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Sierra 2000 O-Fest
Mountain Bike-O
Thursday, August 3
Contact: Steve Gregg, event director
Welcome to BAOC's first-ever standalone mountain bike orienteering event.
Should you get the feeling during this event that we aren't really sure what
we are doing - well, you may be right! I would appreciate any feedback you
may have about this event, as it will help improve any mountain bike events
we hold in the future.
Map and Terrain
We will be using the same map as Wednesday's Sawmill Flat A-meet, printed at
1:15000 instead of 1:10000. Extra information about the width and
rideability of the trails has been added, in accordance with the new IOF mountain
bike orienteering map standards. A portion of the map should be available
Wednesday evening for your inspection.
Most of the trails on the map are well-maintained by Northstar. Riders
on the most advanced course may encounter some poorly maintained or purposely
chewed-up trails (outside of the Northstar mountain bike park itself), which
will require you to dismount and walk your bike. However, this is a steep
area, and unless you are a strong climber and a skilled technical descender,
you will no doubt need to dismount and walk your bike in other spots as well.
In general, any trail that runs parallel to the contour lines should be
rideable, but watch out for the trails that run perpendicular to the contour
lines! Good strategy is to try to minimize the amount of time you spend on
these sorts of trails, since even if you can ride them, they will be slower
than riding on the contour.
Courses
As you will discover on Wednesday,
this is a steep area, with a relatively sparse trail network. So in an
attempt to maximize route choice decisions, all the courses will have a
score-O format (meaning that although you still need to find all your
controls, you can take them in any order). Additionally, there will be no
more than 8 controls on any of the courses, which means there will be some
long legs and some important route choice decisions to be made. I hope this
format will result in a true mountain bike orienteering event, not just a
mountain bike race with a few required stops along the way.
There will be three courses offered, as described below. Distance
and climb figures are based on my estimation of the optimal routes. The
"estimated winning times" are based on my test-ride times. Note that I am a
strong climber but a slow, cowardly descender. A skilled rider with ability
to ride the technical descents quickly and not stop too long for map reading
may well beat these estimated times.
- Easy. 5 controls, 7 km, 160 m climb, estimated winning time 30-40
minutes. There will be some route choice, but you will be able to stay on
wide, smooth fire roads much of the time. Every effort will be made to
reduce climb, and you should not need to tackle any highly technical
singletrack.
- Intermediate. 6 controls, 10 km, 290 m climb, estimated winning
time 70-80 minutes. Some climbing and descending on steep trails will be
required, and you will get into some technical singletrack as well. All the
climbs and descents should be relatively short, though (i.e., half a mile or
less), and there should not be any lengthy sections which will force you to
dismount and walk.
- Advanced. 8 controls, 14 km, 430 m climb, estimated winning time
90-110 minutes. This course will take you back down to the same elevation as
the parking area, so at least one lengthy climb will be required to get you
back to the finish at the top of the lift. Some of the key connecting trails
may be unrideable and require you to walk your bike over obstacles. You
should be an experienced foot orienteer to tackle this course, as being able
to read the contour lines and minimize climb will be essential. Recommended
for strong riders only.
Start Times
There are no pre-assigned start times. The event schedule is as follows:
9:00 am Northstar bike shop opens to get rental bikes
(first come, first served)
9:30 am Chairlift to start at top of lift begins running
10:00am-12:00pm Starts available
3:00 pm Courses close.
Chairlift to the Start
All courses will both start and finish at the top of the Echo Lift, which is
at 7,000 feet elevation. Unless you are a strong rider and don't mind a tough
warm-up climb, I suggest you take the chairlift to the start ($12 for you and
your bike). It's the same lift used for the Sawmill Flat A-meet, and it will
save you a 1,300-meter ride with 200 meters of climb.
You will need to ride your bike back down to the parking lot
afterwards, but there are several relatively easy ways to get there - ask after
you finish if you need route-choice advice.
Basic Rules
- Helmets are REQUIRED. (If you rent a bike at Northstar, a helmet
comes with the rental bike.) Low gears, well-adjusted brakes, a spare inner
tube, and a pump are strongly recommended. There will be a water stop on the
intermediate and advanced courses, but I strongly recommend you carry water
with you as well.
- You MUST stay on the trails at all times. All the bags will be hung
right on the trails - no attempt will be made to hide them. There will be no
control-description sheet provided. Just ride to the center of the circle
and the bag will be right there. Punch in the correct square of your card
just as in a normal foot-O event. The number on the bag will be the
same as the number on the map. That is, when you reach control 1 on the map,
the bag should be numbered 1 as well, and you will punch in box 1 on your
control card. (The courses share many of the same controls, so the bag
itself may say something like "1 (Easy), 2 (Advanced)" when you get there.)
It is up to you to figure out how you are going to carry your map and your
punch card with you.
- Since this is a score-O, you are likely to encounter riders going in
the opposite direction. Be careful at all times, but especially
when going uphill on a narrow trail. Be prepared to yield the right-of-way
to riders going downhill.
- Just as in a regular foot-O event, there is a 3-hour time limit.
Please be back at the finish after three hours, even if that means you
haven't found all the controls.
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