Maprides are Mountain Bike Orienteering courses. We have a single MTBO Score course – Beechenhurst 90 – in which you collect as many controls as you can in the permitted 90 minutes. Controls numbered 1-10 are worth 10 points , and controls 11-20 are worth 20 points. You lose 10 points for every minute or part minute over the permitted 90 minutes. This course was set up as a trial course, but remains active, and is fun to ride if you are looking for an introduction to mountain bike orienteering. It keeps to fairly flat terrain around the Cycle Centre and Beechenhurst areas of the forest.
Alongside Beechenhurst 90, we have three ‘Tour de Foret’ MTBO scatter courses, meaning that there is no time limit, but you have to visit a given number of controls, with the leader being the fastest to do so. For the Grande version of the course, you must visit all 30 controls on the course; for the Petite version, you must visit any 15 of the 30 controls. Controls can be visited in any order
The Tour de Foret courses are Start Anywhere courses, meaning that you can start and finish at any control, not just the designated Start/Finish. You must, however, finish at the one you from which you started. The course maps show a number of possible parking spots which have nearby controls suitable as start/finish controls. If you are riding the Grande course, you must visit the designated start/finish as one of the 30. If riding the Petite course, you need not, as long as you visit 15 controls in addition to the one at which you start and finish. The TdeF maps are custom drawn to show only permissible cycle routes, plus vastly simplified vegetation (trees, or no trees!), buildings and relief.
As with normal MapRuns, you need to download the MapRun app. You can download a map of the course from the Maprides Courses page. If you dont have an MTBO map board you can improvise by cable tying a board of about A4 size to your handlebars, or just carry the map in your pocket and practise your map memory!
If you haven’t used MapRun before, go to the Getting-Started page to find out how it all works.
SAFETY
You are responsible for your own safety when riding maprides. These courses are provided solely for your enjoyment; there is no event insurance or governing body oversight of them. It’s solely up to you to ride them at your own risk. Be courteous to other users of the tracks and paths you ride, and do not be tempted to ride unauthorised paths; many many mountain bikers do so, and are turning the forest into nothing more than a mountain bike park, but you are trusted only to ride those tracks and larger paths on which bikes are permitted.
