Discussion: Tricks for a Successful MTB-O Course?

On Feb 16 I'm going to be putting on my first MTB-O event. The day will also include a foot-O event and an Adventure Duathlon (60 minute Score-O on foot then a point to point bike course.)
I have never set, never participated in and never seen a Bike-O event. I've read the IOF rules and looked at the Bike-O maps on the IOF website. It seems to me that MTB-O is pretty much Ski-O on wheels. Is that a fair characterization?
What hints would you give to an aspiring MTB-O course setter, promoter?
What length of course suits this type of event? Does one measure courses by straight line of best route? I can pretty well assure that the elevation change will be about nil and that there will not be too much terrain detail to clutter the map. However the area has a great network of firm trails.
(Aussies please be serious and try to stay on topic)

First off: make sure your map is an MTB-O map! And as it happens we (two of us from QOC) have just finished an English translation of the Swedish Federation's step-by-step guide to converting a foot-orienteering map to an MTB-O map. It's written by Martin Bergstrom, who deserves all the credit for it, and we're happy to share it with anyone in the English-speaking world - even Aussies, to the extent they are.

I want a copy... hope to have one at Boggs in September.

It seems to me that MTB-O is pretty much Ski-O on wheels. Is that a fair characterization?

Yes, leaving aside that dismounting and taking an off-trail shortcut may be forbidden by land owners whereas taking your skis off and walking with them (or skiing off trail if snow conditions permit) are generally (I think) allowed in ski-O. The route choice and execution considerations are very similar. Also, my impression from second hand observation (I've never owned a proper ski-O map holder and so far I've either course set or consulted on all the MTBO events QOC has held) is that it's a little bit harder to read the map while in motion in MTBO.

And Aussie or not, one of the best single-page summaries of MTBO course setting guidelines I've come across is this one from Orienteering Queensland.

Thanks all, particularly Greg for the leads. How can I get my hands on the converting maps translation? I had been thinking just of generalizing the vegetation and changing the trail symbol in a few areas where wild hogs have chewed up a considerable amount. Is there more I should do. Down here (in SW Florida) rock features and contours are not factors. And rarely would a person be tempted to leave a trail to take a shortcut.
As to map holders the one I got from O-Store.ca is working like a charm. I probably could sell a dozen of them if I had them.

A few random ideas.
1. Bikers like score events. Though the initial participants may come from foot-o, I think its important to attract those who identify more strongly with mountainbiking. Score events are easier to plan and there are no DNFs.
2. I tend towards NOT running alongside foot-o. It's for social reasons, bikers will be in the minority, have to handle unfamiliar procedures etc. When its mainly the biking community they will know each other and be much happier.
3. Enjoyment is much higher with a mapholder. People won't (initially) acquire a good one. Tell participants in advance how to make one, and provide materials at the event. Eg A4-ish corflute (5mm), big rubber bands and cable ties.
4. Think about riding off-track. The IOF rules say "no off-track unless otherwise specified" so its up to you whether you allow it as a country or for a specific event. It may depend on your landowners or the prevailing views in your country. Track-only is better for immature navigators (the target audience?) but...
5. The hardest thing for immature navigators is junctions that are indistinct, and gaps in the bushes that might look like tracks. They need certainty about what is a track, so if the network is not 100% distinct, make it distinct by raking the dirt, tapes on trees etc.
6. All the QLD stuff about hard and easy, fairness etc comes much later when you are thinking about competition. You'll never get there unless you first establish participation.

From a coursesetters point of view there's some things to think about regarding the drifferences between MTB-O and Ski-O

In Ski-o the difference in speed between the smaller tracks and the bigger is not that great. But in MTB-O there's a significant speed difference on the smaller tracks and the road. On a small and tricky singletrack you're might do 10-15km/h and on a road 40km/h. That means that you can go almost 4 times as long a road and have the same split time.

And a MTB-O specific map makes a BIG difference. It's not that easy to read a regular o-map while on your bike.


Regarding the lenght of the course: Should the whole course, foot-o + mtb-o take 60min? Or just the foot-o?

As and example: In the world cup we're generally have something like a 15km course for the middledistance with the winning time being around 50-60min. But our travelled distance is probably around 20-25km then.

You can check my map archive for inspiration: http://www.dxdeluxe.se/linnekartparmen/index.php?u...

Gord (+ 4 other folks so far): I've emailed you the document. If you don't see it in your inbox or O'spam folder, let me know.

+1 for encouraging everyone ahead of time to get a map holder, and honestly, I'd encourage every club to have a few on hand at MTBO events to loan out. Search AP as well as other forums and websites for info about the ones you can buy and the ones you can make yourself.

Definitely make the map MTBO specific. It is VERY DIFFICULT to read foot-O maps on a bike. The major distinction is that the track symbols are bigger and that only tracks are marked in black (i.e. everything else that is marked black on a foot-O map is converted to grey). You also mark difficulty of riding but as said above, you can get around to that later.

Remember - route choice! If there is only one way to get between controls, it becomes boring. Do not tempt people to go cross country if it is forbidden on your course, e.g. by setting two controls on tracks near each other that don'totherwise touch. You will probably still get people going bush but this cannot always be helped.

I think gruver has said everything else I otherwise would have (other than my usual witty comments that I have refrained from using here).

Oh, get rid of unnecessary colours too (e.g. green). It detracts from the map and when the bush is not rideable anyway, it does nothing to help the rider.

If your event goes well, our first one of the season is on April 21 and I don't yet have a setter. The map is already made for you. Interested?

Try the links under the heading "Organizing an Event" on the Orienteering USA Mountain Bike Orienteering web page.

For MTBO map holders, try the Orifix web site or "How to Hold Your Map" from the New Zealand Orienteering Federation web site.

Congrats to Gordhun in snaring an on-subject post from tRicky.

Thanks for the conversion document Greg.

Others, note that converting foot-o maps is only one mechanism - in fact it might limit your thoughts as to where you can MTB-orienteer. Plenty of places round here which are written off for foot-o because of thick vegetation, but are fine for MTBO. Starting a map from scratch is no big deal if you're only mapping the tracks - and will end up more readable than a converted foot-o one.

I take my MTBO very seriously.

One should always take frivolity seriously.

Good luck with this Gord. I'm no mountain biker, but I'll be watching as we have a very active MTB community here and I think it would be a good way to help resurrect our dormant O club. In my experience organizing Ski-O was very good for developing foot-O membership though I know MTB culture is likely a bit different.

@greg_l I'd appreciate a copy as well please.

I received a copy, it is very helpful!

Greg, Can you post a link to those step by step guidelines for converting maps or email me a copy at kootenayorienteering@me.com . We did a map conversion 2 years ago for a MTBO event but just made them up and probably had too much detail. Probably, a combo of a Rogaine / ski-o map would have worked better. That said, nobody got lost. We did it as a point - to - point but for newbies to orienteering the score-o may have been better but MTBers seem to like a fixed route so I'm not sure.. We do a fixed route event each June with 4 -5 controls along the way using SI timing. Last year we had 130 MTBers.
Jim

Gee how can we get numbers like that? We tend to get about 25-50 people. Only once have we gotten over 100.

I'm not sure myself but we were looking for an event to draw people to our club events after NAOC2010. We came up with the concept of a festival featuring a line orienteering format with a MTB course, running course, Trek and kids courses, added music, food and beer gardens and it grew in 2 years to 400. This year we are expecting 450. http://roundthemountain.ca . The biggest challenge is getting enough SI sticks... beg, borrow and thankfully we haven't had to steal.

tRicky doesn't drink beer - so he'll never get 450 punters to his events. That and he takes MTB orienteering wheely seriously.

Spoke-n like a...

I don't know, this pun isn't rolling along as I'd hoped. I've lost control.

Aussies! .... Be good!
Oh what the hell. Go for it.
The information I've gained has been very helpful.
But I have one more question: the course length is to be measured by the 'shortest practical route'. In foot O OCAD does the distance measurement (straight line) for us. Is there a practical way to measure the shortest route?

If anyone in the US is not busy President's Day Weekend and would like to participate in the Suncoast of Florida 1st Bike-O Championships (MTB and Hybrid classes) come on down to Sarasota County.

Just highlight the tracks along the shortest course holding CTRL whilst running the pink dashed line (or other linear object) around and that'll give you a distance.

Alternatively, use straight line distances and add 30-50% depending on the tracks.

I measure shortest practical route one of two ways. In Condes, I save the file, then I add points along the line and drag them to the route. If you want to be fussier, you can open the map in OCAD and use the curve tool to draw the route. Then you have to figure out how to defeat the automatic straight-line calculation and get your planning software to display your typed-in value.

You can also not worry about it. For a local event, does it really matter?

Ride the course with your bike computer taking what you think is the best route... You should be doing this anyway.

That's not really practical. What you should be doing is riding all the tracks that competitors are likely to take on the event to check for obstructions, rideability and the like, to make a 'proper' map anyway. Riding the best route afterwards just makes for a lot of riding, particularly if you have multiple courses.

Thanks for the advice. I will choose the armchair solution for distance measurement. It is a brand new map so all the trails are being checked not only for obstacles but for the percentage of 'sugar sand' riding.
I want the distance more to guage the course length for a group of people I don't know. I am setting a 'Pleasure' course for the more leisurely MTBers and a 'Pro' course for the hard core riders most of whom think they know this park like the back of their hands.
Has anyone ever tried fixing the map in a case to the handlebars with tie tags or something like that? None of these folks have map holders and are not likely to invest five times the entry fee for one.

Binder clips attached to the cables.

great idea! Thanks! I will try it tomorrow!

Raise your entry fees ×5.

Ask how much they paid for their bikes then work out the cost of a mapboard (by %) based on that.

Buy some holders from the o store then we can rent them for our event. That's why greyhound cargo was invented.

Definitely use an MTBO specific map! Knowing the rideability of your route choice will make a huge difference. (Can I have a copy of the Martin Bergstrom file please embenham1@hotmail.co.uk (I've been converting MTBO maps for years but am interested to see how Martin does it))

With regards to the planning, try to avoid putting controls on junctions as this limits route choice. Try to put controls 100m down a path so there is route choice to get there and a greater decision on which way to exit. If you're in a really public area then you can attach the control box to a nearby tree (also worth checking area before to find suitable trees). Try not to hide the controls since this is a pain and frustrating.

If you are planning on organising several events a year this might be useful. My father and I organised a series of MTBO races and purchased about 5 Miry mapboards. We took these to events and then rented them out for £5. If people liked them, they could buy them after or just return them to be used another day. Map boards that had been used more than 5 times were discounted greatly to buy. The only problem was we had to buy both kinds of Miry board due to different handlebar sizes. If you want one map board for both handlebar sizes then get Orifix (they're far superior anyway).

In the UK we try to organise our events from local village halls rather than getting portable toilets (expensive). It provides competitiors with a place to go if its raining, electricity for the SI/Emit software and showers for athletes.

Enjoy!

With regards to the planning, try to avoid putting controls on junctions as this limits route choice. Try to put controls 100m down a path so there is route choice to get there and a greater decision on which way to exit.

Really? How does that limit route choice? Get to the control on a junction and you immediately have a decision to make as to which way to go from there.

If a control is on a path, your only choice (at that time) is to go on or go back and this is usually obvious depending on where the next control is. Not always the case but it depends on the course.

If you look at most of the MTBO courses from WOC and other major championships, very few controls are on junctions. I didn't realise until it was pointed out in the summer either.

If a control is on a junction you automatically use the junction to decide route choices. If you use a path about 100m or so from a junction your first decision is which is the best way to approach the control (and which direction do you need to leave for the next one), using a path adds one more junction decision point to the leg. (perhaps 'limits RC' was the wrong phrase!)

Fair point but I guess it depends on the complexity of the map too. If you stick a control on a five way junction, for instance, the rider is immediately faced with which is the right direction after they've successfully punched!

I like the idea of a club buying a bunch of map holders and having them on hand for riders to try at local events. Is the best review of alternatives this one?

Also this review of a few more mapboards http://www.sleepmonsters.com/feature.php?article_i...