okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering
Monday, September 01, 2003
Mountain bikers and GPS
On behalf of orienteers, I want to thank mountain bikers for building and mapping trails.
When I started orienteering (1980) there were few trails around Lawrence and Kansas City. As mountain biking has become more and more popular, mountain bike trails are becoming more common. They make great places to run.
Mountain bikers also seem to be among those who make the most of GPS for mapping. I don't think GPS is much help for an orienteering mapper, but I'm sure it helps mountain bikers who probably wouldn't have the patience or skills to map the trails carefully. Check out a couple of the local mountain bike club maps:
Landahl Park (where Possum Trot also has an orienteering map).
Truman Sports Complex (you can see the KC Chiefs football stadium just on the edge of the map).
Today I spent an hour exploring mountain biking trails at Smithville Lake. The trails were in great shape. This is going to be a good place for running this winter.
Smithville might make a decent place for orienteering. Well, "decent" is relative. It won't be the kind of place that people will remember fondly (I probably couldn't get someone from Wyoming out there). But, it is typical for the terrain around Kansas City. Perhaps the best thing about the area is that we can call the map "Paradise" -- it is just a mile or so from the town of Paradise, Missouri.
posted by Michael |
6:53 PM
