does any one do it through the likes of http://www.bmbo.org.uk/ or on their own?

I spent the morning walking round roddlesworth woods with my missus and I rather enjoyed it, its a good way of finding new trails and links.

I used to – Trailquest and Polaris events. It made a fun and/or challenging day out on the bikes. Give it a shot if some of the events are near you

Yep I normally do a couple of the Scottish MBO every year, solo or with wife. Always good fun and it’s a good introduction to an area if you’ve never ridden there.

Used to do quite a few over in North Yorkshire (they used to have a regular series). I came from a foot-orienteering background and found it a bit different, but still very tough to get close to the top of the results. It needs some very sharp navigation with a fresh set of legs to do well.

Did loads of Polaris & trailquest events yonks ago. We/I were crap but still loved doing them. (I actually finished 90th overall in the 1999 summer Polaris :-))

Don’t know why I stopped doing them TBH.

Did Trailtrax last year. Was good fun and an opportunity to ride some different areas. We combined them with a weekend camping trip. Good map reading practice too.

+1, great way to see a new area, ride as hard or easy as you like. For added giggles, try it on a tandem.

I’ve done four or five of them, really good way to get to know an area better…

Yes I do them quite often, love the mix of planning before the start, riding hard and navigating and making decisions on the move. Easy to get it wrong, rewarding when you get it right.

I occasionally set a course for Gorrick’s Trailtrax series – enjoy doing that too although it means I don’t get to compete on the day.

Did a few around the Cardiff/Caerphilly area many years back, learnt a few new trails, and found new ways of accessing trails i’d been using for years from places i’d previously thought were miles away. I’d probably do a few for fun if they were local-ish, certainly worth a go.

Yep – used to take them pretty seriously, both on their own and as part of multisport events. But then I like navigating (and am kind of good at it), so have the benefit of being able to beat faster riders than me by spending more time riding in the right direction.

Some chap’s putting on a really good 3hr event at this May’s Keswick Mountain Festival……..apparently. Uses lovely trails around Skiddaw/Whinlatter/Borrowdale sort of area.
Apparently if one were to enter soon, it’s 20% cheaper and he may give you some tips if you’re new to it.
Just saying like.

My brother and I did quite a few of the early Polaris events, still got the T shirts from 1992 and 1993. It’s a great way of seeing areas you wouldn’t normally visit, it builds great resilience and it tests you mentally as well as physically. We managed 17th in Seniors in a winter event in Kielder Forest but that was by good planning and guile rather than speed and fitness – most of the competitors went for two high-value checkpoints on Cheviot and massively underestimated the time required to get there and back in slushy, unrideable snow, then lost all the points in time penalties.

There are plenty of events throughout the year along with a national league for both Score and MTBO events. Have a look at the calendar page for events that may be happening in your area. The NYMBO series will be starting again in North Yorkshire next month and the last of the West Coast (Cumbria) series & Dark and White (Peak District) series take place in March. There are plenty of other leagues with events of different lengths to suit different abilities including Scottish MBO, Midlands MBO, Somerset MBO, Black Mountains MBO. For a short taster of MTBO (the fixed point to point variation of orienteering) there are 3 events at Gisburn Forest towards the end of March.

A couple of links for you:

Calendar of Events

BMBO Facebook Page

You’re quite welcome to ask any questions on the Facebook page, I’ll try and answer as soon as I can, just remember we’re a voluntary organisation! 🙂

Used to ride lots of Trailquests and Polaris events, enjoyed most of them whatever the weather. The 5 hour events were my favorite. There was once loads of long events around the country. Particularly liked the mid-wales events, also Derbyshire and Yorkshire events. Great time they were, even won some (as a vet).

I have to admit I once lost all my points in a Polaris when I was two valleys away with an hour to go and it took 2 hours to get back 😳 Though if I’m allowed to willy wave a little, I also managed 4th overall and won mixed on other Polaris events. Haven’t done one in years, not since before it all got watered down – ironic given the rise of bikepacking that the original bikepacking event no longer works like that. Mind you the last one I did was when they had a fixed camp but also had a night stage, which was a laugh.

Anybody else here do the Yorkshire Dales Polaris where we were getting blown away?

I always love hearing people reminisce about Polaris. I have so many fond memories of that event too; like the sub-zero temps in Galloway Forest.

Returning to the OPs question, while keeping the Polaris theme …

The OMM now run the Polaris events (they took over Polaris a few years ago – it’s now called OMM Bike). They are well set up and run. Turn out is good, but not as big as the old days. They have varied the format from time to time, sometimes running it as a “full Polaris” other times as a “return to HQ” format. I’d say that the course design is better than in the early days of Polaris – There are more check-points and fewer outliers for big points.

This Spring OMM Bike (25-26 April) it’s being run as a “return to HQ” format with long and short course options (basically more or less time). The event HQ will be in Bamford in the Peak District.

OP, if you’ve not done an event like this before the short course would give you a great introduction. It’s also a nice excuse to come and ride in the Peaks 🙂

If ever a thread was started specifically for MidlandsTrailQuestGraham, and he’s nowhere to be seen……………???!!

Still no sign of MidlandsTrailQuestGraham?

Yep, brilliant fun, and great practice for adventure racing. My girlfriend has just set up a series in the south east, in conjunction with our foot orienteering club. 2 hours on a Sunday morning, score format, all events within an hour of central London.

Website here for those that fancy giving it a go:

Mountain Bike Orienteering

Great fun events if you enjoy navigation and riding and are not afraid to use your noggin while blowing out of your ass. Be warned, the top guys at these events are super fit, and take a fair bit of beating. Round here (South Wales) we have a brilliant series running throughout 2015 around the Black Mountains with the first event based in Talybont on Usk at the end of March.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/745589872222234/?fref=nf

The Midlands series are also well worth a go if you are in that part of the world

https://www.facebook.com/groups/midlandsmbo/

The other thing was mtb specific geo caching.

Really enjoy it and tried a few over the past 2 years, but mainly due to lack of speed (fitness), always finish last and get beaten by 60 year old women.

Apart from that, it’s great fun 🙂

Done the North Yorkshire NYMBO series for the last few years. Thoroughly enjoy it even though the height of my competitive ambition is trying not to come last in my age group.

If ever a thread was started specifically for MidlandsTrailQuestGraham, and he’s nowhere to be seen……………???!!

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/why-dont-you-ride-trailquests

I wonder if you could organise a roadie Trailquest? Checkpoints could be at the tops of big hills and up cul-de-sac farm roads.

*strokes chin*

globalti – yes, they’re called lanequests. Checkpoints don’t need to be at tops, just have hills and choice of routes between them. There are summer eve series in N Lakes and around Staveley.
A lot less work as you can set out and clear by car if short on time.

The reason we stopped doing TQ’s was that the events had become too roadie. It was often faster between controls on tarmac!

Not on mine simon
;-/

There’s always going to be some tarmac involved unless you’ve got a massive area of roadless terrain to work with.

Careful placing of checkpoints can limit it though, or at least make it a difficult decision whether to choose the tarmac or the dirt – and forcing people to make difficult decisions is one of the main objectives as a checkpoint-setter!

djtom – hoping to get to your Box Hill event in April! Would have liked to have done the first event but it clashed with something else I’d already entered.

The one’s in Scotland are superb – the land access there really supports the format (plus the riding is great anyhow). Much more variance in route selection, which is brilliant for most, but prob not for the fast guys looking to do well.

Like the one’s down here too, but RoW issues can get a bit restrictive. With some of the 2 hr D&W ones you’re basically on rails with the route choice.