MTBO Mapping the map standard and the event

MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) László Zentai IOF Map Commission http: //lazarus. elte. hu/mc laszlo. zentai@elte. hu MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

The Event Advisor is necessarily not an experienced MTBO-mapper, but he/she must be capable to judge the map quality. The advisor must be able to make the mapping rules strictly kept to guarantee the fair competition for each runner. Think globally, not locally. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

How MTBO maps are made? (1) Mostly based on existing foot-o maps. It is important • • • to delete unnecessary symbols; to re-classify the path/track network; to remove unnecessary features (invisible from the roads); • to carefully check the path junctions and crossings; • to add special MTBO features (barriers). The geographic accuracy is based on the original foot -o map. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

How MTBO maps are made? (2) If the maps are made especially for the MTBO event (no previous foot-o maps were made), they are probably based on the local topographic maps (photogrammetric plot, air photo etc. ). A random check of accuracy is advisable, but you don’t have to be a cartographer to be able to find potential errors: just walk/run around the terrain with a map and use it as a normal orienteering map. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

ISOM 2000 – the mapping rule What is ISOM today? • Nearly perfect standard for Foot-O (but mostly under continuous improvement for other disciplines). • A reliable basis for a fair competition. • A clear message to organizers on the expected standard. • A clear message to athletes on what to expect in order to prepare for competition. • A rule with wide agreement among competitors and IOF member federations. • In most countries these rules are strictly kept. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

ISOM 2000 – general requirements In the ideal case no competitor should gain an advantage or suffer a disadvantage because of faults in the map. For the mapmaker, the task is knowing which features to map and how to represent them. A continuing involvement in the sport is important for a basic understanding of the requirements for the MTBO map: its content, the need for accuracy, the level of detail and above all the need for legibility. MTBO maps are generally based on previous foot-o maps. This background and the smaller scale normally guarantee the suitable geometric accuracy. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Scale of the MTBO maps 1 The scale for MTBO maps was not clearly defined. ISOM 2000: The scale for MTBO maps range from 1: 10 000 to 1: 30 000. Maps at 1: 10 000 may be produced for the shorter distances while 1: 30 000 is suitable for the long distances. The size of the map sheet must not exceed 300 mm by 300 mm. Independent of scale, maps should be drawn with lines, line screens and symbol sizes as specified for the 1: 15 000 maps. This is especially important since the line widths for tracks and paths present information about the classification. MTBO Rules 2001: 15. 1 Maps, course markings and additional overprinting shall be drawn and printed according to the IOF International Specification for Orienteering Maps. Deviations need approval by the IOF Council. 15. 2 Organisers are encouraged to use maps drawn specifically for MTB-O at a scale of 1: 20. 000. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Scale of the MTBO maps 2 The scale for MTBO maps was not clearly defined. WOC 2004 – Advisor’s Report (Tibor Erdélyi): Similar to the orienteering competitions should be allowed to adjust to the event. That means using a larger scale than 1: 20 000 in a short and the relay race (1: 15 000, or 1: 10 000) is justified. MTBO Rules addition (2004): The winning times were defined – this indirectly affects the map scale: Man Woman Long 90 -110 70 -90 Middle 50 -60 40 -50 Sprint 20 -30 Relay 50 -60 40 -50 MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Scale of the MTBO maps 3 According to the new competition rules for International Orienteering Federation, Mountain Bike Orienteering events (2004): 15. 2 Organisers are encouraged to use maps drawn specifically for MTB-O at an appropriate scale which will normally be 1: 10 000, 1: 15 000 or 1: 20 000. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Scale issue - statistics Event Scale 2004: Sopron WRE (HUN) Middle: 1: 15 000 - Long: 1: 20 000 2003: World Cup (1 -2, ITA) Normal: 1: 15 000 - Long: 1: 15 000 World Cup (3, POL) Relay: 1: 15 000 - Long: 1: 15 000 World Cup (4 -6, CZE) Long: 1: 15 000 - Short: 1: 15 000 (1: 20 000 for order) World Cup (7, ITA) Relay: 1: 15 000 - Classic: 1: 15 000 2002: WOC (FRA) Prologue, Long, Sprint: 1: 20 000 – Relay: 1: 15 000 2001: World Cup (1 -2, FIN) Middle: 1: 10 000 - Short: 1: 10 000 World Cup (3 -5, AUT) Short, Classic, Relay: 1: 20 000 World Cup (6 -8, HUN) Classic: 1: 20 000 – Relay, Score: 1: 15 000 World Cup (9 -11, FRA) Long: 1: 15 000 - Short: 1: 10 000 MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Scale issue – my advice Scale Long 1: 15 000 – 1: 25 000 Middle 1: 15 000 – 1: 20 000 Sprint 1: 10 000 – 1: 20 000 Relay 1: 15 000 – 1: 25 000 The „best” scales are: 1: 15 000 and 1: 20 000. The dimension of the symbols are the same in every scale. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Scale issue – the danger of too large scale 1 Route choice problem: Remote alternative routes are not recognised with a long leg between two controls. Long leg overview problem: For long legs over 2 km it is hardly possible to keep an overview of more than 25 cm in the map while running. Map size problem: Elite routes up to 25 km long require very large map formats, which can hardly be handled in the competition. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Scale issue – the danger of too large scale 2 Number of controls problem: The general experience is that a course in a larger scale map has significantly more controls than a course of the same length in the same map at smaller scale. The course is thus more a long "Sprint distance" event and route choice as an orienteering technique is often neglected. Wildlife protection problem: With a reasonable map size of up to A 4 it is only possible to represent a relatively small area. Such an area is generally too small to permit the designation of adequate wildlife protection areas. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Contour interval 5 m is perfect at every scale. On flat terrains the use of smaller contour intervals may be considered: e. g. 2 m. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Printing techniques 1 Colour copiers, printers and other digital printing equipment are not yet suitable for printing orienteering maps for high level competitions in foot-o. It is very difficult to achieve the line quality, legibility and colour appearance of traditional spot colour printed maps using this kind of equipment. It is expected that the continuing development of computer technology will lead to the possibility of using alternative printing methods with quality suitable for large competitions. Most printing devices use a 4 -colour technique (CMYK). For such devices the same colour settings as recommended for 4 colour offset printing may be suitable, but the colour appearance will vary slightly from one device to another and from one paper quality to another. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Printing techniques 2 Colour printers: • Inkjet printers (dominant on the home market: colour printing, photo quality printing). • Colour laser printers (very fast, but still expensive). • Special colour printers (thermotransfer, wax, dye sublimation): very expensive, but attractive output. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Printing techniques 3 In non-foot-o disciplines the number of participants is much lower than in foot-o. To use of offset printing for producing the maps for these disciplines would be very expensive and uneconomic. The less details of these maps, the thicker line symbols, the smaller number of point symbols give chance for alternative printing techniques. To achieve the suitable printing quality requires good computer knowledge and thorough test of all elements of the reproduction process (paper, software, printer driver, printer, cartridges etc). MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Minor changes in MTBO-map specification (after ISOM 2000) Minor changes accepted in August 2003 and in January 2004 Water and Marsh symbols Black bank lines from symbols 301 Lake, 304 Uncrossable river and 309 Uncrossable marsh were deleted. Water and Marsh symbols For large lakes and wide rivers (301 Lake and 304 Uncrossable river), using 50% blue fill, a 100% blue bank line (0. 25 mm) may be used in place of the black bank line. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Minor changes in MTBO-map specification (after ISOM 2000) Minor changes accepted in August 2003 and in January 2004 Man-made Features Foot-O symbols 510 Visible path junction, 511 Indistinct junction, 513 Crossing point with bridge, 514 Crossing point without bridge were added. Overprinting – Symbol 714 Dangerous objects across tracks or paths. This symbol should be purple, as other overprint symbols on foot-o maps. These must be highly visible on the map and should be overprinted in purple. Crossable barrier as a short dash. Uncrossable barrier or out of bounds a cross or series of crosses. It was agreed that green symbols, as the Australians proposed, would be less visible to riders and could result in collisions. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Minor changes in MTBO-map specification (after ISOM 2000) Minor changes accepted in August 2003 and in January 2004 Man-made Features Definitions for 813 Track: slow riding to delete the words "infrequently used"; and for 815 Track: difficult to ride to delete the words "rarely used ". 813 Track: slow riding A track at least 1. 5 m wide, with ruts, grassy, wet, muddy or sandy. Possibility of rocky surfaces. Pedalling is more difficult, riding is slowed. 815 Track: difficult to ride Track at least 1. 5 m wide, with obstacles such as roots or rocky steps. Many obstacles, stones, rocks, erosion, mud, land slides or sand. Very slow or impossible riding. Could necessitate to carry bike. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

The mapping process and the role of the IOF Event Advisor In the ideal case the Advisor can influence some processes: In connection with the mapping process: • choosing fair terrain (no advantage for local competitors); • instruct the mappers to keep the mapping specifications (international view); • guarantee the map quality (together with the national map controller). MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Future trends MTBO is developing: • new disciplines were introduced (sprint, middle distance), • more and more countries are participating, • yearly WOC is introduced, • more mapping experience, • wider international recognition. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Future trends The mapping specification may change in the future to improve the legibility: • Emphasize the path network: • thicker black lines, • change the colour of other black symbols (grey, purple, other colours). • Change some colours to increase the contrast. • Use less colours and less symbols to emphasize the most important symbols. This improvement will be based on the collaboration of the MTBO and Map Commission taking into account the feedback of competitors. MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary

Thank you for your attention László Zentai IOF Map Commission http: //lazarus. elte. hu/mc laszlo. zentai@elte. hu MTBO Mapping (the map standard and the event advisor) IOF MTB-O Event Advisor’s Clinic May 21, 2004 Sopron, Hungary