Discussion: Prize time?

What's it gonna be?

0.7 more lbs to go, then wing paddle is on the list, in case I end up fit by late September and some WT team has a late drop and needs a sub.

Nice! I’ve put on a few bike O races and the most important characteristic of a good venue - other than bikes being permitted, which is huge - is the number of trail junctions. Our best venue has a lot of one way single track and two way double track. We use little arrows on the map to indicate one way trails. I actually don’t mind the one way trails too much since it makes it easier for me to plan a safer course. We offer a Novice course that attracts families and I especially worry about places where the two courses might meet. I know some riders look more at their map than their surroundings.

We also allow riders to go on park roads, parking lots and open, mowed (orange) fields, which expands our options for control locations. The map we borrow from another club is outdated but the exact trail track isn’t that important as long as the junctions are accurate enough to make route choices. The map wouldn’t be good enough for foot O anymore.

Thanks for the insight! I have really wanted to make it to a bike o event to get a feel for how it should be done, but haven't been successful yet.

We're taking a break from Star Tracks this year. The #1 problem with bike O is getting permission for a venue with a sufficiently accurate map. After 4 years at the same place, we wanted to try somewhere different but it proved surprisingly difficult. There were a couple of places with nice trails that charged too much. There was a park where the volunteer trail maintainers insist that any events be cancelled at the last minute if there has been rain. And there was another park where the volunteer trail crew didn't answer my email to let me know whether they had a map and would be willing to support our event. And there were a couple of areas that are OK with mountain bikers but not if they're racing. In the end, I think we'll just stick with our original venue for future races and think of other ways to mix things up - maybe a map exchange or a different start point.