MBO - Your first Event Guide

Once you have found an event that you'd like to try on the event calendar, the easiest way to enter is to complete the entry on line before the event. This ensures that the organiser has your details when you arrive and can plan to have enough maps for all riders.

Before you go to the online entry option, you will need to either join BMBO as a member for the year or register as a Day Rider. Both of these options are easily done on line. Go to the Membership tab to complete this step which then enables you to enter the event on line.

Now go to the event on the calendar section and select "Enter". All you have to do then is select Member/Member Under 21 or Day Rider and you are ready to plan your event day!

The details of the event on the calendar link will give you details of the event centre location and the times at which you can sign on and also start your ride.

 

Personal preparation

The MBO national season runs throgh the winter to late October. You should therefore be able to ride in potentially difficult conditions virtually non stop for a period of up to 5 hours. Events are typically 3 hours long. Self reliance is essential for the solo rider and having the right clothing is essential.

Age is unimportant. Some of the most successful MBO riders are vets (40+) or supervets (50+).

The conditions that competitors are likely to experience during a season of MBO include muddy horse churned bridle paths, sandy tracks, forest trails, rooty single-track, ploughed fields (farmers not respecting RoW's), tarmac, snow, rain, heat, dust (even in the UK), searing climbs and white knuckle descents. You will also find easy fire trails, swooping downhills and plain tarmac sections.

You should have a good knowledge of the average speeds that you can expect to maintain over a variety of ground conditions. This requires a depth of off-road cycling experience which can only be gained from many hours of riding over differing terrain. The proficient MBO competitor knows her/his own abilities. S/He is able to gauge from the course map the potential demands of various route options and is able to relate the two in order to decide a viable route.As your ride route can evolve during the event you can always adjust your plans as you become more experienced during events to ride within the time limit.

You will need to be proficient at map reading at least to a basic level to start with and over time this skill will improve the more you ride.

MBO events are up to five hours long with some competitors covering up to 100 km in that time. MBOs are self evidently endurance events where general fitness, and in particular cardio-vascular endurance, is a crucial element. Most leading MBO competitors develop a specific training regime in order to maintain their performance at the highest levels. This document will not attempt to address the subject of sport fitness but the aspiring competitor would do well to consider this dimension of MBO sooner rather than later.

It is always considered unsporting to ride within an event area on the day before the event. This is when the event organisers will be putting out control points and there may be potential for the pre-rider to gain an advantage.

Teams ideally do some training together in order that they are able to get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses.

There is no better way to gain this experience than by riding events but not putting yourself under any pressure.

Bike preparation

A competition bike doesn't have to be state-of-the-art. Weight is an important factor in an endurance event and most MBO competitors are conscious of this fact. You will see all grades of bike on an MBO event, but a flashy bike won't ensure a win.

Ideally your bike should be well maintained and prepared so that it is less likely to let you down.

Your bike must be legal and roadworthy.

Good tyres and tubes are essential. Knowledge of the suitability of different tyres for different conditions is an advantage. For events in all but the muddiest of conditions semi-slick or light knobbly tyres are fine.

All cables should move freely and be in sound condition.

The drive train, the brake mechanisms, the gear changers and mechs should be well lubed.

Crank bolts and headset should be regularly checked and correctly adjusted.

Wheels and wheel bearings should be in good condition. Make sure you have working brakes and replace pads as and when required.

 

 

Bike equipment preparation

Most leading competitors use some kind of Map Board which keeps the map visible at all times. This is much more convenient than carrying the map stuck into a back pocket or in a pouch slung around the neck. A simple map board can be made using a piece of hardboard or Perspex and fitted to bars/stem using a few 20mm central heating pipe clips. The board may be covered with a clear plastic bag for water resistance. A number of map boards are commercially available on the internet in the UK.

Computer set in km's. Remember the map squares are in km.

Two inner tubes (it's quicker to replace a tube rather than repair a puncture).

Puncture outfit. You may run out of tubes.

A pump and/or a gas cartridge system.

Many riders now use Tubeless tyres wih a solution or use 'Slime' in their tubes. They may save you a puncture and a stop.

Tool kit, which includes tyre levers, a chain tool, a penknife.

Multitool

Some people also take zip ties, a spoke key and a few spare spokes taped to a frame member but, if you have checked and maintained your bike adequately, this is probably overkill.

Crud guards or similar, front and rear. Riding in long events make wet muddy clothing much more uncomfortable.

Water bottles or Camelback.

Personal equipment preparation 

Helmet - compulsory.

Clothing suitable for the time of year and expected weather. Waterproofs are declared essential by some organisers. Competitors can waste a lot of time by having to add or remove clothing. Try to carry only as much as you need and to avoid the need to make stops to adjust your clothing. Most sophisticated (expensive) clothing can be adjusted on the move. They have pit zips, neck zips, side zips, wrist zips and are, perhaps, worth the zip-filled investment.

A whistle - usually attached to your compass (see below).

An accurate and reliable watch (that continues to work and remains un-fogged when wet).

Food. The received wisdom is that the biochemistry of endurance events like MBO requires the competitor to ensure the continual slow release into her/his bloodstream of energy produced by the digestion of carbohydrate-rich foods like fruit and cereal-based 'energy bars' which are nibbled throughout an event. A good tip is to eat a little often.

Sports diets are considered fully in other and more learned publications but the reader is urged to consider the concept of carbohydrate loading prior to an endurance event like a marathon run or an MBO.

Drink - water or energy drink is recommended. The most important principle is to take sufficient fluids for the event and to drink it regularly. Camelbacks are most common for carrying fluids.

Small change to enable you to make a 'phone call in the event of an emergency. A mobile phone is often suggested by organisers.

Simple First Aid Kit. Compulsory and essential.

Carry some ID.

SPORTident dibber. It is worth getting your own if you intend to ride many events. They are now widely used and can pay for themselves quite quickly. http://www.sportident.co.uk/

Survival blanket. The foil ones are packed very small, are light, inexpensive and worth considering. A foil bag is also available and is arguably better than the plain flat blanket. Essential on very long events and anywhere there is the potential for hypothermia in the worst case scenario.

 

Navigation equipment preparation 

The map for the event.

It is important to try to familiarise yourself as soon as possible with the lie of the land in which the event is to be held. Maps without the control locations are always on view before the start to enable you to study the map before you get your event version which shows the control locations. Some organisers might put the plain map area on the event website a few days before the event.

It is undeniable that there is a 'home advantage' if an event is held in an area that you ride regularly and know well. By studying a map of the event area you will minimise the disadvantage of your unfamiliarity. Of course, you won't know where the control points will be sited, or even if the event 'centre' will actually be in the centre of the event area. You will be able to visualise the area and with some experience you will be able to make some pretty good guesses as to where control points might be sited.

A compass and the knowledge to be able to use it is well worth learning. Some competitors never use a compass and rely instead on their innate ability to keep track of their location on the map at all times. 

Some carry two compasses. The little wrist-worn compass is easily consulted without having to stop.

Map measure (could be a piece of string, a Roamer or the graduated scale on the compass) is used by some competitors, especially on the longer events.

Practice map reading and navigation 

Study a map of the area in the days preceding the event. Look at the roads and the legal RoWs. Study the contours and try to envisage the terrain. 

Go out with a map in an area that you are reasonably familiar with and simply chose a location and ride to it using the map. Make yourself go down tracks that you are not familiar with. This can be good fun in pairs or with a friend to challenge each other to get to the next chosen location. Forests are good for practicing this.

Team Tips

Teams should identify, utilise and refine strategies which allow them to maximise the benefits while at the same time minimising the drawbacks of team riding.

The solo rider may feel that teams have a cushy number. Two heads may be better than one, but two people (as opposed to one team) can sometimes take more than twice as long to complete a task as a solo rider. e.g. who will make route decisions. How will you get through gates.

Teams should ride so as to capitalise on each other's strengths. Encourage each other when thegoing gets tough.

At Home

Teams will prepare in much the same way as solo riders (see above) but should remember that they have double the potential for forgetting something or failing to spot a mechanical problem before the event. Where possible, teams should check each other's kit before leaving home.

Team riders are able to share the weight of the tool-kit. They only need one set of the major tools such as chain splitters, tyre levers, multitool, and pump. Each team member retains the same puncture risk as the solo rider so teams should not cut down on the number of tubes or patches carried.

Team members should not let their partner get out of sight on the course (see rules). A lot of time can be wasted if one team member waits for their partner to come around a bend, unaware that they're stuck 100 m back with a puncture and no tyre levers.

One or two maps? 

Take two maps and share the navigation on the course. Do this because:

• There is reduced potential for navigational errors if both are checking.
• Two people can keep a better mental picture of the map, reducing the frequency of stopping for re-checks.