Event report: MTBO 2

Bayswater (Mooro Beeloo)

A nice fine autumn morning set the scene for the intrepid cyclists who gathered at Riverside Gardens, Bayswater for the first event on the new Mooro Beeloo map. While there had been some predictions earlier in the week of showers they had all bypassed Perth and no inclement conditions marked the day.

Entires were slightly up from previous events and 41 entrants went out on the score event to locate as many as possible of the 70 control sites spread over the map in the two hours allotted. These ranged from some first timers to the more practised members to the dedicated. And there was something for everyone.

The map is a new one being cobbled together by Duncan Sullivan from some previous MetrO series foot-O maps and expanded to cover both sides of the river. It extended on the north side of the river from the golf course on the west side of the Maylands peninsula to the Ashfield flats and Bassendean with a northern boundary at Guildford Road and on the south side from Hardey Park in the west to Garvey Park in the east with Great Eastern Highway as a southern boundary. The area abounds in off road paths and some tracks with some connecting areas along quieter streets, and included Black Swan Island, the Maylands peninsula area, Riverside Gardens at Bayswater, Ashfield flats and Garvey Park. Most of the area is fairly flat but there were a few rises in Maylands for a touch of uphill climbing. By its nature it did not have any of the more challenging terrain of some of the bush MTBO events but did offer some great urban cycling orienteering.

The setting was mainly undertaken Brian Austin, and then vetted and amended by the very able experienced MTBO hand of Ben Coetzer. Some controls initially closer to the river were moved back slightly and others shuffled to alternate locations in these processes. The overall plan was to present clusters in the four quadrants of the map to pose some challenges as to which controls entrants might be likely to get to in the allocated time. Some chose to concentrate on Black Swan Island and the south side to Garvey Park and for others, parts of the Maylands Peninsula and the north side of the river. It allowed for plenty of options for all levels of cycling ability and the feedback received was generally positive.

There were a few minor technical glitches on the map, with one small area being coloured wrongly for the MTBO standard, a path that went through was not clearly marked as such and a couple of fences that had not been noted in the setting were in the way. These however did not deter the dedicated and Ricky Thackray in inimitable style made it to all 70 controls, covering around 45km and still giving himself some minutes to spare at the end. Well done. Others managed not quite as many but it could be seen that all control sites had a few people getting to them. Some of the tracks around Garvey Park managed to provide a bit of confusion. Carol Brownlie deserves a special award for getting back over the river with a flat tyre from an unfortunate puncture.

Thanks to all involved in the event: First and foremost to setter Brian, and a most special thanks to Ben Coetzer for his guidance and assistance to a novice MTBO setter. Thanks to Duncan Sullivan for the base map, Sten Claessens and Jack Dowling for getting the map into printable form and into MapRun, Helen Post for assistance on Enews and notices, Jack and Sue Dowling for operating the computer on the day and all the resultant MapRun bit and pieces, Ken and Carol Brownlie to helping take the map boards and other bits back to the shed - and to all who came along on the day and had a ride around. 

Results & routes can be found in MapRun, and results will be available in Eventor.

Photo: Finishers at Mooro Beeloo, by Sue Dowling.