can any body advise me on similiar events taking place in germany or europe.thanks

There's a similar event in eastern Europe, what's it called Jon?
And where did the french event sink to?

Try
http://www.bike-adventure.cz/index_en.htm

we tried to get one off the ground in Morzine but it fell apart due to typical French bureacracy, trying to get one sorted in the Pyrennees but we really need a man on the ground.
Our German friends Falk and co run a Polaris type event but have no further details
I could organise one in Dubai but you would need to ride camels.
Cloudy today but still 90f!

Bike Adventure in the czech republic

john h

Hi folks,
this is Falk from Germany. Yes, we did it again. Just a fourtnight ago, our 11th Polaris- typish event was held in the Harz-Mountains (appr. 200km sw of Berlin, nearest airports are Hannover and Leipzig).
We started off with 13 people and are now at a level of around 200 teams. We did all races in the same greater area. The main difference is the fact that we only do a one day event with 5 hours only. As there is an increasing number of foreign teams, we opted this year for a good (So do we think!) compromise, as we kept the main event 5hours and organized an additional solo-event on Saturday. This 1hour event was ment for people to try out the different map format (1:20,000 opposed to the regular 1:50,000)and to struggle with the 10 minutes of possible over-time.
As a two-day event would attract a limited number of teams only (unfortunately!!), wet hink that this solo-option is O.K. for teams with riders of different levels. Furthermore, we hope to introduce this map format to a broader group of people, as the aim is to have a similar map for the main race.
Roger of Polaris has been trying to introduce the full Polaris Challenge into Germany, but the main point is similar to the above mentioned in France.
MTBers are looked at as beeing somewhat criminal and destructive only. So the number of 200 teams is about the size THEY are willing to accept...
We used SI for the second time, this year and as there is a full software now, it will be even better.
The next Harz-MTBO is to be held in October next year. But there is not a fixed date, yet.
Any questions?

How hard are camels compared to horses? Being a multi-activity adventure racing type, how about Polaris on horses (to go with the one in canoes/kayaks if that ever happens).

Now there's a good thread hi-jack - sorry Jon.

Chris
to continue this hi-jack.
Camels are scary things, I had a ride on one last week and when you are in the saddle you get a nose bleed cos you are so high and when they kneel down so you can get off it is like being on a roller coaster, not doing it again, but they do have nice eyelashes and are attractive after a few months away from home, sigh

depends what you have at home. i've got jack russels. oops another hijack

Thanks for the info Falk... bizarre that the
country that organises Transalp is less
MTB-friendly than the UK.

It's a shame there seems no
enthusiasm/potential for Euro Polaris.... for the
vast majority of people, Oz, S. Africa and the
USA are off-limits time and ��-wise, but a long
weekend in Germany or France etc would get
great support from UK Polaris riders, I'm sure.
Could even start a euro-league of 3 events
over the year?

Just a thought...

As far as I understand the german authority's view is down to proportional representation.
The german green party regarded mountainbike orienteering as enviromentally unfriendly, ergo such events are very difficult to run in Germany.
What did Gunter Grasse say? 'germans prefer order to justice'
All my german friends say this still holds true, but then they are hardly a representative sample as they all have chosen to live in the UK.
The other rule that I have heard of is that Bicycles are only allowed on tracks 2 metres and wider, is this so everywhere?
As far as I am aware only Germany, within the EEC, takes this view.

Bike Adventure in the Czech Republic is the
same format as Polaris only with 6 and 4 hour
days. Although it costs a few quid to get out
there the event itself is cheap as chips to
enter - �13 including map - and the riding is
fantastic. Check out www.bike-
adventure.cz/index_en.htm The event is only 2
years old but they had, if I remember correctly
about 200 + teams last year.

According to the latest MBR it costs peanuts to get there.

I know, I wrote it.

Yes, we do have some stupid rules concerning MTBing. In fact, there are some counties in Germany, which ask you to not tracks narrower than 3 metres. Our area is situated in "Sachsen-Anhalt", and we have the most liberal forestry-laws. I do not know, if they shot you off your bike, but trying to establish a bigger event in any area with or without those rules will cause big trouble.
Referring to the above mentioned "Transalp Challenge" - they managed to involve the most influential MTB-magazine and adidas and...
The people of "bike"(the magazine) didn`t even care for reports and pics sent to publish the idea of MTBOing. Just this year, they realized that there is such a thing as a German championship, and the WC in France made them write two sentences.
Regarding Bike Adventure: they had appr. 270 teams this year; and they have some very strong riders, too.

Just back from Arizona,now there`s a place for a Polaris....but I`m NOT taking my new Polaris tent cos all sorts of nasties & critters could come in thru those vents!
Rog if you need a man on the ground in the Pyrenees try making contact with Nick Flanagan on [email protected] or via their website www.bikepyrenees.com.Nick might not be the man `cos he`s not a great offroader/navigator but he might point you in the right direction.

jon b, nice to be know as "we at MBR when't
to.." or "MBR"

byline for now

john h

I was talking to an organiser last night and he thinks that in France you are supposed to have individual insurence for riders; and that in practice this is impossible to obtain. Accordingly just about all french offroad events are illegal.
So we might never get a french event.
Before anyone tells me that this can't possibly be: there is good reason to believe that all endurance RACES that use public roads are illegal in the UK. It makes no difference that the police raise no objection [although they do in some counties], if it came to court the event would probably lose.
Apparently the law that allowed the Tour to come to Britain is particularly flaky, and even that requires road closures, something that is simply not being enforced at present.
Time Trials get round this by having a staggered start. Since they were invented the law hasn't significantly changed.
So I vote Graham and Roger mount a campaign to have all other types of events stopped under existing law, thereby neatly getting rid of the opposition.

Falk, Can you email me. I would like to get some of your fellow countrymen to talk to you. They want you and your Polaris/Hartz friends to do the ww.hebrideanchallenge.com with them, but your email didn't seem to work. Many thanks, Gary

Not in Europe but there is an event in the UAE called the Emirates Adventure. It is one of these Charity Events for Gulf for Good and is a 5 day on/off road event. The off road section will be a ride throgh Wadi Bih which rises 1000m throgh the mountains, done it in a 4x4 and it will be a good challenge on a bike, unfortunately I will be in France skiing but my apartment is free if anyone wants a holiday in the sune for a week.
19th-24th February 2003