Mountain Devils played host to yet another wet MTBO event on the NSW South Coast as the "Curse of Currambene" struck again.
Organiser Andy Halliday reports: "An exceptionally warm and dry autumn had firmed up the trails and single tracks of Curramabene SF (south Nowra) to their fast and flowing best. Finally a dry day in the Shoalhaven ... until the “curse” returned, with some showers in the preceding week and a heavy downpour soon after the start.
Undaunted by the wet stuff, 30+ riders rocked up and headed off in all different directions after the mass start for this 3-hour score event. They soon encountered mud, deep puddles and in places a particularly adhesive form of clay that has a strong affinity for MTB wheels (see pic, right)!
Despite the conditions most riders stayed out for the full 3 hours and enjoyed this challenging encounter with the elements. Top men's pair were Anthony Grant and Patrick Gunnarsson, who cleared the course 11 minutes early for 515 points. In the mixed class, Kerrie Hammond and Wulf Wilkins (361 pts) pipped Carolyn Haupt and Tim Jackson by one point.
In the individual category, Malcolm Roberts got the lot but was 8 minutes over time for 506 points, just 1 point better than Carolyn Matthews who was under time and missed only one control.
Down near the Victorian border, Waggaroos were establishing a handy lead in round 3 of their annual interclub battle with Albury Wodonga. John Oliver filed this report...
"The event was conducted literally from the main street in Walbundrie. Although relatively small, the area contains three low lying hills littered with rock features, earthen embankments, and intricate little gullies created by erosion and excavations.
Courses looped around the hills in such a way that participants had to switch navigation strategies from deciding between route choice alternatives to fine map reading to chart a course carefully through the features. The three hills regularly challenged participants with decisions on whether to run wide and avoid climb or take the hill on.
There were no Albury participants on the Easy course and no WaggaRoos participating on the Moderate Course so the competition was fought out on the 5.3km Hard and 3.5km Hard courses. Alex Davey had a solid win on the 5.3km course, and Deb Davey and John Oliver were 3rd and 4th.
Albury hit back on the 3.6 km course when Liz Wood blitzed the field to win comfortably by over 16 minutes, but Bob Moore, Wes Campbell and Pauline Moore finished in quick succession ahead of other Albury orienteers and put the result beyond doubt.
WaggaRoos won the day 25-17 and now commands a healthy 10-point lead after 3 events. Round 4 is on Sun Jun 29 in the Murraguldrie State Forest."
