CZE MTBO – 1

So we are staying in Plzen in Czechia ( the new name for the Czech Republic if it catches on). The home of Pilsner beer and Skoda cars. About 1 hour west of Prague. In a small, friendly, family-run hotel where we stayed 2 years ago. Just 2 of us the hotel this time but two other Melb couples elsewhere in town.

But this year the MTBO (see earlier posts for translation) is based in Plasy, a small town 30 min north of here. There is acknowledgement at the 8pm awards ceremony each night of the placegetters for that day (by age class) and the best cumulative time over 4 races wins the class on Day 4 (next Sunday).

there are only 3 entries in W70 so provided I keep my head, I should get a place. Both the others were here 2 years ago and much faster than me.

Day 1 (yesterday) was a middle distance race. First make your way UP to the start c. 3 km from the arena. The last km was sufficiently steep that I walked it. Most of the race was in some sort of pine forest – tall straight trimmed trunks so good visibility – on the plateau above the town.  Lots of rough indistinct ‘dotty’ tracks – I could ride down but generally could not ride back up them even on relatively gentle slopes. We had a long first leg. (Hardly ‘middle distance’) and I dithered along the way. Eventually got into the map but lots of small pine cones (more like horse chestnuts) and roots on the formed tracks. Not nice riding. Only as we came down off the plateau at the end of the course did the riding get nicer.

I started first in W70 but thought I saw the Dane about halfway round and expected that she’d caught me 6 minutes. Was surprised to finish first. The Slovak had taken the wrong map so DSQ in W70. The Dane finally came in 33 min down on my time!  Well that’s a good start. Top of the podium last night.

Day 2 (today) was the Sprint on the edge of Plasy. They had some issues getting permission for the event so had constructed an artificial set of tracks on a field over the river from the old Monastery. See the black dashed lines on the Yellow area on the map. They were mown ‘lanes’ marked with tape on the field. Some courses crisscrossed this area several times. The only legal places to ride or push your bike were on the black tracks (dashed or solid lines) or brown tracks or paved areas, or the dark orange near the start. (But not if red-hatched). Lots of marshalls making note of any violations.

Main issue for everyone was that the brown tracks were too hard to see on the map. I took a long way round because I couldn’t see the brown track along the edge of the yellow between #2 and #3.  The large buildings around #6 are the old monastery and former brewery, now a museum. We had gone over there yesterday so I had a bit of local knowledge.

i don’t think the others get much Sprint practice so I feel obliged to traipse out there again tonight for the awards ceremony. Bit boring – lots of long announcements in Czech interspersed with a bit of English, to a crowd that is generally not paying much attention.

I’ve now got a decent buffer but two longer races to come on Sat/Sun so anything can happen!