Darvo's Diary - 2009 Tour de Montagne SS2

Tuesday, 17 March 2009

(Click here to view a complete pdf version of Darvo's course)

From the start I know that I am usually very bad at score events, so I wasn’t too fussed about picking a good route.  Because somehow it seems even when I try to pick a good route I botch it up.  On the other hand every 10 years or so I fluke a good route and that’s very satisfying.  And that was the case today, so it looks like I should avoid score events for the next 10 years.

When I got the map I just felt confused.  But then I had an idea.  Rather than try and work out which ones to go to, why not work out which ones to leave out?  That seemed an easier approach.  So I made a quick tally of the check points and it came to a total of 350 points in the forest.  All I had to do was leave out 110 points and I had the requisite 240 for the long course.  Easy!

A quick glance at the map and I knew I didn’t want to go to #251.  It was out on its own and up a big hill.  Near it was #152, which also looked out on a limb, and together they were 40 points.  If I skipped #101, another one which was awkward to get to, then that was 50 points.  In the middle I noticed #105 all on its own.  And that meant a big detour.  So I crossed that one out too.  Great!  Now I’d crossed out 60 points and I only had to lose 50 more.

The next obvious check points were #256 and 154 in the far south.  Then if I came back and skipped #104, that was all I needed to leave out.

You may have gathered that I’d sort of decided to go anti-clockwise.  I didn’t really decide this I just always tend to go that way.  I think I liked the downhill start.  Or perhaps it’s that I’m left handed?  Anyhow this seemed a fun way.  It flowed nicely and didn’t have any nasty out and backs.  It also didn’t have any unnecessary climbing.  Just a lot of climbing, as Sunny Corner always does.

So the route was 100, 103, 252, 250, 153, 253, 155, 256, 254, 156, 106, 151, 150, 102.

If anyone was paying attention you’d notice that I later decided not to get #255 and got #256 instead.  I did that because it just seemed less of a detour to get #256 and I figured the single track I had to take to #255 would be very slow.  That was the only refinement I made as I went around the course and I thought of that after 153.

On the course everything went very smoothly.  I had a few sketchy moments on the loose rock, especially on the corners and was totally weirded out by strange track junctions and a few map glitches.  But I came away with only two minor track over-shoots (50 m or so), so was pleased with that.

Kudos to Rowan for a great course and Alison too for rounding out a great weekend of riding.

Paul Darvodelsky