MTB Orienteering (Aus Champs) 57:24 [5] 16.0 km (3:35 / km) +257m 3:19 / km
Eumeralla Scout Camp, Anglesea. Middle Distance, M50, 1st.
I hadn't actually seen the Sprint result before heading out, so didn't get ahead of myself which was good. No. 1 was downhill and I didn't pedal, not wanting to miss the side track. So 9th to #1, 20 seconds down but reading the map. That was paying off as a fastest split to 3 and mistakes by others gave me a share of the lead with Andrew by 4.
Then came the dumb slog up a 45m hill to a lookout. I was climbing OK, but on the gravelly path I caught up (5 minutes) to Steve Pyatt. As I went to pass he accelerated. So I'm on the wrong side of the narrow path as elite Chris Firman charges around a blind corner. I've nowhere to go and 40 psi in my tires on loose gravel - a touch of the brakes and I'm down. Firman must have bunny hopped me?
Anyway I lose about 20 seconds, adrenaline kicks in and I do the repass of Pyatt on the way out of the dogleg, pretty much at the same place. Unfortunately then comes the steep bit on loose gravel, I have no grip, and Pyatt dodges past again. I bide my time to 6 and then take a roundabout route to 7: thankfully that was the last I saw of him. I had lost 25s to defending champ King on that leg, but it was worth it. So now I'm down in 6th place, but a fastest split to #8 gets me up 1.
#9 is a bit of a worry - I didn't make a mistake, rode OK but only had the 14th fastest split, losing 46s to Darryl Smith? Darryl was leading here and did till losing 6 minutes on #11. Steve Sullivan had dropped more time than me on #9, and Rob Garden lost a minute on 10, so by 11 I was up to second, just 17 seconds off King. King lost 3 minutes on #13 to drop out of the places and by attrition I had taken over.
At #14 I picked up a passenger - who blew past me on every leg from here to the finish, but stopped at every junction to let me find the controls.
A little blip at #18 cost 45 seconds and the lead to Rob Garden, but Rob blew a minute on the third last to hand me the win.