slower than I expected due, I think, to the very wet conditions underfoot. When the course lengths were planned the forest was drier and faster. The Orange competitors I talked to did very well on their route choice to the small building. No one on Orange seems to have fallen for the very long road route to the bottom of the hill and back. It was also pleasing to hear the green competitors taking the more adventurous track routes instead of the road. The Thicket East side caught out many red competitors, the thicket proving less than obvious. For those who went straight or east of the thicket and had trouble I am sorry. However for any competitor who hugged the watercourse to the west (wrong side) of the thicket, sympathy is in shorter supply.
Fortunately most competitors avoided the creeks by using tracks and roads and hence finished. Luckily Tristan who found the creek avoided drowning and was able to get himself back to the finish minus a compass but with his iPod still working. It is probably the last Cocked Hat Creek bush event as the forest is rapidly disappearing but hopefully we will see you for Summer Street O.
Thanks to Geoff and Margaret Peel and Mick Kavur who helped set up the assembly area with gear rushed from the preceding MTBO event. Also thanks to Carolyn Rigby and Cheryl Todkill for registration and finish and to Tim Hackney and Geoff Todkill for genrator transportation. Finally to my wife Gayle Quantock who placed and collected the track/road side controls on the night and also worked the finish, and most importantly for insisting on Tenyo Street (next to our soon to be built on block) as the assembly because starting right beside the Party on Northlakes Drive (which we didn’t know about) would have been a real problem.