Sierra 2000 O-Fest

Mountain Bike-O

Thursday, August 3

Contact: Steve Gregg, event director

Welcome to BAOC's first-ever standalone mountain bike orienteering event. Should you get the feeling during this event that we aren't really sure what we are doing - well, you may be right! I would appreciate any feedback you may have about this event, as it will help improve any mountain bike events we hold in the future.

Map and Terrain

We will be using the same map as Wednesday's Sawmill Flat A-meet, printed at 1:15000 instead of 1:10000. Extra information about the width and rideability of the trails has been added, in accordance with the new IOF mountain bike orienteering map standards. A portion of the map should be available Wednesday evening for your inspection.

Most of the trails on the map are well-maintained by Northstar. Riders on the most advanced course may encounter some poorly maintained or purposely chewed-up trails (outside of the Northstar mountain bike park itself), which will require you to dismount and walk your bike. However, this is a steep area, and unless you are a strong climber and a skilled technical descender, you will no doubt need to dismount and walk your bike in other spots as well.

In general, any trail that runs parallel to the contour lines should be rideable, but watch out for the trails that run perpendicular to the contour lines! Good strategy is to try to minimize the amount of time you spend on these sorts of trails, since even if you can ride them, they will be slower than riding on the contour.

Courses

As you will discover on Wednesday, this is a steep area, with a relatively sparse trail network. So in an attempt to maximize route choice decisions, all the courses will have a score-O format (meaning that although you still need to find all your controls, you can take them in any order). Additionally, there will be no more than 8 controls on any of the courses, which means there will be some long legs and some important route choice decisions to be made. I hope this format will result in a true mountain bike orienteering event, not just a mountain bike race with a few required stops along the way.

There will be three courses offered, as described below. Distance and climb figures are based on my estimation of the optimal routes. The "estimated winning times" are based on my test-ride times. Note that I am a strong climber but a slow, cowardly descender. A skilled rider with ability to ride the technical descents quickly and not stop too long for map reading may well beat these estimated times.

  • Easy. 5 controls, 7 km, 160 m climb, estimated winning time 30-40 minutes. There will be some route choice, but you will be able to stay on wide, smooth fire roads much of the time. Every effort will be made to reduce climb, and you should not need to tackle any highly technical singletrack.

  • Intermediate. 6 controls, 10 km, 290 m climb, estimated winning time 70-80 minutes. Some climbing and descending on steep trails will be required, and you will get into some technical singletrack as well. All the climbs and descents should be relatively short, though (i.e., half a mile or less), and there should not be any lengthy sections which will force you to dismount and walk.

  • Advanced. 8 controls, 14 km, 430 m climb, estimated winning time 90-110 minutes. This course will take you back down to the same elevation as the parking area, so at least one lengthy climb will be required to get you back to the finish at the top of the lift. Some of the key connecting trails may be unrideable and require you to walk your bike over obstacles. You should be an experienced foot orienteer to tackle this course, as being able to read the contour lines and minimize climb will be essential. Recommended for strong riders only.

Start Times

There are no pre-assigned start times. The event schedule is as follows: 
	9:00 am		Northstar bike shop opens to get rental bikes 
			(first come, first served)
	9:30 am		Chairlift to start at top of lift begins running
	10:00am-12:00pm	Starts available
	3:00 pm		Courses close.

Chairlift to the Start

All courses will both start and finish at the top of the Echo Lift, which is at 7,000 feet elevation. Unless you are a strong rider and don't mind a tough warm-up climb, I suggest you take the chairlift to the start ($12 for you and your bike). It's the same lift used for the Sawmill Flat A-meet, and it will save you a 1,300-meter ride with 200 meters of climb. You will need to ride your bike back down to the parking lot afterwards, but there are several relatively easy ways to get there - ask after you finish if you need route-choice advice.

Basic Rules

  1. Helmets are REQUIRED. (If you rent a bike at Northstar, a helmet comes with the rental bike.) Low gears, well-adjusted brakes, a spare inner tube, and a pump are strongly recommended. There will be a water stop on the intermediate and advanced courses, but I strongly recommend you carry water with you as well.

  2. You MUST stay on the trails at all times. All the bags will be hung right on the trails - no attempt will be made to hide them. There will be no control-description sheet provided. Just ride to the center of the circle and the bag will be right there. Punch in the correct square of your card just as in a normal foot-O event. The number on the bag will be the same as the number on the map. That is, when you reach control 1 on the map, the bag should be numbered 1 as well, and you will punch in box 1 on your control card. (The courses share many of the same controls, so the bag itself may say something like "1 (Easy), 2 (Advanced)" when you get there.) It is up to you to figure out how you are going to carry your map and your punch card with you.

  3. Since this is a score-O, you are likely to encounter riders going in the opposite direction. Be careful at all times, but especially when going uphill on a narrow trail. Be prepared to yield the right-of-way to riders going downhill.

  4. Just as in a regular foot-O event, there is a 3-hour time limit. Please be back at the finish after three hours, even if that means you haven't found all the controls.