Discussion: I think it was the toughest...

I think it was the toughest mtbo course I’ve ever done - happy with decision to only do half of it (and not ride today too!)

You make me feel so much better. And you are a good rider too.

Good decision... ;-) I made that decision after breaking a chain before the first control. Never been again.

Ah some are really fun Neil, just the mud and climb were too tough for me and Prue (and quite a few others). James on the other hand was in his element.

Yes, James flew past me down a hill looking very light and bright and airy in his red cycling ensemble (that only he or tRicky could even contemplate wearing).
I think l was trudging uphill pushing my bike in the mud at the time.

You can say the same for some shitty foot areas that I've been to. I guess different people enjoy different challenges. I didn't hate Newcastle despite the conditions but plenty of others did. I'd be hard pressed to give up on a course unless my bike was completely unrideable (and I have finished with a broken chain, broken derailleur and minus a pedal before, not to mention a broken nose and dislocated finger).

Would you give up if you fell over and broke a compass on a foot event? Unlikely.

To those of you who started orienteering when you could out-run your brains - you were lucky. So I find the need to keep speed under control a special attraction of MTBO, and I often finish with fresh legs. Potentially sprints could give me the same buzz, but around here the maps are often illegible.

Speed not a problem for me on Saturday - after an hour I’d done 5k.

Might have been faster at Kooyoora although probably not at Wyangala.

More serious comment now about my decision long ago to not do MTBO. Parks were very very sensitive about informal tracks. On applying for a permit for a Vic MTBO Champs ended up in a discussion with head ranger of Goldfields region in which we were told that a permit would be granted but that anyone riding on informal and illegal tracks would be fined. Most tracks in the bush around Bendigo have no legal basis. That permit application was the last made by BGV for an MTBO event. We cancelled the event for that and a separate safety reason.
Illegal track construction is an ongoing issue. Some years ago I analysed Strava heat map and identified over 80 kilometers of new illegal tracks MTB tracks on the BGV forest maps around Bendigo.

Sounds fair, fine the people who apply to use the area rather than the ones who go in and make the tracks; that ought to stop them. I think a similar issue arose with the marathon riders who applied to use the area, with the permit stating that if they used illegal tracks that they'd have to go in afterwards and destroy whatever was used (so they decided to abandon the event and continue using the trails regardless).

Not like there was any mining in the area 150 years ago that might have damaged conservation. If anything it's made it a better area for orienteering!

As I understand it, some of the people in the MTB scene involved in organising a number of events were also involved in illegal track construction beforehand. Refusing to hand out permits for the big events to use those new tracks reduces the incentive to construct them in the first place, so there is some logic in the position of Parks.