MTBO Resources

First of all, make sure you have read the beginners' hints. They are written for bikers taking up MTBO, or foot-orienteers getting onto a bike.

This page is a collection of random items that might help you sometime. At the top are short-term things such as partners or transport wanted or offered. Then come stable things such as equipment ideas, further down is advice for the organiser of a MTBO event. If you have something that could help, or you see a need for some guidance, get in touch with the

Contents

• Partners or Transport for Specific Events
• Preparing your Bike for Air Travel
• How to Hold Your Map
• Fitting your Miry Mapholder with Quick-release Mounts
• Introductory MTBO Courses
• Learning MTBO Techniques
• MTBO Organisation and Course Planning
• MTBO Mapping
• MTBO Rules
• ANZ Results

Partner or Transport Wanted/Offered

• Within New Zealand. Sometime early this century Air NZ introduced a charge of $25 per direction for carrying bikes. Since then they have relented, or the invisible hand of the market had its effect and "An extra 10kg baggage allowance is given for sporting equipment free of charge. Examples include bicycles, golf clubs, skis, snowboards." (Air NZ website Dec 07.)
• Internationally. It seems that if you go to or through North America they work on the "piece" system, each "piece" can be quite heavy and you probably don't have a problem. Otherwise, they are carried as part of your normal baggage allowance, which is usually 20kg for economy class tickets. Plus you can take 7kg in a carry-on bag. This is not usually checked for weight, but it IS checked for anything that could remotely be construed as a weapon, such as tools. However the Air NZ sporting equipment allowance applies between New Zealand and Australia, the Pacific Islands, Asia, Japan or London via Hong Kong. This makes things much more comfortable, but the other airlines especially the budget ones may have differing policies. And then of course there is the interpretation of the check-in person, which might depend on the fullness of the flight, which side of the bed they got out on, and other random factors. All we can do is report recent experience with baggage limits and invite you to contribute to it.
• Packing. Some people pack their bikes comprehensively (see below), others do only the minimum (wrap the oily bits) on the basis that its better that the loading staff KNOW its a bike. Packing is REQUIRED for international flights. You can get bags, and we'll provide links to suppliers here in due course. You can use a carboard bike box, free from a bike shop. Below is brief advice from Dianne Michels which is sufficient to do the job. For a more comprehensive treatment with pictures check out this website.
  1. Clean the bike scrupulously esp tires. Both Australia and New Zealand have rigourous biosecurity systems. Try looking for mud under the seat!
  2. Pedals off, front wheel off, remove handlebars and tie or tape along the direction of the bike, remove seat and post, pack in the sort of bike box that new bikes come in (from bike shop). Bike shop will be able to advise further.
  3. No longer need to deflate tires although some airline websites still say so.
  4. Front forks protection - you can get a spacer that protects them. Derailleur protection - put chain onto biggest cog, zip-tie a cheap plastic pudding plate over the guts.
  5. The spindle can come out of the front wheel so that it doesn't poke through the box.
  6. Reduce weight by leaving behind anything that you can get over there such as spare tubes.
  7. You can put soft gear around the bike but not heavy stuff as it could come loose and rattle round in the box.
  8. In theory the weight limit (except North America) is 20kg with blind eye turned to 5kg over, and the bike is one of your two items. Obviously there is some discretion, you might reduce the chance of getting charged for excess baggage by checking in half an hour earlier than otherwise. If you are travelling with a non-biker, check in together so that your weights can be considered together.
  9. Put as much weight as poss into your carry-on bag, but remember that these are screened for stuff that could be regarded as weapons, tools are probably nogo in there. And note that carry-on may be weighed now too.

How to Hold Your Map

You can't hold it in your hands! A mapbag round your neck will twist and end up strangling you! The best place is on the bars.

The state of the art is made in Czech and is called the Miry Pro. Lightweight materials, strong and stable, and most importantly it has a rotation mechanism so you can align the map with the way you are going. Check it out at The MAPsport Shop and look down the bottom of "Miscellaneous Products". MAPsport also sells a nifty system that lets you put a magnetic pointer where you are on the map.

If you want an cheap mapholder while you see whether you like this crazy sport, make one! Lots of people have devices made from clipboards, hoseclips, cable-ties and spring-clips. Here are some that even rotate! Download Di's design

And here's one by Steve Holden formerly of Wellington OC. Warning: may be bad for your health, requires consumption of 2 litres of icecream first... Click on the sketch for the instructions. Prints better than it looks on-screen.

Here's a website with two more designs. Alternatively try this design or that design.

Fitting your Miry Mapholder with Quick-release Mounts

Download picture (5k PDF)

• These are light mounts that come with the BL913HF or BL913HFSC set of Smart lights (Local bike shop will be able to help you out). You are only needing a replacement bar mount x2. It is very simple proceedure to remove the existing clamps and replace them with the light mounts. I have replaced the plastic hinge pin on the mount with a nut and bolt as the pin tended to work loose and come out. The bolt supplied fits through the top of the mount and the aluminium on the map board but it pays to lock tight this on.
• To fit the mounts I removed the rivets that connect the old bar attachments (save these you never know if they need to be put back on).
• Next I shaved down the plastic by the bolt hole on one side where the smart light mount sits against the aluminium to get a nice snug fit.
• Position the mount so it rests snugly against the aluminium at the bottom and then drill a 4mm hole through the aluminium on the map holder to secure the mount.
• Bolt the mount on and then secure the whole thing with a small zip tie through one of the original holes at the bottom of the map holder and around the mount.
• Bingo! You're on your way!

In 2008 OHV ran a couple of MTBO events for beginners. They used the public land along the Hutt riverbanks - flat terrain, limited route choice, larger scale than usual. They consisted of an untimed course of 1-2km (to bring riders back for help and encouragement) and a timed course of 5-7km (along the riverbank, across a bridge and back on the other side). They were nicknamed "Brownie Events" - serious riders get "brownie points" at home by bring kids/partner - and riding level suitable for brownies.

OHV has decided to declare some of its maps free for personal and school use, and has put pdf versions of them in a download area on its website. The are also suitable as examples for the simple courses and terrain used. Rather than list the names of the files we link here to the OHV download page so you can read the "fine print" associated with the map use. Find them by searching the download page for "MTBO".

Learning MTBO Techniques

• Observations from the First World MTBO Champs, 1 Sep 02
• Lessons from the First NZ MTBO Champs, 17 Dec 00
• MTBO Course Planning Hints, 31 Jul 00

The situation in mid 2009.

In 2007 a revised MTBO Mapping Specification was approved and you can download it from the Mapping Commission website. This means that the version in the little booklet ISOM 2000 is out of date. The revision still contains many words relating to foot-orienteering eg "runnability"!!!

Since then the Australians have revised their thinking and instead of wanting more widths they have moved to more speeds: the 4X2 system. This provides two speeds instead of one to cover the wide range between fast and unrideable. They are represented by long and short dashes. They have found support in the IOF MTBO Commission but the measure has been blocked by the IOF Mapping Commission. The NZOF MTBO Committee supports "4X2" and maps are being progressively changed over.

Another principle which is being discussed is to beef up the contour widths - after all most foot-o maps are 1:10,000 and have 150% contour widths. And if contours why not streams? The visual situation is surely more demanding on a bike.

Earlier notes mid 2003.

Here are a couple of proposals which have not yet been accepted by the Mapping Commission. They are word files that you can download.

• Slovakian proposals for some colour changes
• The Australians are convinced that your need eleven different track symbols but the IOF MTBO Committee and the IOF Mapping Commission are doubtful. The Aussie view
• The NZOF MTBO Committee made a submission to the IOF on the above. The NZ view

Here are some NZ mapping comments dated 20 Dec 02 following the 3rd NZ MTBO Champs in 2002. They are mostly about the colour for forest.

Here are some NZ mapping comments dated 29 Aug 02. They are mainly about the dimensions for the track symbols.

Earlier notes mid 2002.

The official specification for MTBO maps is still under development, with the organisers of the first World Champs making some changes to the standard contained in the 2000 edition of the International Standard for Orienteering Maps. The IOF Mapping Commission has published two interim amendments. They still have too much baggage related to foot-orienteering, so I would expect further change.

• IOF MTBO Symbols
• IOF Course marking Symbols for MTBO

New Zealand doesn't have any. We have been getting by on the commonsense approach of borrowing from the NZ foot-o rules and the IOF MTBO rules (link to be inserted here).

We have however agreed with Orienteering Australia on a set of rules for the ANZ MTBO Challenge. Here are the rules discussed by the two committees during 2008, proposed by NZOF on 2 Feb 09 and accepted by OA on 15 May 09.

These rules draw on the Rules for the ANZ Foot-O Challenge for generic stuff such as team size, eligibility, and notifications between the two countries.

ANZ Challenge Results

Often only the individual results find their way into the archives. Here's a collection of the team results, with links to other records where available.

• Jun 2009 held at Mt Gambier, Australia; result NZL 13, AUS 8
  • Spr dist Open Men: AUS
  • Spr dist Open Women: ???
  • Spr dist Men 40: ???
  • Spr dist Women 40: ???
  • Spr dist Men 50: ???
  • Spr dist Women 50: ???
  • Spr dist Men 60: AUS
  • Mid dist Open Men: AUS
  • Mid dist Open Women: ???
  • Mid dist Men 40: ???
  • Mid dist Women 40: ???
  • Mid dist Men 50: ???
  • Mid dist Women 50: ???
  • Mid dist Men 60: AUS
  • Long dist Open Men: AUS
  • Long dist Open Women: ???
  • Long dist Men 40: ???
  • Long dist Women 40: ???
  • Long dist Men 50: ???
  • Long dist Women 50: ???
  • Long dist Men 60: NZL
• Nov 2007 held at Newcastle, Australia; result NZL 11, AUS 10
  • Spr dist Open Men: AUS
  • Spr dist Open Women: ???
  • Spr dist Men 40: ???
  • Spr dist Women 40: ???
  • Spr dist Men 50: ???
  • Spr dist Women 50: ???
  • Spr dist Men 60: AUS
  • Mid dist Open Men: AUS
  • Mid dist Open Women: ???
  • Mid dist Men 40: ???
  • Mid dist Women 40: ???
  • Mid dist Men 50: ???
  • Mid dist Women 50: ???
  • Mid dist Men 60: AUS
  • Long dist Open Men: AUS
  • Long dist Open Women: ???
  • Long dist Men 40: ???
  • Long dist Women 40: ???
  • Long dist Men 50: ???
  • Long dist Women 50: ???
  • Long dist Men 60: NZL
• Jan 2005 held in Auckland, New Zealand; result NZL 6, AUS 1
  • Long dist Open Men: NZL
  • Long dist Open Women: NZL
  • Long dist Men 40: NZL
  • Long dist Women 40: NZL
  • Long dist Men 50: NZL
  • Long dist Women 50: NZL
  • Long dist Men 60: AUS
• Sep 2003 in Victoria, Australia; result AUS 4 NZL 0
  • Long dist Open Men: AUS
  • Long dist Open Women: AUS
  • Long dist Vet Men: AUS
  • Long dist Vet Women: AUS
• Unofficial Jan 2002 in Manawatu, New Zealand; result AUS 2 NZL 1
  • Mid dist Open Men: AUS
  • Mid dist Open Women: NZL
  • Mid dist Veteran: AUS