DuO orienteering made a refreshing comeback to Sydney over Easter with events held at Belrose and St Ives attracting 130 participants - including many newcomers.
DuO is an event comprising a course on mountain bike (MTBO) and a course on foot. For these events, the MTBO leg was done as a line course, then the Foot O as a scatter course (any order).
There was a long course (featuring one tough climb on bike and some Moderate-Hard controls on foot) and a short course (fairly flat bike leg and Easy foot nav) each day.
The last DuO was four years ago in Castle Hill; the 2019 events were in the northern beaches area offering an excellent introduction to orienteering for beginners while also satisfying regulars wishing for a decent training session.
Garingal's Michael Ridley-Smith won the Long on both days, while in the Short it was Year 7 student Cooper Horley (GO) who was fastest at Belrose and John Bulman (GO) at St Ives.
Cooper backed up in the Long on Monday and came fifth - a highly impressive result for someone so young. Crucially, he avoided the dreaded mispunch that hurt a few seasoned campaigners.
It was lovely to see so many newcomers - adventure racers, MTB people, some young army guys who were told to improve their nav, a family who came to Space Racing and wanted more (see bottom pic of dad jogging beside his daughter).
You can find results links and info about upcoming MTBO events here. Thanks to those people who took photos - you can find pix and the maps on our Facebook page.
A big thank you to our helpers Liz, John, Ori, Robert, Kristin, Sue, Melanie, Colin and Dianne.
