This weekend the Australian Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships are being held in Victoria based on the spectacular surf coast at Anglesea.   With 187 entrants this is the biggest ever national mtbo event.  There will be about 25 New Zealanders contesting the 8 age classes of the Australia v NZ Challenge and riders from France, Russia and also Britain are racing too.

Both elite classes have big fields including many past WOC team members.  In the men Steven Cusworth, Alex Randall, Grant Lebbink, and Tom Walter will be trying to upstage the current stars, Chris Firman, Steven Todkill & Ricky Thackray.    If Carolyn Jackson, Marquita Gelderman and Thorlene Egerton are to be beaten it is likely to be by foot orienteering star Kathryn Preston.

Victoria’s current sprint Jwoc world champion Angus Robinson has Bendigo boys Nic & Lachlan Cherry, Tim Jackson and Newcastle’s Fergus Mackie all itching to race the champ.  Former WOC silver medallist Emily Walter’s appearance in W40 makes that class now ultra competitive.

There is a warm-up event at the “You Yangs”, near Geelong on Friday afternoon.  Saturday sees the action start with the sprint on the Torquay foreshore, followed by the middle distance at Eumeralla Scout camp, Anglesea in the afternoon.  The long is inland slightly at Bramba on Sunday.

Kay Haarsma