Not all MTBO participants begin progress to mountain biking after foot orienteering. Here are two very passionate riders who enjoyed plenty of adventure navigation and rogaine events, before they discovered MTBO. Now they are hooked! 

1. You live in the South Canterbury and are members of PAPO, but where did your journey into MTBO start?
Sally: I completed several Cyclic Saga rogaines in Akaroa Peninsula before I had any idea what that word meant but loved the idea of chasing a map to a secret destination. This led on to joining in masses of foot rogaines that we came across, and being Christchurch residents we joined PAPO.
Deb: We both like maps and mountain biking. Neither of us have ever been runners so Foot-O wasn’t as apealing although we did a couple when we joined PAPO to get better skills for MTBO. In 2009 we flew up to Rotorua for our first MTBO National event, assembling our bikes at the airport to ride to the events and first met MTBO gurus Rob Garden and Marquita Gelderman.
 
2. What would your key advice be for someone starting MTBO after foot orienteering?
We think it’s fair to say that most MTBO people had previously been into Foot-O, but not us!  However you can do it with some O training along the way.  The main criteria is to be a confident rider with a good bike before striking out with the map. Next you need a good map board to be able to ride and read the map at the same time.  Also you may need good bi-focal glasses – as the majority of MTBO competitors in NZ are old enough to need specs!!
Sally: The best MTBO competitors are very good riders. In Deb’s case in particular, she is not such a good map orienteer but has good technical MTB skills so can usually ride any tracks well.

3. What skills and experiences are good to have before lining-up for the Trans-tasman challenge events?
Most places you will have never ridden before, so you need to get your ‘head’ into the map distance and topography, and especially what’s rideable and what’s not as some rules vary between NZ and Aus and some different colours are used. You don’t know how the track symbols are going to compare to ride-ability until you get into the race, ie how hard it will be to ride a dotted vs dashed line track, before you plan each segment.

4. How many years have you competed in the Trans-Tasman MTBO challenges? And what was Competing in Australian MTBO like last year – especially compared to previous years ?
Deb:  I had to dig out my challenge t-shirt to check the year – 2012 is the earliest in Jan at Central Otago, followed the same year by Taree NSW, my first trip organised by Rob Garden, and I have been in the team every challenge since. 
Sally: ACT 2024 was a return to the city but new map areas. Sprint was in a unique area – a driver training circuit that had mostly open riding land, so the foot-O nav was beneficial.  Middle was very short in a complex urban forest and local knowledge was a significant advantage. The Mass Start was long, a test with cold rain and attacking magpies near the start line.  The Long distance had been billed as being really hard technical tracks that would stretch us – but the reality for W60 was not that bad at all, but I made some poor choices thinking the tracks would be unrideable. Overall the Challenge was well planned and, like every event in the past, was set to challenge us in different ways!
 
5. How do you prepare for MTB orienteering? Give us a rundown on the bike prep, training and anything else required before hand 
Our preparation is always well intended but inevitably life gets in the way of training plans!  Where we live in Fairlie there’s no handy single tracks for practice so we ride locally such as Lake Opuha lake shore and 10km into town from home. Nearest good trails are in Lake Tekapo and A2O segments, or Wānaka is not too far for fun riding single tracks.

We have lightweight carbon hardtail bikes so we can pack all our stuff into a soft bike bag plus carry-on for our helmet and map board. We do have hard cases for better bike protection but they weigh a lot and are a nuisance when you’re at the destination for storage/packing into a vehicle.  We don’t adjust the tyre pressure for travel. Tubeless is a good idea, in particular some parts of Aussie (eg Alice Springs) has nasty spiky plants.

On the subject of map boards – we use a magnetic board with 1 or 2 magnets to keep track of actual position. Many classes now seem to be using A3 maps and you can get that size board now.

6. What do you think is the biggest challenge for MTBO in NZ today?
Lack of events is the biggest challenge so it’s hard to get the skills and keep it. We really appreciate all the volunteer effort that goes into the maps and organising each event on offer. Having NZ local knowledge and riding the same areas makes it a lot harder when you go to new areas.

7. What’s your personal MTBO or orienteering claim to fame?
Deb: Our combined proudest moment was coming ‘out of the blue’ as new PAPO members to get a 7th placing in the W50 for World Rogaine Champs held in Cheviot in 2010 with a huge field of veteran competitors.  We had no idea we’d signed up for a 24 hour event, having only ever done 6-9 hours before, but were determined not to retreat to the Hash House and, inspite of rain and Sally’s head-light failing after 10 mins, we pushed on all night – to our own amazement.  We beat the likes of PAPO regulars:  Val Rogers and Penny Wright,  Katherine Mueller and Jane Forsyth, Andrew McGowan and Trevor Merrifield, Conal Boland-Bristow and Jonathan Werkmeister, plus Ian Edmond and Nora Audra!
Sally: Deb’s personal best achievement was a 3rd placing at World Masters in Europe 2017. We had car camped our way around events in Czech, Austria and France.  

8. What has been your most memorable foot or MTBO event? Why?
Our most memorable MTBO event was the Australian Nationals in Alice Springs. Set in a desert, a track never gets washed away or overgrown. The terrain was so different to anything we’d ever experienced – in particular the bizarre sensation of Stan’s sealant liquid squirting out onto your leg because of the Three Corner Jack plant that’s notorious for multiple punctures. Tubeless tyres are a must-have there.  

9. If you could leave a legacy or some advice for future MTBO racers, what do you think would help get MTBO underway. Also, what advice would you give to beginners?
We find it hard to understand why more people don’t love the sport or want to give it a try. It ticks so many boxes – outdoor, scenic, fitness, brain-teasing, social, travel, fringe sport. We’re always trying to encourage others to give it a go but have had little success.  Beginner ‘give-it-a-go’ events are a great idea, especially if they can borrow a map board is a big advantage to enjoy the ride. It also appears to be a good sport for families – it’s rare to be able to go in the same competition of your kids/parents.

Multisport competitors are a good potential future for MTBO. For example, the skills we acquired doing MTBO have helped us in the 10 Spring Challenge events we’ve completed over the years – a mixture of 12, 11, 9 and 6 hour events all over the South Island. In spite of having zero running ability, our biking with a map board was a big advantage and the nav skills from MTBO were invaluable for not always following the crowd in that style of event. Perhaps there’s a way to tap into these people to cross over from multi to MTBO.

10. What is the next event you are planning / training for,?
In April 2025 we’re heading back to Europe to a series of World Masters MTBO events in Spain, Lithuania, Sweden, Austria and Czech. Now that we’re retired it’s a great opportunity to travel for a longer period and enjoy the sights along the way between events.