MTBO Riding Hints

Mountainbike orienteering is relatively new to New Zealand, so the offers these general hints. Some of them will be "old hat" to orienteers but new to bikers. Others will be vice versa.

How is the Course Marked?

You get a map with a numbered series of circles, called "control points". The start is a triangle and the finish is a double circle. At the control points there will be a flag and clipper. You prove you have been there by clipping in the right box on your control card. Some events use electronic boxes at the controls, and you carry an e-stick which records your visit.

Between the controls, there are no course markings (with one or two exceptions, below). You use the map to get there. And usually there is a choice of routes you can take.

Controls Usually in Sequence

Usually you have to visit the controls in sequential order. Riders start at 2 or 3-minute intervals, and you and your bike must visit all the controls in the right order to be classed as a finisher. Fastest time wins.

There's an alternative called a "Score Event" in which you can visit in any order within a time limit. Usually everybody blasts off at once. Controls have various scores, and highest score (less a stiff lateness penalty) wins.

No Control Descriptions

Orienteers are used to a list of the features the controls are located on, but since they are all on tracks they aren't used in MTBO. Just navigate to the centre of the circle on the map! There's a control code on the flag, which should match the one on the map. That's printed in brackets or separated by a dash from the control sequence number.

Tracks Only

The rule is you must travel only on tracks marked on the map. That usually surprises foot-orienteers, until they find out how hard it is to read the map on the move! (There may be exceptions for specific events, but track-only is the norm.)

We sometimes make "tracks-for-the-day" by marking a route with intermittent or continuous coloured tape. There'll be a sample of this tape at the start. The tape is sometimes also used on indistinct junctions so that you know what we consider to be a track.

See below for "virtual tracks":-))

Navigation and Riding Ability

The course is supposed to equally test navigation and riding ability. A big part of the navigation is deciding the best route from two or more possibilities. The fastest way isn't always the quickest, you should compare the number of contours you will have to climb. And you can take into account the map information about rideability.

It's worth taking time to suss out the best way, even if it means stopping. Going down the wrong track can waste more time than riding brilliance can make up. Remember the hare and the tortoise!

Reading the Tracks

If the map is specially made for MTBO, the roads and tracks are shown with three different widths and three different speed values.

Easy Riding: Roads wide enough for two-way vehicle traffic are shown as two black lines with brown between. They are always easy riding. Note that "easy" refers to the surface only, you'll have to interpret the contours to get an idea of the slope. One-vehicle-wide roads which have a maintained surface are shown as a thick black line, while maintained Single Track (under 1.5m) is a thin black line.
Slow Riding: The next category is unmaintained tracks, where riding is slowed a bit, particularly when the ground is wet. They are shown using either the thick or the thin black line, but with dashes. It would be rare for a skilled rider to have to get off because of the track surface. These are well worth choosing if they save you a longer way round or a climb.
Difficult to Ride: The last category is for tracks with obstacles which make riding virtually impossible. They are shown using either the thick or the thin dotted black line. Getting off would be frequent even for a skilled rider. Courses won't have much of this because it isn't fun to ride, but you may have to trade off a short section of obstacles against the long way round. Don't attempt a long stretch of this unless there is no alternative!
Extra Speed Value Internationally MTBO is moving to four speeds, and our maps will gradually change over. The middle category is subdivided into over 50% speed (long dashes) and under half speed (short dashes).

Sometimes when there aren't many tracks on the area, we invent "virtual tracks" to give you more choices of route. On the map you will see a green version of the track symbol above. On the ground you will see... nothing. They are usually in open grassy areas, and usually follow some feature, eg a fence. Sometimes they go straight across an open area between two bits of forest, where the absence of a visible track would otherwise prevent you riding across.

This is a NZ invention and may not apply in other countries. To sum up, a green line means "allowable route, no visible track".

Other Symbols on the Map

Forest is shown as either green or white. (Strictly speaking this depends on whether you can see through the trees but usually the mapper uses one or the other.) Open land is yellow. (Think of a haypaddock after the hay is cut.) This is approximately mapped as seen from the track. Water is blue. Contours are brown.

The map shows things you can see from the track. Examples might be major power lines, water tanks, cliffs. Special attention is paid to the shape of junctions, and whether they are distinct or not. (A small gap indicates an indistinct junction.) A bridge is shown by the road or track crossing the blue line, otherwise there's a gap.

Tracks you're not allowed to use have purple crosses on them. Whole areas you're not allowed to use have purple shading on them. Don't get us into trouble with the community, we want to be able to ride here again.

A purple bar across a track is used for an obstacle that will force you to dismount - eg a gate or fallen tree. It's perfectly allowable to go over an obstacle, this is merely something you might take into account when deciding which route to take.

There's a legend on the map, and you should be able to check it out before the start. There are some MTBO maps on the Wairarapa Orienteering Club website.

Know What you Expect to See

Before you ride a single metre, work out what you should see. Eg "go into forest, road bends 90-deg to the right, then take the next left. Should be a single-track". The more you orienteer the more information you will pick up off the map. If things aren't working out, stop, count to 10, and take your time to work out what you have passed since you positively knew where you were.

No Water on the Course

Orienteers expect water points on the course. Because you can readily carry water on a bike there won't be any. Come prepared with water bottles or bladder.

Carrying your Map and Card

Ideally you need to be able to see your map on the move, so a carrier on the handlebars is a big help. The best ones have a pivot that lets you rotate the map to line up with the way you are going. For example go to the MAPsport SHOP website. The cheapest ones are made of tin-lids, ice-cream containers, you name it. For example go to the resources section of this website.

Orienteers are used to holding their thumb on the map at the current position, and this is even more useful on the bike when you might only have a few seconds to glance at the map. Some orienteers have fitted their mapholder with a thin sheet of steel, and a powerful magnet can act as your "thumb" to mark position.

The normal orienteering clipper is on the top of a 1m stake. If these are used, the best way to carry your control card is tied on your wrist with elastic or a big rubber band. (It's got a couple of holes punched in it and is made of tough synthetic paper.)

The international convention is that the control card is attached to the bike by the organisers. If we use this method we hang the clipper on a long enough string to reach your bike. It will be attached to the control flag which will be hanging from something on the side of the track.

If electronic punching is used you should acquire one of those pull-out "zingers" that some people use to attach their security card. This way your e-stick can be (a) attached to the bike and (b) reach the control box on its stake. Clever people can e-punch without dismounting!

What About my Compass?

As long as you don't use the "magnetic thumb", a clip-on compass (eg Silva Type 19) can slide on the side of your mapboard. But the magnetic thumb is very powerful and you can’t have a compass that close to it. And the clip-on compass is not well-damped, it shakes a lot.

The best solution is to cable-tie a good-quality thumb compass to the top tube near the stem, with a little bit of foam between to insulate it from the vibration. (A standard compass is a bit big for this.) Or slide a clip-on compass onto one of your gloves so that it sits on the back of the hand.

Safety and Consideration for Others

Wear a helmet. The route may be on public roads and forest roads that have vehicle traffic so you should take due care.

Even on tracks you should ride as if you are going to meet yourself coming the other way. If you are coming up fast behind a slower rider, call out the side you are going to pass on, eg "on the left!" If someone comes up behind you, look for an opportunity to let them past. If you don't know which way to go at a junction, get off the track while you decide.

The tracks are open to other users too, be courteous to them. Report to the finish, even if you decide to abandon the course. After doing a search we get very annoyed to find you've just gone home!

Contingency Plan for Injuries

We don't put marshalls on the course so we rely on you, the other competitors. Each incident is different, but hopefully the first rider on the scene can give first aid while the second can head straight to the finish and report to the controller. The controller will have a rescue plan including who would go out on the course and what vehicle they would use - 4WD might be needed for some areas.

Bike Problems

It's OK to offer help to other competitors, that's over to you. But outside help is forbidden, you've got to complete the course with what riders take into it. The only navigational aids allowed are the map provided, a compass, and an odometer. You can't have a device that can tell you altitude or coordinates.

This page was written by and was installed on 17 Aug 00, with minor updates to 5 Nov 09.
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