Reading a paper map while riding a bike can be difficult and possibly dangerous. But hundreds of riders are doing just that in Canberra for the Australian Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships. Competitors from around the country and the world are spending the weekend navigating their way around the capital's Intricate trails.
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00:00Hiding in the bush, in a maze of mountain bike trails, lies an array of orienteering
00:08controls waiting to be discovered.
00:10It's a treasure hunt, you have to find as much treasure as possible, and that's how
00:14you win, right?
00:16The Australian Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships were held in Canberra this year,
00:21and it's a growing sport, with entrants competing at the event from around the world.
00:24Jo Sheriff came from New Zealand's South Island, along with more than 40 countrymen
00:29and women to take on Canberra's trails.
00:32You have this map with a number of control points drawn on it.
00:36You don't see the map before you start, and you pick up the map, you've got the position
00:41of the start on it, and you race around between a number of control points as quickly as you
00:46can.
00:47And it's not necessarily the fittest rider that will be first past the post.
00:52Mountain bike orienteering is so cool and exciting because it's not clear who wins.
00:57You can easily beat someone who may beat you in a normal run or normal ride, but you
01:01can beat them with your wits.
01:03So it's planning the best course, you know, using the contours and being smart about it.
01:09With differing categories and age ranges, the relatively new sport provides an opportunity
01:13for newcomers and veterans alike to test their map reading skills on familiar or unfamiliar
01:20trails.
01:21Part of the mountain bike orienteering thrill is that you can be lost.
01:26If you're not lost, you feel like a champion, you feel like a hero.
01:30So it's much better to know where you are and ride slowly in the right direction than
01:35ride hell for leather in the wrong direction.
01:37Taking multitasking to the next level.