Here is the WMOC 06 Qual 1 M40-1 map, and here are my routes.

Here is the WMOC 06 Qual 2 M40-1 map, and here are my routes.

Here is the WMOC 06 B Final M40 map, and here are my routes.

The first thing to say about WMOC 06 was that it was probably the best organized event I've been to. I can't think of anything to whine about. This was my second O trip to Austria, and both have had great organization.

My goal for these races was to finish in the top half. With the top third or so qualifying, I never entertained any illusions of that myself.

But my first qualifying race was nearly perfect, with only a bobble on #7, and that put me in 16th place in my group, with the top 20 qualifying. Not bad.

My day 2 qualifier plan was pretty much the same as day 1, relax and don't care about qualifying (because, actually, I don't, which is the ironic thing, but it seems to be the arbitrary line in the sand, like a state border, that a lot of people care about).

But I had, pretty much, my worse race of the season since opening day. The map was hard. I lucked into #1, as the topography didn't look right and I had no clue where I was. Then I boomed #2 pretty bad, as there is no way, that I see, even now, to force success on that one. The area was bland, with tall grass, and my plan to find the ditch below it and ride it up to the control simply didn't work on 2 tries.

After that, I thought it was over, but did manage to move thru the rest of the course pretty well, with some sloppiness here and there, until I totally blew out on #18. I still have no clue what happened -- my route is only a guess. I didn't think I was lost until I came into the feature and didn't see the bag. Sometimes I just don't know where it goes wrong en-route -- and those are the worst situations -- where you think you know were you are, and you're wrong.

Anyway, I made about 10 minutes of mistakes, and missed qualifying by less than 2 minutes.

Then I got sick. I had a fever after Q2. Not sure if I was sick for Q2 (but it is a good excuse), but I was definitely sick for the B final. I had a sloppy race, booming the first three controls, and others later on. I should have been disqualified, as I believe I went out of bounds on #1, but I did not realise it at the time. It is amazing sometimes how you can't figure out where you are at the time, but can during your review.

Well, barring disqualification, I did finish in the top half, but certainly underachieved after Q1, so it is a mixed bag. It was good stuff, tho, and I'll always jump at races organized by Austrians.