Kangaroos' Tales - September 2014

Friday, 5 September 2014

President's Piece

Last weekends’ double header at Kooyoora saw the club well represented in the results. The consensus among the participants was that the event was well worth the effort of travelling so far, because the map and the beautiful weather made for a great couple of days.

One of the standouts at carnivals such as these is the colour of the O tops. And BK has arguably one of the best/most colourful tops available.

Members are encouraged to wear the club colours where possible as they certainly add a “presence” at an event. If you need to update your gear, Jenny has stock of most club items.

The State Champs at Kooyoora

Overall BK members were called to the podium more than 20 times to collect awards.

At this event we had a chance to meet the Fossum family from Norway. They will be with us for the next 12-18 months. They were undaunted by Kooyoora, as they found the terrain similar in many ways to what they have back home. We hope they enjoy their stay with us.

On the Sat night of the Kooyoora weekend 10 club members had a most enjoyable evening meal at the historical Shamrock Hotel. While enjoying our meal we also had the pleasure of watching the Tigers snare a two-point victory.

Rogaining update

Well done to Peter Brooks and Brett Sparkes, who won the Philip Island Cyclogaine Open Section and to Andrew Baker, Kate Sanderson and Leonie Campbell who took first place in the Mixed Open Class.

Others to do well were John Gavens and Heather Leslie who won the XSV class.

In the Metrogaine Vic Sedunary and Michael Hayward who took out first place in the Open Category.

Michael and Rosie Salvaris also scored a first placing in the U Class, while Liz and Tim Hatley took a first placing in the XV and XSV classes.

Thus we had a BK 1st and 2nd overall in the Cyclogaine and !st in the Metrogaine - not a bad effort. In all over 20 BK members took part in these two events.

Great to find Rogaining so popular among our members.

MTBO in Poland

Carolyn Jackson was in scintillating form in Poland at the World Masters MTBO. She placed 1st in the Sprint, Middle and Long -- successfully defending all three titles. An outstanding performance!

Peter Cusworth also was in good form bringing home a bronze medal in what is really super classy competition.

BK had two members taking part in the Junior MTBO competition. Angus Robinson was riding strongly and had a best placing of 10th and was in the top 20 over the 3 disciplines. A great effort.

The quality of the field was shown by Tim Jackson, who is often mixing results with Angus in local competitions, yet in this cutthroat competition saw a small time difference mean a significant number of places.

BK’s “O” Commitments till December

Apart from our normal obligations to Park/Street O, we have undertaken to organise:

• A BK/TK MTBO at Woodlands on Sept 21st. An ideal venue for beginners.
• An Enduro on the very scenic Aspendale/Chelsea maps on the 5th October.
• On Oct 18th we are presenting the first Sprint into Spring at Newport Lakes.
• On Sat 8th/ 9th. Nov we are co hosting with Albury Wodonga the Vic Middle and Long Dist MTBO Champs in the great riding terrain near El Dorado and Beechworth.
• On Sunday Nov 30th we are hosting the Vic Sprint Champs for 2014 on the Deakin Uni. Campus in Geelong.

Obviously a calendar such as this will need to draw on the fantastic volunteering capability that our club posesses.

Christmas Break Up

This years’ Christmas break up will be on Saturday 13 December and will take the form of a Run/Walk at 4.00pm followed by a barbecue meal.

Venue TBDecided

Theatre Night

The club theatre night to Crazy for You will be held on Fri Oct 17th at the Whitehorse centre. 

Try MTBO

On Sunday 21 September BK and Tuckonie are presenting a MTBO event at Woodlands.

This venue is ideal for those who would like to try MTBO. All you need is a hybrid bike to get you going.

John Sheahan

MTBO World Championships - Poland

Junior members  Angus Robinson and Tim Jackson represented Australia in the Junior World MTB Orienteering Championships held 26-31 August in Bialystok, Poland.

Angus in his second year on the team had outstanding results finishing 10th in the Sprint, 19th in the Middle and 16th in the Long.

Tim's solid results put him in the middle of the field.

Conditions were mixed with heavy rain during the Sprint; cold, mud and sand in the Middle; and a very tiring hilly 35km in the Long.

Also held at the same time were the Masters and Open Championships.

In the Masters Carolyn Jackson had triple Gold medal success in W50 and Peter Cusworth 7th, Bronze and Bronze in M60 - fantastic results. Carolyn also teamed with Victorian Alex Randall to win the Masters category in the unofficial Mixed Sprint Relay which preceded the official races.

World ARDF Championships in Burabay, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is the venue for the upcoming 17^th World ARDF Championships in Burabay, Kazakhstan. Australia is represented by Bruce Paterson and Ewen & Jenelle Templeton.

Extract from ARDF blog

Greg, Ewen & Jenelle set off from Melbourne last Thursday (21/8/14) with a minimum of drama (only missing the SD card from a camera, quickly rectified in duty free).

Greg missed the best entertainment of the trip, slept through a spectacular thunderstorm which lit up the clouds below us.

Our flight to Istanbul took us well east of Baghdad & Erbil, and flew into Istanbul from the east.

It would seem the drivers here like to entertain themselves taking the tourists on hair-raising rides around the narrow and convoluted streets of Sultanahmet. Still it was a very comfy ride and a good introduction to Istanbul.

For more, including many photos go here.

ARDF Competition begins this weekend.

2014/15 Summer Series

Summer is fast approaching. The days are getting longer, flowers are blooming, and the Summer Fixture list is now out. 

That means it's time to call on all of our wonderful course setters out there.

We have 30 events to run:  eight Mondays, tem Tuesdays, six Wednesdays, and six Thursdays, as well as involvement in the Geelong Series and the Surf Coast Series.

Its going to be another busy year, similar to previous Summer Series.

The printed fixture will be available at the beginning of September, but here is a preview of the BK allocation.

New course setters are very welcome - we encourage everyone to have a go. It's a great way to learn more about the tricks and traps of streetO, and it's a great excuse to get out and about on foot or on your bike for a couple of hours. We have all the tools and expertise to give you a hand getting started.

Pick your favourite area to set a course on, or alternatively pick your least favourite area so that you can get out of competing on it.

Please see or advise Vic Sedunary or John Sheahan if you can help in setting a course.

 Ideally we would like to have our course setters worked out before the season commences in late October.

 See the full list of events here.

Christine Raviart, John Gavens and Geoff Robinson at Bostock

Ian Mack and Liliia Gluschenko at Bostock

 BK Heavies at Bostock

Liliia, Prue, Suzanne and Janet (seated)	Philippa Collins
Tim Hatley	Geoff Adams

New Club Members

Michael, Suzy and Kyah Stephens
Malcolm Caldwell and his son Edward

Please all make them feel welcome.