Another navigation strategy is selecting attack points. These are fairly obvious features/locations that you can travel to quickly and without a careful following of your compass bearing. This is the best strategy if the checkpoint isn’t on or near a large, distinct, easily identifiable feature. When you reach the attack point, you then establish an … Read More

The use of handrails is another navigation strategy that allows teams to move more quickly and with greater accuracy and confidence toward a checkpoint or transition area. Handrails are features that you can follow easily (like a handrail on a staircase). Examples include shorelines, trails, roads, fences, streams, ditches, ridge lines, power lines, edges of … Read More

Navigation Lesson #6 Aiming off is another navigation strategy you can employ. Aiming off means deliberately aiming to one side of a feature on or near to confidently predict which side it will appear on. For example, if you aim right at a bend on a stream, but don’t see it when you hit the … Read More

Navigation Lesson #8: Micro-Navigation Route Choice. Route choice is establishing a planned flow for the race at both a macro-navigation level (major movements between transition areas) and a micro-navigation level (moving between two checkpoints or tying together a series of checkpoints usually on foot). Route choice is done both in pre-race planning and adjusted on … Read More

Navigation Lesson #9: Macro-Navigation Route Choice The last lesson was about micro-navigation, generally on-foot navigation between two checkpoints relatively close to each other. This lesson is on macro-navigation, or selecting routes over longer distances usually connecting a series of roads and trails via bike (but sometimes long trekking or paddling legs) rather than off-trail trekking. … Read More