Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 65 total)
  • Are you put off MTB orienteering by the name?
  • Done quite a few and enjoy them but somehow cant bring my self to call them Trailquests when talking about them

    GW
    Free Member

    No, by the fact they aren’t even vaguely fun.

    nicko74
    Full Member

    Personally no – I’m put off by being dragged round orienteering events the length and breadth of the country from the age of about 3 to 18.
    Phew, it feels good to get that off my chest – for so many years it was such a stigma, I just couldn’t tell anyone….

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    cp
    Full Member

    not at all – been ages since I did one, and I’ve got one on sunday 🙂

    druidh
    Free Member

    See, it seems like it’s the sort of event I would enjoy. I’ve been map-reading and finding my way around the hills since I was a boy. I’ve done the old micro-navigation thing. Hell, I’d even consider fitting a map-board to the XC hardtail. Thing is, any time I’ve seen one of these events, the participants look downright miserable.

    pistonbroke
    Free Member

    They’re not called Trailquests any more. It’s BMBO or British Mountain Bike Orienteering, trips off the tongue doesn’t it?
    We struggled for years being a great sport with a crap name, my theory fwiw is that no-one would brag about doing a Trailquest on a Monday morning at work as it sounded one step removed from Morris Dancing.

    Whtas up with plain MTBO?

    superfli
    Free Member

    I love doing them! mix it with a bit of running and maybe kayaking and its a top day out 🙂 You dont have to the fastest (although it helps) careful planning and good nav gets you right up the leaderboard 🙂

    uplink
    Free Member

    I did the Open5 series last Winter & it was great fun

    I’ll be back again next month

    breakneckspeed
    Free Member

    Its not the name that puts me off it’s the whole ridding fast while map reading thing that puts me off

    TheBrick
    Free Member

    I like the sound of them has anyone got a link to some good information please.

    DaveyBoyWonder
    Free Member

    Normal orienteering is fun. In theory doing it on a bike should be too but I can’t imagine it is somehow…

    pistonbroke
    Free Member

    http://www.bmbo.org.uk There you go.

    ross980
    Free Member

    yeah, what DBW said. I like mtb and don’t like running. However I really enjoy (running) orienteering but don’t find mtbo anywhere near as much fun. Go figure.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    How do you read a map on a bike whilst riding? I’d rather do it on a horse – they can drive themselves whilst you faff around with a compass and 1:25,000!

    alanbill99
    Full Member

    They’re a fantastic way of exploring loads of new trails in new areas. I’ve discovered so much all over the UK over the last 10 years doing these so much so that we now organise weekends to explore the areas again already knowing lots of good ‘loops’.

    Lets not get confused here – there’s MTBO (technical micro nav with set course and no time limit) and then there Trailquests (typically 2-4hr time limits, 1:50,000 map, no micro nav, no compass).

    ross980
    Free Member

    you don’t really need to map read that often in mtbo (unlike running orienteering).

    pistonbroke
    Free Member

    Reading a map whilst riding is not that hard if you have a map board and a good memory so that you remember the next few turns on the smoother bits. The tricky bit is working out a route that maximises your score and not coming back late and losing all your points.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    the tricky bit is working out a route that maximises your score and not coming back late and losing all your points.

    This sounds like the ‘go sees’ episodes on ANTM, which admittedly tend to be amongst the best of the series… Are there fierce marshals too?

    amodicumofgnar
    Full Member

    Its all now MBO though isnt it – I prefer trailquest to MBO Score for a name even if trailquest does have a little bit of a morris image. Problem with too many bearded marin riders in the past. If its the name that puts people off there’s always trailbreak’s navigators. Dark and White’s website still saying places available for sunday at Chapel en le Frith (Peak District). Could always just call them mini ride things.

    offthebrakes
    Free Member

    Trailbreak have stopped doing Navigators due to lack of numbers 🙁

    Gorrick are doing some extra Trailtraxes next year though 🙂

    As for image – who cares what anyone else thinks!

    DaveGr
    Free Member

    I’ve heard a lot of Trailquest riders are called Graham…..

    boxelder
    Full Member

    Why would anyone be put off by the name? People are put off by the fact that being fit and map literate both give a huge advantage, so if you’re only good at one or the other, you’ll not do so well. In many areas it’s a dying sport. I rode the final round of the national series last sunday and there were under 5 riders in the Male <40 cat. First and second were Vet >40 (both on rigid big wheels) and third was Supervet >50.
    I like them – takes you on trails you wouldn’t normally ride and makes you ride hard for 3+ hours.
    Great little winter series here in the Lakes – sunday mornings, then pints and food in a pub. Mail for details

    nickc
    Full Member

    Because the kind of people that compete in them have map boards fixed to their bikes. This is more or less enough for me to shun them.

    boxelder
    Full Member

    Because the kind of people that compete in them have map boards fixed to their bikes

    How very dare they………….

    Yet sticking a couple of hundred £’s worth of sat nav to your car windscreen is looked upon with favour…..?

    Keep believing that trailquest types have beards and can’t ride ‘proper’ trails for toffee.

    nickc
    Full Member

    yep, I will, thanks.

    IanMunro
    Free Member

    You’re not a real mountainbiker till you own a map board.

    Garry_Lager
    Full Member

    I think trailquests are great tbh – love them. Only really do a couple a year that are local to to the Scottish borders. I think knowing the trails must give you a huge advantage – I’ve done pretty well at them and I’m of average w/e warrior fitness. There’s no ‘map reading’ as such when you know the area, it’s all about route selection – which can be real puzzle to work out. I guess if you’re riding unfamiliar trails then you’ll need to start map reading more seriously.

    It’s basically a good way of doing something competitive for 3 hrs if you don’t have the fitness to race properly. The ones near me don’t seem to attract really strong riders – they’ll be a few but most are just normal mtb types. You also see quite a few runners who are doing it from the orienteering world – probably the source of the ‘trailquesters don’t know what they’re doing’ meme. Some of them are pretty clueless on the bike tbf.

    Retrodirect
    Free Member

    … call it a cyclocross alleycat. Job done

    People will think you’re REALLY goddamn cool

    TooTall
    Free Member

    More and more people want to go out and not think at all about navigating. Either through following arrows at a trail centre or following a pre-set trail in a GPS they have downloaded. You see it weekly on here where people want downloads or someone else to lead them.

    We will get to the stage in a few years where the majority of mountain bikers won’t be able to navigate properly and will have only ridden full sus bikes.

    nickc
    Full Member

    Most mountain bikers ride full sues and can’t read a map now. It’s not really a massive issue.

    bassspine
    Free Member

    trailquest sounds like some kind of dungeons and dragons game…

    boxelder
    Full Member

    Green eggs ‘n ham

    allthepies
    Free Member

    Beard/Marin/Ron Hill Tracksters/Miserable

    The essential ingredients for said activity.

    IA
    Full Member

    Trailquests and MBO are different events, no? (having done both). Trailquests tend to be longer, MBOs are shorter.

    MBO on a tandem is ace fun. Hardly need to slow down, as the fella on the back can do the map reading so long as they keep the pedals turning!

    catbert
    Free Member

    Started doing them a couple of years ago, along with RatRace, Open5 and Ace Races. For those who don’t like maps combined with bikes, or are the ‘I just love to zap around <insert favourite trail centre>’, then they are probably not for you.

    However, for the less opinionated, these kind of events – especially local to you – sometimes give you a reason to ride a particular bit of track that you’ve either not seen, or had no reason to ride before. I’ve been introduced to a whole slew of trails that I wouldn’t have quickly found and my local trail network has grown considerably.

    Some might say that I could have done this myself or by asking locals, but for a speedy way to get to know an area, these are brill.

    For the record – I’m not that fit, or that good with a map – if I do well, it’s more out of luck or other’s misfortune or more recently, by racing as a pair with a good navigator – learn from your mates…

    Should be enough room in the world for all kinds of MTB – those that ride up in a van to downhill, trail centre jocks, xc jey boys, mtbo beardies and even those that don’t fit into any one category – widen your MTB outlook and give one of these races a go….

    grtdkad
    Full Member

    MTQ

    There’s a few of us doing MidlandTrailQuestGraham’s event in a couple of weeks time in the Wyre Forest

    Has he not mentioned it?

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    The name doesn’t put me off. It’s basically what I’ve been doing around the peaks for more years than I care to remember. What puts me off is coming across some of the people taking part. I know It’s human nature for the knobs to stand out but some of the ones we’ve come across in the peaks don’t seem to realise that their little event is actually happening in a public place rather than a closed course. I’m sure some of the people involved are lovely though.

    amodicumofgnar
    Full Member

    That’s a people thing, not even a mountain biker thing. Although it can be funny when you get the full on a mission treatment from some one who ends up finishing behind you. Anyone wanting to be knobbled or go knobbling in the peak could do worse than the next dark and white trail quest, this sunday at carsington water. Should be on commision really.

    MTBO is not quite the same as trailquesting.

    I’ve never done an MTBO, but as I understand it, you have to visit all the controls in the correct order, so everyone follows the same route and the winner is the one who does it fastest. Have I got that right ?

    Trailquests are more a test of route planning than navigation.
    You are given a map with up to 36 control points marked on it, plus a sheet with a detailed description of the location.
    You then have three hours to visit as many as possible.
    The values of the CPs varies, so it’s up to you to pick a route that includes as many high value ones as you can.
    The CP marker boards and punches may be hidden in the hedge to avoid tampering, but there will normally be a bit of red & white marker tape tied to a tree nearby.
    As long as you can read a map well enough to find and identify features such as “Bridleway/Footpath Junction sign post” or “Bridge handrail” you should be able to ride straight to the CP.

    There’s an MTQ event next Sunday near Evesham, then the one I’m organising in and around the Wyre Forest on 5th December.
    I’m currently 2nd in the MTQ Autumn league. It’s the best 5 scores from 8 rounds count though and there’s a few of fast guys who have only done 3 rounds, so I’m expecting to get knocked down a couple of places by the end.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 65 total)

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