The 2015 MTBNav-Bush was held at at Sandford on 1/3/15
Dry, fast paths and comfortable walking weather provided a base from which seventy two people enjoyed riding or walking the Sandford area in the latest MTBNav-Bush event held on 1st March 2015. Organisers Keith Carroll and Mark Hey had created a course using forty eight controls where participants needed to visit sites to find the right answer to a question given three options.
After four hours of traverse, in the Female Foot division the first two Teams arrived back at the Hash House with 510 points each. While the Team of Rosie Rutledge, Robyn Chapman and Adele Winslow focused mainly east and west from the Hash House and south of Rifle Range Road, that of Liz Canning and Dorothy Steane ventured into the maze of bike tracks on private property between Dixon Point Road and Dorans Road. Both Teams visited twelve controls. Well done ladies.
Most traveled Team in the event was that of Gordon Taylor, Paul Kleywegt, Jules Evans and Lester Dion in the Male Bike who in fours hours visited thirty nine controls at all points of the compass. Dorans Road was the main area they bypassed, along with a few controls in the Clifton Beach area. A very solid ride, and one that compares with the thirty three controls visited by second placed Team Jeff Dunn and Jemery Day. The next seven Teams in Male Bike also scored high points, indicating a high depth of capability.
Mixed Bike over four hours also provided a close finish with Sophie Marshall and James Hattam just 110 points ahead of Sally Wayte and Lindsay Pender.
While there were only two Teams in Female Bike, Karen Wild-Allen and Rachel Allen ended up just 150 points to the good of Nadine Rowell, Helen Burford and Nicole Carter.
In Male Foot, the youngsters Dexter Canning and Tarn Leith, assisted by Dexter’s dad Hugh, achieved a ninety point advantage over the mature Team of Ross Kelly, Ian Woolford and Rob Hunter. Running solo and unofficial in this category, Andrew Mackay once again displayed his running prowess by gaining almost twice the points of the leading Team.
In the two hour event, Graham Sargison and Renny Duckett in Male Bike and Diana Cossar-Burgess and Sebastian Burgess in Mixed Bike were the only entries, and both Teams enjoyed solid rides mainly in the area to the south west of the Hash House.
When it came to tallying the points, a gremlin was encountered in that an earlier version of the QnA had been printed inadvertently, meaning that the answer sheet contained four incorrect answers. Thus those questions were marked as incorrect when in fact they were correct. Presentations were based on the erroneous values, and made subject to later validation given there was not the time to redo the figures on the spot. Keith and I apologise to those affected, which mainly means Male Bike where there was a remix of the first seven placings.
In the end, the original Male Bike winners of Gordon Keith and Glenn Hyland moved to fourth, and the original runners-up of Gordon Taylor, Paul Kleywegt, Jules Evans and Lester Dion gained first place. Jemery Day and Jeff Dunn moved from fourth to third. Phil Tracey and Ewan McIvor remained third.
Mixed Bike were also affected by the corrected points tally in that third to fifth position finishers were rearranged. First and Second remained unchanged, as did the placings in all other categories.
At the conclusion of the event, a lovely afternoon tea was provided by Gayle West and the Orienteering Tasmania Juniors, and spot prizes were drawn being vouchers and merchandise provided by Ride Bellerive. Appreciation is also acknowledged to Andy Nuss and Jock Campbell for allowing access onto their respective properties.
Keith and I are pleased the event was enjoyed by all those who participated, and we encourage you to reuse the map, excluding private property, for future rides or walks in the Sandford area.
Event Results can be downloaded here.
Regards – Mark Hey 2/3/15