MTB-O
Course Setting Paul Darvodelsky
This article is aimed at course-setting for MTBO but most of the principles are from and also apply to Foot-O. COURSE setting varies a lot around the world. Mostly different places develop their course setting style to suit the terrain they have. In Australia, compared to many parts of Europe, we are really spoilt for choice with big forests which are fabulous for orienteering. As a result our course-setting was probably not as imaginative or good as some countries which have small and less interesting forests, however the advent of SPORTident has seen more interesting courses. In MTBO there are a number of differences in the terrain and therefore how they set courses. In Slovakia at WOC last year they had lots of pastures, shown as yellow on the maps (which you can ride on) and they use them liberally. So you get check points in the yellow and not necessarily on the tracks. This makes a very interesting change in thinking. Generally most of the areas in Europe are smaller than we have (and probably slower riding overall) and they use 1:15,000, or even 1:10,000. MTBO courses are often set much more like foot-o courses, with more check points than we usually use. It’s also much more common to use short legs often to make people think faster and break up the course which is a good thing because it makes the rider change their mental and physical rythym. Another interesting feature in Europe is there are many more tracks which are much less distinct than we have in Australia. In spring the grass grows up and can make some tracks almost invisible. This is part and parcel of MTBO over there and the courses demand that you navigate accurately enough to pick them up. They do not highlight tracks with streamers or the like as we have sometimes in Australia. The points above are all things which MTBO can use to make courses more interesting. MTBO courses should encourage riders to use more than just the track network for navigation. After all it’s MTB-O, not just MTB. For major competitions the standard way of showing tracks and paths is to use 3 symbols, fast, medium and slow although Australia has informally taken the view that we will use a 4th symbols to experiment a bit and because it more fairly and better shows track conditions. When it comes to setting the courses there are a few good rulesof thumb which apply equally to MTBO and foot-O. The golden rule is that a check-point should always be on a feature which is on the map. If it’s not on the piece of paper in your hand then you either have to add the feature to the map or not use it. Each check-point should have a purpose. That purpose is to start a good leg, finish a good leg or avoid a dog-leg. Now for MTBO we allow (and sometimes encourage) dog-legs so the last point is not so important. Check-points can also be used to make people cross at a certain point. Each leg created by two check-points should have some orienteering merit. It may be route choice, it may be navigational difficulty or it may be to set up the next leg (for those occasional times when you get boxed into a corner of the map which hasn’t much to work with). For MTBO the aim is to have route choice for every leg on the course. Each leg should put pressure on the rider (or runner) to keep thinking as much as possible and keep moving as fast as possible. For MTBO it’s also very important to think about the speed at 36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2006
which people can go on a bike. So care must be taken about possible 2-way traffic. It’s not essential to completely avoid it that often limits route choice too much - but having other courses coming up a hill the elites are coming down at 40+ kmh is asking for trouble. When setting courses a really good start is to look for the essence of a map. Detailed maps are great for lots of intense, fine navigation. Maps, or parts of maps, with big relief but not as many tracks are better for long legs with big route choices. So the map and terrain really dictate what sort of course you can set. Legs should vary in length and direction. The more you can change the pace and direction of a rider the better. At the same time a course should flow. It’s more fun if you can keep moving smoothly around the course. Another very important point is the quality of the map. If parts of the map are not accurate then the course-setter either must update the map or avoid these. Courses should always be set to minimise the element of luck as far as possible. Speed of the different riders has to be considered when setting routes. The fitter riders are much faster on rough tracks and single track than the average rider and this can affect route choice quite a bit. The fastest way for Adrian Jackson might not work for the rest of us! Courses should generally run in the same direction, not in opposite directions. Otherwise we create a potential safety issue with two way traffic and more importantly people leaving a checkpoint can give it away to people coming into the check-point. MTBO doesn’t have the same navigational difficulty grading as foot-O. Perhaps the presumption is that courses are all easy, so only the length changes?! It is important to make sure that the short courses are simpler so they are suitable for newcomers and the many now taking their kids around them. Courses for kids, newcomers and older riders should also consider the rougher and steeper terrain before heading off into the wilds. If this sort of terrain must be used then the courses must be appropriately shortened as people will move much slower on rough tracks and up big hills. For MTBO finishes require special mention. A sprinting rider might hit 50 kmh, or more if the finish is downhill. So the finish should always try and finish on an upward grade. Where-ever possible the start and finish areas for MTBO should provide a safe and visible spectacle for all in attendance. A key check that should be made at all stages of course planning is the most important question of all. Will this course be fun to ride? Get familiar with the map and look really hard at how you can get people riding through the nicest and most fun parts of the map. Courses are supposed to be fun!
Long dash track from Slovakia
