MTBO America

Juniors and Beginners are the future of the sport of MTBO.

To expand the sport of Mountain Bike Orienteering, every race director should include beginner courses in each of their MTBO events. Nicknamed “Brownie Events” by Australian MTBO racers, serious riders are known to get “brownie points” by bringing beginner riders to their events.

The concept behind the brownie event is similar to the White courses held during Foot Orienteering meets with junior- or beginner-level courses consisting of an un-timed loop-course of 1- to 1.5-miles, and timed loop-course of 2- to 3-miles. During an event these beginner course are designed to reduce the chance of new riders getting lost, allowing riders come back to the start/finish within a short amount of time, and to allow beginners to have positive experiences to build from.

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The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) is the final authority on all MTBO competition rules.

New Competition Rules for 2010 MTBO Events

The IOF Council has approved new Competition Rules for IOF Mountain Bike Orienteering Events effect 1 January 2010 and replace the July 2008 version. These rules cover the World MTB Orienteering Championships, World Cup, Junior World MTB Orienteering Championships, World Masters MTB Orienteering Championships, Regional MTB Orienteering Championships, and IOF World Ranking Events in MTB Orienteering.

MTBOA shows you what’s changed and why you should (or should not) care!
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Mountain Bike Orienteering (MTBO) in the U.S. consists mostly of Ultra-Long Distance races.

Mountain Bike Orienteering (MTBO) race formats consist of Competitive, Alternative, and Experimental. In this weeks MTBO America article, we’ll cover the finer points of Alternative race formats.

Alternative Race Formats
Alternative race formats (or sometimes referred to as Alternative Distances) are racing styles specifically marketed to attract more mountain bike orienteers (MTBO) to competitive events. These formats include (but are not limited to) Relay, X-Short, and Ultra-Long distances, and serve make MTBO events more interesting to spectators and future competitors alike.

The following is a brief description for each of the standard types of Alternative Distance race formats:

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Mountain Bike Orienteering (MTBO) can consist of several styles of events.

Mountain Bike Orienteering (MTBO) race formats consist of Competitive, Alternative, and Experimental. In this weeks MTBO America article, we’ll cover the finer points of Competitive race formats .

Competitive Race Formats
Competitive race formats (or sometimes referred to as Competitive Distances) are the standard for most mountain bike orienteering (MTBO) races. Divided into short, medium, and long distances, these formats serve as the baseline for the majority of organized MTBO events held throughout Europe and Australia. Additionally, these race formats are the standard offerings presented at all national and international championship MTBO races.

Competitive Distance races are traditionally designed as “specific order” orienteering events in which competitors must visit every control in a sequential order (e.g. 1, 2, 3). Missing a control or visiting a control out of order usually results in a time or ranking penalty.

The following is a brief description for each of the standard types of Competitive Distance race formats:

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