MTBO Camp 17 – Ultra Long

MTBO Camp ultra longs are legendary – mixtures of maps including tourist and google maps are not uncommon and the spring weather in Denmark and Sweden often unpredictable – bonkers hot or windy and sleet! This year in Northern Jutland everything was great, good maps, fine weather and fantastic views over the North Sea.

The Brit masters filled up the front row of the grid for the mass start, banter abounding ahead of the starting whistle as we received our A2 sized maps! We all streamed out turned right and pelted down the road in a large peloton before forking off to pick off the various free order controls which were designed to split the field. I was with a small group on I think a good route choice and I soon scooted round a dense network of tracks between Danish summer houses before heading for the first of the fixed order controls – number 8, feeling I may be out in front runners. On the way out from #8 down by the coast I realised my mistake, why I was on my own! – I’d missed one of the free order ones. I returned to #8 some minutes later slightly frustrated with a mini GB masters train now in tow (me knowing the way for some reason!). I put the hammer down, the red mist rising, trying to claw back some time only to make another mistake, this time putting me at the back of the GB train – choo chooo…. And then I was dropped, my legs couldn’t handle it on the long fire road section. I caught up through the next couple of controls through the singletracks and eventually over-took and pulled away after picking a lucky route choice to some

WW2 gun emplacements as we headed out to the point on the coast. There was a route-choice of a long road climb around or a run up what felt to me like hundreds of steps up a sand dune. At the top the view was amazing (I returned later in the car to take it in properly) before I turned for home…. The GB group caught me again on another long fire road section after I had a wobble losing a track and ending up having to ride back around to the control but an unfortunate puncture stopped the train in its tracks and I got away again.

I kept the hammer down as hard as I could into the last section – a move to a 1:7500 maps for the final few controls on single-track.

I really enjoyed the race and it was pleasing that although I don’t have the fitness to keep up with the peloton yet I can at least keep going hard on the longer races (without too much climb)

I rode back from the finish chatting to the legend that is Lasse Brun Pedersen 2008 World and European MTBO Champion. It was good to catch-up but to be honest it was all I could do to keep up with him as he cruised back to the camp – my warm down more of a sprint as I tried to get the words out between breaths!