Event Details
Club: | Scottish MBO |
Event Name: | Innerleithen MBO Event |
Date: | 22/08/10 |
Format: | MBO Score |
Mapping: | Ordnance Survey |
Time Limit: | 3 Hours |
National League: | - |
League: | SMBO Summer Series 2010 (Round 3 of 3) |
Electronic Punch: | SportIdent |
Event Report
Innerleithen was due to be the first event of the Scottish Mountain Bike Orienteering Series in April. A foot of snow had fallen prior to Easter and as nountain skiing orienteering not being too well known a sport in the Borders, it ended up being the last event of the series on the gloriously sunny 22nd August.//
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//Walkerburn Rugby Club hosted the event with a number of competitors camping on the rugby pitch on the Saturday night. The club welcomed us with open arms and even laid on an honesty bar for the campers!! Fish and Chips were eaten with gusto and stories of previous MBOs, adventure races and Polaris events circulated through the club.//
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//A Newcastle lad and his French girlfriend, who were cycling up from the ‘Toon on their way to the Edinburgh Festival, heard about the cycling campsite and pitched their tent along side the competitors. Tales of woe about their eclectic bikes were heard and the local bike mechanic Myles and Mircolight Engineer Paul set to work getting their bikes sorted. First things first was the increase in pressure from 40 PSI to 100 PSI and then the standard tighenening of cables and faffing with gears ensured they had a smooth trip upto Edinburgh. Good dead done for the day.//
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//Sunday morning and the some glorious sunshine woke the competitors. A relaxed morning was had as people registered in the shadow of Innerleithen and Elibank Forest. A great mix of people turned up from families with young children on tag-along bikes to newbie cyclists and of course the veteran trailquesters.//
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//Myles and Andy had been scouting the area for 30 checkpoints through snow, wind, rain and a bit more snow and Jens Strain had done his magic on another map. Challenging route choices started the competitors of with the first one being left, right or straight up!//
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//On return, Walkerburn’s welcomed everyone back with a fabulous range of pasta’s, salads and couscous for the hungry competitors. Great fun was had with the communal rugby showers. One young lady commented that they were the best showers she had ever had. I’m not sure if that was the shower or whether another competitor another competitor was with her!.//
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//A fitting end to a successful series, but don’t fret we’ll be back next year with new areas across Scotland!