My MTBO races this year are as follows:
Cannock MTBO (UK)
Swedish Champs Sprint/Middle/Long
WOC Sprint/Middle/Long/Relay
and now the MTBO in Falun yesterday.
The Falun event was for me a training race. There were no medals to be won. No national anthem to be heard. A field of 5 women on the elite course. And a chance to ride my new 'local' forest. Get to grips more with the roots and rocks.Ironically I spent a portion of the race wishing I had: a) a back tyre with grip that wasn't bald, and b) a full suss bike. Bumpy bumpy bumpy!
From the start I didn't quite feel 'in the zone' mentally. I was hesitant to the first control, and lacking aggression there after when biking through the rough stuff. I got my direction wrong on the way to the second and ended up slightly in the OOB area. I had crossed a road but couldn't see it on the map, and looking up I could see the buildings that I thought I wanted. It was only when I saw the pond, I realised the road wasn't on the map. It turned out that the road was on the map it didn't have a border to it which meant it was impossible to see the difference between paved and open. My biggest mistake was on the way to control 8, where I missed the left turn and ended up on the edge of the out of bounds area. I relocated and found my way the 30m back to where I wanted to be. I followed the track, crossed a stream and then ended up at a junction I shouldn't be at. Relocated again, decided not to bike down the river/track/mud-fest and went around instead.The race was wrong route choice after wrong route. I was seeing the fastest ones and knowing they were fastest, but then always taking the slower routes. Mentally it's a game to not get distracted by my bad decisions. By the 13th control, things started to pick up. I was biking more efficiently and building a bit of speed. I was climbing more aggressively and taking the faster route choices.
In reality it was only the middle section that was lacking from 8 to 13. It's something to work on over the winter. Often in my 'less motivated' races I learn more about my orienteering than in those I do well.
The course also involved two downhill sections which were timed as 'King of DH'. I was 3rd on the first in 3.33, the winner took 3.20, while I won the second in 1.32 with 2nd place in 1.34.
