Discussion: Star Tracks MTBO
in: Star Tracks Mountain Bike Orienteering (Oct 19, 2014 - Caledon, ON, CA)
Oct 15, 2014 4:23 AM
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Bash:
Pre-registration for this Sunday's Star Tracks MTBO at Albion Hills Conservation Area in Caledon, Ontario will be open until Friday at midnight. Participants will be using a beautiful 11X17 1:10,000 map so we're only going to print a few extra copies for potential race day registrants. Please sign up soon to reserve your map. Autumn leaves are perfect up here right now!
http://stars.whyjustrun.ca/events/view/1603
http://stars.whyjustrun.ca/events/view/1603
Oct 20, 2014 5:53 PM
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Bash:
Results are now posted. Thanks to everyone who attended and/or helped out!
http://stars.whyjustrun.ca/events/view/1603
http://stars.whyjustrun.ca/events/view/1603
Oct 21, 2014 10:43 AM
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That's a tight knit finish - 40 minutes between 1st and last. At our last event, we had 1hr 16mins between 1st and 2nd! We also only had three people finish on the long course compared to your 20. Hopefully this encourages your riders that MTBO is fun!
Oct 21, 2014 4:22 PM
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Bash:
The field would have been spread out more but we had three versions of the Regular Course. There were also a couple of Novice options.
1) Regular Course - Need to finish within 2 hrs.
2) Regular Advanced - If a rider finished the Regular Course in 75 minutes or less, he could optionally go back out to revisit #14, #9 and #6, which involved riding some different routes - and was actually longer and more cruel than it needed to be, with 20/20 hindsight. Anyone finishing this version of the course within 2 hours would be ranked ahead of everyone who just did the Regular Course. Only two people made the 75-minute deadline (arriving in 67 and 70 minutes), and their total times were 1:33 and 1:36, so they really were rock stars.
3) Regular Short. Control #12 on a hilltop also served as #15. If riders got to #12 after 90 minutes, they were supposed to skip #13 and #14 and head back to #16 and Finish. If they made it within 2 hours, they would be ranked behind everyone on the Regular Course.
So I tried to give everyone the promised 75-120 minutes of riding, which is always difficult with variations in both biking ability and nav ability. Only one person phoned for rescue and nobody looked too scuffed up so I was a happy event organizer.
1) Regular Course - Need to finish within 2 hrs.
2) Regular Advanced - If a rider finished the Regular Course in 75 minutes or less, he could optionally go back out to revisit #14, #9 and #6, which involved riding some different routes - and was actually longer and more cruel than it needed to be, with 20/20 hindsight. Anyone finishing this version of the course within 2 hours would be ranked ahead of everyone who just did the Regular Course. Only two people made the 75-minute deadline (arriving in 67 and 70 minutes), and their total times were 1:33 and 1:36, so they really were rock stars.
3) Regular Short. Control #12 on a hilltop also served as #15. If riders got to #12 after 90 minutes, they were supposed to skip #13 and #14 and head back to #16 and Finish. If they made it within 2 hours, they would be ranked behind everyone on the Regular Course.
So I tried to give everyone the promised 75-120 minutes of riding, which is always difficult with variations in both biking ability and nav ability. Only one person phoned for rescue and nobody looked too scuffed up so I was a happy event organizer.
Oct 21, 2014 4:43 PM
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Bash:
Hopefully this encourages your riders that MTBO is fun!
Out of 43 riders, only one was visibly unhappy at the end. She had originally asked to ride with her husband but I suggested that she try the Novice Long course because she is a good rider. I think next time I might create a recreational "Passenger" category (better name needed) for people who would like to ride the course with a racer but really don't want to read a map themselves. Maybe that would keep them happy and inspire them to try it another year.
I'm aware of two teachers who came out and tried orienteering for the first time (let alone MTBO). Both have already approached me independently to give their students an intro to orienteering. The first one is this Friday!
Out of 43 riders, only one was visibly unhappy at the end. She had originally asked to ride with her husband but I suggested that she try the Novice Long course because she is a good rider. I think next time I might create a recreational "Passenger" category (better name needed) for people who would like to ride the course with a racer but really don't want to read a map themselves. Maybe that would keep them happy and inspire them to try it another year.
I'm aware of two teachers who came out and tried orienteering for the first time (let alone MTBO). Both have already approached me independently to give their students an intro to orienteering. The first one is this Friday!
Oct 22, 2014 8:27 PM
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Seems to be a decent turnout! Are you able to post the map and course anywhere? Would be great to see it :-)
This discussion thread is closed.