Wellington Series and Champs Sorted
Locations for the rest of the Wellington MTBO Series for 2003 have been chosen,
plus a Regional Championship weekend.
Following the season opener at St Pats Forest in April, the next event will be
at Waitarere Forest near Levin on 3 May. Being flat Waitarere is not nearly as
physical as some of the venues, but it has a spiderweb of tracks
to challenge the navigation.
There will be a mapreading training session immediately prior so that new bikers
can gain skills from the old hands.
Event #3 will be held at Makara Peak MTB Park, Karori, Wellington, on 7 June.
The final of the series will be at Tunnel Gully, Upper Hutt on 5 July. Unlike the
others this will be
run on a score basis; riders visit as many control points as they can in a specified
time.
Details are:
- 3 May Waitarere Forest, signposted from Waitarere village north
of Levin. Network of forest roads and lots of single track on flat coastal sand-dunes in
plantation forest.
- 7 June Makara Peak MTB Park, starting at or signposted from Mud Cycles, South Karori
Rd. Network of 4WD and purpose-made single track on steep terrain covered with
regerating native bush. Includes some old pine forest adjacent to Karori Park.
- 5 July Tunnel Gully, signposted from the Te Marua Dairy on SH2 north of Upper
Hutt. Tracks like a set of ribs off the spine of the old railway line; including
tunnel and maybe over SH2 to the twin lakes. Pines and some original native lowland forest.
- Introduction to mapreading at 12:00; Registration 12:00-1:00 Starts 1:00-2:00
- Entry $15 adult $10 junior, $5 discount orienteering club members
- Enquiries Michael Wood Ph 04 566 2645.
And as last year, the Wellington Championship will be held in the Poroporo block
of Ngaumu Forest, with a fixed-order event on Saturday 2 Aug, and a score event on
Sunday 3rd. The map "Clusters Last Stand" is the region's most extensive MTBO map,
first made for the 2001 NZ Champs. As participants last year know it can be
tough on rider and machine, but each year new roads and tracks are made by
forest operations, and in some cases by the course planner. Ask those who were there
in 2002 about "the thin blue line" sections of the course!
Will be pre-entry with entry forms on the website.
The championship status is yet to be confirmed by the Wellington Orienteering
Association.
And contrary to the last rumour, a NZ Championship may be held near Rotorua after all.
The most likely date is 6/7 September.
Written by Michael Wood
and installed on 15 Apr 03.