MTBO race 1:23:06 [4]
Cold cold start. Off on leg 1 and 2 along very soft pea gravel. At that point the road race on the adjacent bitumen looked more enticing. In fact the bitumen may have been an unrecognised option to #1. Straight forward to #3 then a very good route choice leg to #4 where it was hard to decide which was the optimal option. I chose a relatively safe wide option which went through control #8. It was on this leg that I hit one section of pea gravel that stoped me dead because it was so deep and soft. Duncan Sullivan caught me after #5 and powered away like a natural climber. He got to #7 well before me. (#6 was cancelled due to the fact some routes in and out may have been too close to the rifle range, which happened to be operating today). Off to #8 going backwards was the best option to go as I got there the same time as Duncan! By this time I was cruising and daydreamed my way, overshooting the last turn to #9. I lost 4-5m when I searched a different track. No issues after that except on the way to #10 I came across avery distressed orienteer who had no idea where she was. (This was despite standing on the end of a sealed bitumen road in sight of farm houses!!). Controls on the golf course were fun.
