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Done quite a few and enjoy them but somehow cant bring my self to call them Trailquests when talking about them
No, by the fact they aren't even vaguely fun.
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....
not at all - been ages since I did one, and I've got one on sunday 🙂
See, it [i]seems[/i] 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.
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?
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 🙂
I did the [url= http://www.openadventure.com/open5/index.htm ]Open5 series[/url] last Winter & it was great fun
I'll be back again next month
Its not the name that puts me off it’s the whole ridding fast while map reading thing that puts me off
I like the sound of them has anyone got a link to some good information please.
Normal orienteering is fun. In theory doing it on a bike should be too but I can't imagine it is somehow...
www.bmbo.org.uk There you go.
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.
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!
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 [i]MTBO[/i] (technical micro nav with set course and no time limit) and then there [i]Trailquests[/i] (typically 2-4hr time limits, 1:50,000 map, no micro nav, no compass).
you don't really need to map read that often in mtbo (unlike running orienteering).
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.
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?
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.
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!
I've heard a lot of Trailquest riders are called Graham.....
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
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.
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.
yep, I will, thanks.
You're not a real mountainbiker till you own a map board.
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.
... call it a cyclocross alleycat. Job done
People will think you're REALLY goddamn cool
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.
Most mountain bikers ride full sues and can't read a map now. It's not really a massive issue.
trailquest sounds like some kind of dungeons and dragons game...
Green eggs 'n ham
Beard/Marin/Ron Hill Tracksters/Miserable
The essential ingredients for said activity.
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!
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....
[url= http://www.midlandtrailquests.co.uk/events-and-results/event-details.php?e=120 ]MTQ[/url]
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?
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.
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.
We are Mud and Sweat, and we regularly run Mountain Bike Orienteering or 'Trailquest' style events. These work in a score format - whereby participants (either solo's, pairs or families) are given a map with a number of checkpoints on, all worth differing scores, and then have a set time limit in order to visit as many checkoints as possible in order to maximise their score. The advantage of this style of event is that participants can choose their own route, taking into account whether they want to ride technical singletrack, or stick to wide forest tracks, they can choose the distance they want to ride - and it's not only physical fitness that will help participants to succeed - but good map reading, planning and strategy!
We have had a mixed response in terms of numbers entering our events - with many events barely covering the cost of putting on such events. We have often wondered whether the word 'orienteering' or the image people associate with this sport is putting people off, or whether just the navigation is a deterrent in itself. We endeavour to make our events fun, professional and inclusive for all, and utilise SportIdent electronic timing to add to the experience - but numbers are still low.
In an attempt to boost numbers at our events, we are now going to run in parallel with our orienteering events, traditional timed lap races - where participants ride a number of laps around a set cross-country course (no navigation required) in the fastest time possible - we are calling this our Trail Blazer events. To make them a little different to other events like this - we are running them like a rally, in that as we are using the electronic timing system participants can attempt their laps at any point during the day, and are not necessarily racing head to head against other competitors, although their times will be compared!
We are hoping that running this will enable us to sustain both types of event.
Our next event (both orienteering and trail blazer) is The Turkey Burner and will be taking place on the 2nd January 2011, at Woodbury Common in East Devon.
For more information about this event, or any future events - please check out our website www.mudandsweat.com or join our facebook group.
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!
Sounds like a double dose of misery - tandems [b]and[/b] mapreading.
How about OrientBeering? Does that sound more interesting?
A can of beer at each checkpoint. 🙂
They're not called Trailquests any more. It's BMBO or British Mountain Bike Orienteering, trips off the tongue doesn't it?
then should MidlandTrailquestsGraham now be referred to as MidlandBMBOGraham or MidlandBritishMountainBikeOrienteeringGraham
or can we still call him OP or MTG? 👿
Used to race them regularly with the wife - met some lovely people, some properly fast riders and ate a lot of cake and tea after 5 hours of riding. What's not too like? Even won a few prizes, used to be brilliant ones from Trailbreak - still use a set of USE Atom carbon risers from one, and a his'n'hers Kona long sleeve tops, Kryptonite locks etc....