Peninsula and Plains Orienteers which ran NZ’s first national MTBO Champs in 2000 was back at Hanmer in September. 80 riders did a score event, nearly twice the turnout of the foot-orienteering the previous day. Andy Rhodes was behind the event, which was won by Jason Blair and Rachel Smith.
And the Bivouac Night Navigation Series in Bottle Lake Forest on the edge of Christchurch also had a bike section, which attracted increasing numbers throughout the 3-event series. Bruce McBride was clearly the best male winning all three events, but Karen Morris must be some rider to finish in third place overall! Results for these events are on the PAPO website.
Dunedin Orienteering Club has used money from the NZOF's Silva Development Programme to produce a MTBO map around Waikouaiti. The debut event in July involved 74 riders in a 4-hour score event. Two teams managed all of the checkpoints, but Mike Anderson was the one who got back in time! Results are on the Dunedin OC website.
Meanwhile the Rotorua Orienteering Club used the last round of the Community Funding Scheme to develop MTBO: they employed MAPsport Services to deliver a weekend of volunteer training in October. Michael Wood fieldworked and drew a MTBO map complete with contours in just 8 hours, and put on a demo event for 15 riders. The fastest rider was Te Puke High School PE teacher Brian Buschl.
ROC already had a small group of MTB enthusiasts who are looking for a possible location for next year’s NZ Champs. The results of its first MTBO event are on the Rotorua OC website.
This page written by Michael Wood and installed 12 Nov 02