Mountain Bike Orienteering Tips

• For your first event don’t worry about your score. Just aim to get back on time go visit the controls you feel like and cherry pick what you think are going to be the most interesting tracks.

• Don’t totally rely on your cycle computer as your navigation tool. Rely on the map and what you can see.

• If you get lost pick one direction and ride that way for 1 min until you find a feature you recognise on the map (having a compass helps with this, I have a tiny one on the strap of my watch)

• Use a map board or make your own
• Don’t stop if you don’t need to
• Use easier sections to read the map

• Try and leave a bail out route on the road if possible (just in case you are going to be late) e.g. on Hollins Cross you can always drop down to the valley floor to get back to Hope quickly

• Make a note of the wind direction, much better to have your return leg with a tailwind if possible.

Finish on time, sit down have some tea and biscuits. Look at your route, discuss your route with someone else also eating tea and biscuits. Go home feeling knackered pick up the map again and watch a magical route instantly jump out at you that would have scored you an extra 1000 points!! Vow never to make the same mistake again.

24 hours later (often the same evening for Dark and White Events) results with full details of everyones route and splits is online. You can now work out exactly where you could have scored more. Was X rider just quicker than me or did he pick a better route, did he take a risk at the end and come in late but still bag some extra points?

Particularly interesting in the Dark and White League as you can compare your splits with out and out cross country racers including Nick Craig and Dan Cook who both take part now and again in the local league.

My Mountain Bike Orienteering /Polaris Highlights

• The Polaris at Malham including the 2 hour night stage. Fast and furious riding in the dark up the Weets and around Mastiles, Malham Tarn, Gorbeck and Stocksdale

• Discovering some little gems of trails particularly in the white peak that I had never ridden before until I started doing the Dark and White Events. (The peak district is my local riding).

• Riding in Yorkshire. Prior to doing Trailquests I had done very little riding in Yorkshire. Now as I’m planning my bikepacking trip along the Pennines this summer I realise just how many trails I have already ridden (has made planning a route much easier)

• Getting back with 1 second to spare, perfect timing!!

• Riding most of Doctors Gate at the weekend during the Polaris (think I was the only person to pick that route out of everyone). From the top to the bottom (Pennine Way Crossroads) to the bridge NE of Mossy Lea Farm in 20mins.

• Getting the control in the West Lakes that was on the beach it was only open for a few hours before the tide came in. The quickest legal way out to connect with the rest of my route was to then wade through a waist deep river.

Top tip for enjoying them – don’t enter them.

Sorry – couldn’t resist 😉

Getting the control in the West Lakes that was on the beach it was only open for a few hours before the tide came in

I did that one. That checkpoint annoyed me. Riding on a wet salty sandy beach wasn’t fun for me!

I thought here we go again at first. 😉

That was my first proper Polaris I had a 12kg backpack on and the beach was nice and flat.

It was the big hills/mountains that killed me. Much better at future events once I trimmed my kit down