Results and Reports for December 8-9, 2001

Australia

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Tatonka Urban Polaris

By Mark Chillingworth

If there is a race on near the office, there is usually someone from the cyclingnews teams keen to don the padded shorts, and in the case of the 2001 Sydney Urban Polaris, wet weather coat and get out there and compete. For the race around the north shore of Sydney, it fell to me and the trusty Giant XTC test bike.

For those of you who aren't in the know, Polaris events are orienteering races for mountain bikers. The Sydney Urban event mixes the challenges of the many National Parks around the suburbs, with a bit of urban warrior mountain bike riding. As a result, you get to prove your single track skills are every bit as good as your kerb hopping and flying jumps over traffic calming humps. That said, the organisers do not tolerate irresponsible bike use and this competitor saw nothing but well mannered competition.

For the 2001 event the organisers took the event to the beautiful northern shores of coastal Sydney. Cross the famous bridge and Sydney takes on a green and lush look, dotted amongst the coves and beaches are some great national parks and houses that make you wish you'd sold your soul and taken a job that was high on salary and low on moral fibre. The topography is also on the challenging side, it's hilly and the extra chain ring of a mountain bike is certainly needed (especially if you are as unfit as Mark. Ed).

The whole idea of entering this event in Sydney, as an Englishman, was to race in enjoyable weather, well, Sydney could have been good old Blighty on Saturday. When it rains in Sydney, it truly rains, like Australian people, if it's going to do something, it will do it straight and with no fuss. Thus the 147 of the 157 registered riders set off from the start under threatening clouds, and it wasn't long before we were all taking part in water sports, a popular past time here, but not with bikes.

The cyclingnews team had to chant the saying, 'it's the taking part that counts, not the winning.' Why? Well, I'd be the first to admit my fitness has dropped off faster than a downhill bike on a dual-slalom track, or Ullrich in the World's. Coupled to that, team mate Andy and I made some pretty horrendous navigation errors and team strategy decisions.

Polaris events are team events and this is one of the beauties of them. I could sit here and blame my team mate for making me spin my knees faster than a retreating Talaban tank in the pouring rain, but we made the decisions together, agreed the strategy together, and together we got it quite outstandingly wrong. As with all wrong decisions, there's a price to pay and it usually rears its ugly head pretty quickly. Having set off in completely the wrong direction and spent far too long chasing far too few points, we were getting wet, in fact we were getting very wet, and then the mechanical problems started. But we were not deterred, my team mate is one of the most competitive people I know and wouldn't give up on a clear loser (like Mark). And that is the spirit of these events, it is a heap of fun. For all our misuse of the map we managed to find Check Point 13, unlucky for some and one of the least visited and undoubtedly hardest points to find. We were rewarded with some good slippery sandstone single tracking to get to it.

With the weather getting worse and the middle ring dead on Andy's bike, we decided to head for suburbs, and rack up some points. Sydney's north shore has some of the hilliest suburbs and as you slog up hills in the pouring rain, it doesn't do your self confidence or determination a lot of good to see some of the most amazing houses pass you bye. There were more than a few moments when I considered becoming what ever it was that these people got paid so much to do.

The marshals on the event cannot go without a mention, they're efforts make these events possible, and although not cold out here, sitting in the rain all day just to allow cyclists to have a laugh is just, well, nice. Especially the very kind marshal at Check Point 14 with the Jelly Babies - thank you!

Due to the problems high lighted and the terrible lack of fitness on my part, our team came in 100th over-all, not a good result when you consider the efforts of Jeff Jones and Øyvind Aas from the cyclingnews team. We racked up 150 points, dropped 20 through being late back in. The winners Ian Stewart and Graeme Moffett collected 400 points - their route, as you can guess, was somewhat different to ours.

As ever with amateur races, the camaraderie was fantastic with the usual post race swapping of stories as we queued for the much needed sausage sandwiches. The start point was a good venue, unless, like us, you were without a car, making access the start by train very difficult. A small complaint in an otherwise very well organised event.

Polaris events have to appear on your list of 10 things to do on a bicycle, the mix of map reading, problem solving, off-road and on-road riding coupled with fitness, working against the clock is just great fun, very challenging and rewarding.

Sadly this was the last Urban Polaris in Sydney, the events organiser Huw Kingston announced at the prize giving that he would not be staging any more events in the city, citing bureaucracy as the killer of this great event. (See news story)

 

Tatonka Urban Polaris

Sydney, December 8, 2001

Results

Overall

                                                        Time Points
 
1 Ian Stewart/Graeme Moffet (Men)                       8.08   392
2 Andy Simpson/Neil Prosser (Men)                       7.43   390
3 Rodney Hart/Steve Gibbs (Men)                         7.44   390
4 Toby Cogley/Rosemary King (Mixed)                     7.58   390
5 Bruce Perry/Nick Lake (Men)                           7.58   380
6 David Cottee/Mike Kent (Men)                          7.56   360
7 Damien Demunck/Richard Davis (Men)                    7.51   350
8 Sean Fitzpatrick/Ian Simpson (Men)                    7.32   330
9 Gaye Camm/Melanie Mc Intyre (Women)                   7.43   330
10 Jonathan Potts/Tom Brennan (Men)                     7.55   330
11 Eric Dole/Andrew Lewin (Men)                         8.16   330
12 Glenn Horrocks/Merryn Mathie (Mixed)                 7.40   320
13 Greg James/David Coward (Men)                        7.46   310
14 David West/Martin Handley (Men)                      8.09   291
15 Richard Bourne/Roger Bourne (Vet)                    8.13   275
16 Tony Board/Alan Garde (Men)                          7.22   270
17 Kin-Yat Lo/Chris Smith (U21)                         7.30   270
18 Daniel Cooper/Emma Cooper (Mixed)                    7.37   260
19 Gary Farebrother/Glen Farebrother (Men)              7.56   260
20 Julian Thompson/Mat Garrod (Men)                     7.59   260
21 Mark Cranston/Thomas Cranston (Men)                  8.02   258
22 Michael Blackwell/Michael Curley (U21)               8.03   257
23 Nigel Leadbitter/Stephen Harvey (Men)                8.08   252
24 Jeff Ray/Stewart Mitchell (Vet)                      8.08   252
25 Jason Goddard/Mark Worsfold (Men)                    7.44   250
26 Ian Cameron/Susan Kurrle (Vet)                       8.00   250
27 Stephen Lacey/Oliver Whatnall (Men)                  8.01   249
28 Eddie Bosch/Steve Mc Millan (Vet)                    8.04   246
29 Helen Jeffs/Vinessa Berry (Women)                    8.11   245
30 Gary Bortz/Clive Bortz (Men)                         8.06   244
31 Stephen Moon/Jacinta Garrett (Mixed)                 8.08   242
32 Stephen Reynolds/Janelle White (Mixed)               7.13   240
33 Stuart Clark/Heather Selwyn (Mixed)                  7.32   240
34 Rob Russell/Chris Clement (Men)                      7.32   240
35 Grant Cunningham/Andrew Martin (Men)                 8.05   235
36 Stuart Mcintyre/Simon Blakers (Men)                  6.50   230
37 Guido Simionato/Roger Simionato (Super Vet)          6.52   230
38 Peter Lane/Robert Lane (Men)                         7.34   230
39 Penelope Maher/Robyn Simionato (Women)               7.43   230
40 Elizabeth Carritt/Nicole Lowres (Women)              7.55   230
41 Marcel Van Schie/Jill Mc Naught (Mixed)              8.12   230
42 Dana Skopal/Joanne Clendon (Women)                   7.34   220
43 Richard Mountstephens/Katrin Van Der Speigel (Mixed) 7.46   220
44 Colin Baker/Greg Conroy (Men)                        7.48   220
45 Val Gomez/Katie Lahodny (Mixed)                      7.32   210
46 Paul Adamson/Paul Aubrey (U21)                       6.38   200
47 Phil Munn/Stephen Kershaw (Men)                      7.17   200
48 Fiona Russell/Martine Robin (Women)                  7.25   200
49 David Hocking/Bryan Van Eck (Men)                    7.44   200
50 Alex Mc Nee/Greg Berry (Vet)                         7.48   200
51 Paul Haynes/Rik Eagles (Vet)                         7.53   200
52 Justin Bagge/Simon Hayes (Men)                       8.12   200
53 Ian Greenwood/Steven Higgins (Men)                   8.02   198
54 Andrew Thom/John Aurisch (Vet)                       7.18   190
55 Jamie Cunningham/Brooke Cunningham (Mixed)           7.19   190
56 Lynn Dabbs/Kevin Williams (Super Vet)                7.27   190
57 Andrew Harmer/John Moran (Men)                       7.44   190
58 Fee Macrae/Jill Calkin (Women)                       7.47   190
59 Bill Lewis/Peter Taylor (Vet)                        7.49   190
60 Mark Krawiarz/Sergio Corona (Men)                    7.49   190
61 Jason Kaul/Tony Jones (Men)                          7.51   190
62 Ionas Kaltenbach/Rilke Kaltenbach (Men)              7.31   180
63 Amirah Kullack/Miles Mc Cusker (Mixed)               7.42   180
64 Philip Dupal/Phil Lamrock (Men)                      7.42   180
65 Ralph Noldan/Gordon Ward (Men)                       7.45   180
66 Paul Mason/Stephen Rowley (Men)                      7.46   180
67 Mike Baldwin/Colin Wagstaff (Men)                    7.48   180
68 Robert Strong/Adrian Brown (Vet)                     7.57   180
69 Wayne Thompson/John Curtis (Vet)                     7.18   170
70 Steve Robinson/Vincent Moreau (Men)                  7.33   170
71 John Rawlinson/John Watson (Men)                     7.37   170
72 David Napper/Robbie Napper (Men)                     7.40   170
73 Arthur Crampton/Jim Prendergast (Vet)                7.45   170
74 Michael Moore/Robyn Sharpe (Mixed)                   7.48   170
75 Ian Smith/Blanka Galebiowski (Mixed)                 7.58   170
76 Daniel Gerber/Greg Reinhardt (Men)                   8.02   168
77 Tomasz Kaminski/Christina Sidor (Mixed)              8.02   168
78 Christian Godyn/Brett Whalan (Men)                   5.53   160
79 Les Dowd/Jody Marshall (Men)                         6.23   160
80 Dean Jones/Christine Duncan (Mixed)                  7.19   160
81 Nigel Eggins/David Browne (Men)                      7.19   160
82 Ann-Marie Reid/Adam Granquist (Mixed)                7.27   160
83 Janice Bates/Stewart Doig (Mixed)                    7.56   160
84 Mark Cohen/Darryl Sacks (Men)                        7.59   160
85 Lou Vaccari/Nick Vaccari (Men)                       8.07   153
86 Martin Budd/Trent Sutton (Men)                       8.08   152
87 Brett Longley/Mathew Halls (Men)                     7.07   150
88 John Woldhuis/Karine Woldhuis (Mixed)                7.15   150
89 Lesley Vest/Michelle Van Der Voort (Women)           7.15   150
90 Fred Bangert/Marianne Bangert (Mixed)                7.58   150
91 Jimmy Chan/Seamus Frahill (Men)                      8.02   148
92 Glenn Dickson/John Green (Vet)                       7.13   140
93 Anthony Darr/Christine Curtin (Mixed)                7.20   140
94 Paul Rowe/Craig Learmonth (Men)                      7.30   140
95 Greg Searle/Graham Smith (Super Vet)                 7.39   140
96 Dileen De Silva/Graeme Millar (Men)                  7.56   140
97 Anna Parry/Emily Ravenscroft (Women)                 7.45   130
98 Ross Thomas/Dominique Bond (Mixed)                   7.54   130
99 Dave Shailer/David Mcneice (Men)                     7.54   130
100 Andy Kervell/Mark Chillingworth (Men)               8.12   130
101 Shannon Ryan/Robert Martin (Men)                    6.03   120
102 Stephen Ross/Joel Wright (Men)                      6.36   120
103 Sean Wright/Don Dixon (Men)                         6.56   120
104 Dennis Valsamis/Jason Tighe (Men)                   7.06   120
105 Greg Scheetz/Chris Luff (Vet)                       7.51   120
106 Andrew Vickery/Lincoln Keogh (Men)                  6.05   110
107 Andrew Johnson/Bruce Bennett (Men)                  6.35   110
108 Brian Farrelly/Bronwyn Thornhill (Mixed)            7.10   110
109 John Seidel/Sophie Powrie (Mixed)                   7.16   110
110 Brian Budd/Michael Dark (Men)                       7.49   110
111 Nathan Breen/Megan Wilson (Mixed)                   7.57   110
112 Andrew Dodds/Brad Truran (Men)                      6.21   100
113 Darren Marks/Christine Pratt (Mixed)                7.10   100
114 Paul Darvodelsky/Vanessa Knight (Mixed)             6.18    90
115 Michael Smith/Peter Baldwin (Men)                   7.05    90
116 Ross Easton/Gared Simmons (Men)                     7.18    90
117 Gerard Coggan/Anthea Coggan (Mixed)                 7.52    90
118 Craig Starling/Chris Wallace (Men)                  7.56    90
119 Simon Dale/Sonia Mc Manus (Vet)                     7.56    90
120 Peter Mc Conaghy/Wendy Mc Conaghy (Mixed)           5.04    80
121 Jane Mac Cormick/Pam Fairhurst (Women)              6.41    80
122 Nicholas Thain/Dominic Sims (Men)                   8.27    80
123 Anthony Wentzel/Eugene Dagher (Men)                 5.45    70
124 Gavin Wright/Jason Wright (Men)                     7.03    70
125 Melissa Foster/Narelle Walters (Women)              6.47    60
126 Dwayne Grant/Kellie Foster (Mixed)                  6.47    60
127 Stephen Levett/Brian Morton (Super Vet)             8.18    60
128 Rob Bradford/Matt Donnan (Men)                      8.28    60
129 Gabe Holmik/Sam Cowley (Men)                        8.26    30
130 Andrew Waudby/Andrew Carroll (Men)                  8.37    20
131 Andrew Narunsky/Stephen Gould (Men)                 8.31    10
132 Melissa Butcher/Geoff Nash (Mixed)                  8.33     0
133 Tim Easton/Alistar Catterall (U21)                  8.38     0
134 Marea England/Stephen Murphy (Mixed)                8.45     0
135 Wayne O'Young/David Earls (Men)                     8.57     0
136 Stephen Bannister/John Kane (Vet)                   9.20     0

By category

Men
                                                        Time Points
  
1 Ian Stewart/Graeme Moffet                             8.08   392
2 Andy Simpson/Neil Prosser                             7.43   390
3 Rodney Hart/Steve Gibbs                               7.44   390
4 Bruce Perry/Nick Lake                                 7.58   380
5 David Cottee/Mike Kent                                7.56   360
6 Damien Demunck/Richard Davis                          7.51   350
7 Sean Fitzpatrick/Ian Simpson                          7.32   330
8 Jonathan Potts/Tom Brennan                            7.55   330
9 Eric Dole/Andrew Lewin                                8.16   330
10 Greg James/David Coward                              7.46   310
11 David West/Martin Handley                            8.09   291
12 Tony Board/Alan Garde                                7.22   270
13 Gary Farebrother/Glen Farebrother                    7.56   260
14 Julian Thompson/Mat Garrod                           7.59   260
15 Mark Cranston/Thomas Cranston                        8.02   258
16 Nigel Leadbitter/Stephen Harvey                      8.08   252
17 Jason Goddard/Mark Worsfold                          7.44   250
18 Stephen Lacey/Oliver Whatnall                        8.01   249
19 Gary Bortz/Clive Bortz                               8.06   244
20 Rob Russell/Chris Clement                            7.32   240
21 Grant Cunningham/Andrew Martin                       8.05   235
22 Stuart Mcintyre/Simon Blakers                        6.50   230
23 Peter Lane/Robert Lane                               7.34   230
24 Colin Baker/Greg Conroy                              7.48   220
25 Phil Munn/Stephen Kershaw                            7.17   200
26 David Hocking/Bryan Van Eck                          7.44   200
27 Justin Bagge/Simon Hayes                             8.12   200
28 Ian Greenwood/Steven Higgins                         8.02   198
29 Andrew Harmer/John Moran                             7.44   190
30 Mark Krawiarz/Sergio Corona                          7.49   190
31 Jason Kaul/Tony Jones                                7.51   190
32 Ionas Kaltenbach/Rilke Kaltenbach                    7.31   180
33 Philip Dupal/Phil Lamrock                            7.42   180
34 Ralph Noldan/Gordon Ward                             7.45   180
35 Paul Mason/Stephen Rowley                            7.46   180
36 Mike Baldwin/Colin Wagstaff                          7.48   180
37 Steve Robinson/Vincent Moreau                        7.33   170
38 John Rawlinson/John Watson                           7.37   170
39 David Napper/Robbie Napper                           7.40   170
40 Daniel Gerber/Greg Reinhardt                         8.02   168
41 Christian Godyn/Brett Whalan                         5.53   160
42 Les Dowd/Jody Marshall                               6.23   160
43 Nigel Eggins/David Browne                            7.19   160
44 Mark Cohen/Darryl Sacks                              7.59   160
45 Lou Vaccari/Nick Vaccari                             8.07   153
46 Martin Budd/Trent Sutton                             8.08   152
47 Brett Longley/Mathew Halls                           7.07   150
48 Jimmy Chan/Seamus Frahill                            8.02   148
49 Paul Rowe/Craig Learmonth                            7.30   140
50 Dileen De Silva/Graeme Millar                        7.56   140
51 Dave Shailer/David Mcneice                           7.54   130
52 Andy Kervell/Mark Chillingworth                      8.12   130
53 Shannon Ryan/Robert Martin                           6.03   120
54 Stephen Ross/Joel Wright                             6.36   120
55 Sean Wright/Don Dixon                                6.56   120
56 Dennis Valsamis/Jason Tighe                          7.06   120
57 Andrew Vickery/Lincoln Keogh                         6.05   110
58 Andrew Johnson/Bruce Bennett                         6.35   110
59 Brian Budd/Michael Dark                              7.49   110
60 Andrew Dodds/Brad Truran                             6.21   100
61 Michael Smith/Peter Baldwin                          7.05    90
62 Ross Easton/Gared Simmons                            7.18    90
63 Craig Starling/Chris Wallace                         7.56    90
64 Nicholas Thain/Dominic Sims                          8.27    80
65 Anthony Wentzel/Eugene Dagher                        5.45    70
66 Gavin Wright/Jason Wright                            7.03    70
67 Rob Bradford/Matt Donnan                             8.28    60
68 Gabe Holmik/Sam Cowley                               8.26    30
69 Andrew Waudby/Andrew Carroll                         8.37    20
70 Andrew Narunsky/Stephen Gould                        8.31    10
71 Wayne O'Young/David Earls                            8.57     0
 
Mixed
                                                        Time Points
  
1 Toby Cogley/Rosemary King                             7.58   390
2 Glenn Horrocks/Merryn Mathie                          7.40   320
3 Daniel Cooper/Emma Cooper                             7.37   260
4 Stephen Moon/Jacinta Garrett                          8.08   242
5 Stephen Reynolds/Janelle White                        7.13   240
6 Stuart Clark/Heather Selwyn                           7.32   240
7 Marcel Van Schie/Jill Mc Naught                       8.12   230
8 Richard Mountstephens/Katrin Van Der Speigel          7.46   220
9 Val Gomez/Katie Lahodny                               7.32   210
10 Jamie Cunningham/Brooke Cunningham                   7.19   190
11 Amirah Kullack/Miles Mc Cusker                       7.42   180
12 Michael Moore/Robyn Sharpe                           7.48   170
13 Ian Smith/Blanka Galebiowski                         7.58   170
14 Tomasz Kaminski/Christina Sidor                      8.02   168
15 Dean Jones/Christine Duncan                          7.19   160
16 Ann-Marie Reid/Adam Granquist                        7.27   160
17 Janice Bates/Stewart Doig                            7.56   160
18 John Woldhuis/Karine Woldhuis                        7.15   150
19 Fred Bangert/Marianne Bangert                        7.58   150
20 Anthony Darr/Christine Curtin                        7.20   140
21 Ross Thomas/Dominique Bond                           7.54   130
22 Brian Farrelly/Bronwyn Thornhill                     7.10   110
23 John Seidel/Sophie Powrie                            7.16   110
24 Nathan Breen/Megan Wilson                            7.57   110
25 Darren Marks/Christine Pratt                         7.10   100
26 Paul Darvodelsky/Vanessa Knight                      6.18    90
27 Gerard Coggan/Anthea Coggan                          7.52    90
28 Peter Mc Conaghy/Wendy Mc Conaghy                    5.04    80
29 Dwayne Grant/Kellie Foster                           6.47    60
30 Melissa Butcher/Geoff Nash                           8.33     0
31 Marea England/Stephen Murphy                         8.45     0
 
Super Vet
                                                        Time Points
  
1 Guido Simionato/Roger Simionato                       6.52   230
2 Lynn Dabbs/Kevin Williams                             7.27   190
3 Greg Searle/Graham Smith                              7.39   140
4 Stephen Levett/Brian Morton                           8.18    60
 
U21
                                                        Time Points
  
1 Kin-Yat Lo/Chris Smith                                7.30   270
2 Michael Blackwell/Michael Curley                      8.03   257
3 Paul Adamson/Paul Aubrey                              6.38   200
4 Tim Easton/Alistar Catterall                          8.38     0
 
Vet
                                                        Time Points
  
1 Richard Bourne/Roger Bourne                           8.13   275
2 Jeff Ray/Stewart Mitchell                             8.08   252
3 Ian Cameron/Susan Kurrle                              8.00   250
4 Eddie Bosch/Steve Mc Millan                           8.04   246
5 Alex Mc Nee/Greg Berry                                7.48   200
6 Paul Haynes/Rik Eagles                                7.53   200
7 Andrew Thom/John Aurisch                              7.18   190
8 Bill Lewis/Peter Taylor                               7.49   190
9 Robert Strong/Adrian Brown                            7.57   180
10 Wayne Thompson/John Curtis                           7.18   170
11 Arthur Crampton/Jim Prendergast                      7.45   170
12 Glenn Dickson/John Green                             7.13   140
13 Greg Scheetz/Chris Luff                              7.51   120
14 Simon Dale/Sonia Mc Manus                            7.56    90
15 Stephen Bannister/John Kane                          9.20     0
 
Women
                                                        Time Points
 
1 Gaye Camm/Melanie Mc Intyre                           7.43   330
2 Helen Jeffs/Vinessa Berry                             8.11   245
3 Penelope Maher/Robyn Simionato                        7.43   230
4 Elizabeth Carritt/Nicole Lowres                       7.55   230
5 Dana Skopal/Joanne Clendon                            7.34   220
6 Fiona Russell/Martine Robin                           7.25   200
7 Fee Macrae/Jill Calkin                                7.47   190
8 Lesley Vest/Michelle Van Der Voort                    7.15   150
9 Anna Parry/Emily Ravenscroft                          7.45   130
10 Jane Mac Cormick/Pam Fairhurst                       6.41    80
11 Melissa Foster/Narelle Walters                       6.47    60