Location

Upper Star Posts.  GR SU885662 nr Bracknell. Entrance is only available to vehicles travelling North on the A322 dual carriageway. Cars travelling South need to go to the roundabout at Swinley Bottom (junction of the A322 and A332) GR SU904650 and return northwards towards Bracknell. Take care entering and exiting the event as this a very fast road.

When exiting the area you MUST turn left onto the dual carriageway and travel northwards. Be very careful joining the dual carriageway as the traffic is very fast. Traffic wanting to go South  must travel North  to the roundabout approximately 200m from the entrance and then return around the roundabout.

Parking and Assembly

Parking is on forest rides and forest roads. There is a £1.50 Car Parking charge per car levied by the Crown Estate for this type of event. This will be collected at the car park entrance

Assembly is within the parking area.

Terrain

Upper Star Posts, part of the Crown Estate Swinley Forest, contains a variety of woodland and terrain with a good path network.

Maps

The map has been updated in 2009. Please note there are no map legends on any map. Copies of loose legends will be available at enquiries

The forest is popular with mountain bikers and as such there are a lot of tracks that have been created by the bikers. The major ones have been added to the map but not all the minor ones, or new ones, are on the map. You may come across Hides on the ground. These are not authorised and are not permanent. There are no Hides on the map.

UPDATE   30/1/10 Star Posts is sometimes used as a film set. 

FILMING

Preparations for filming have started in the last week, although neither work nor filming is being done today.

Competitors on many courses will pass close to the Film Set. The location is shown on the blank maps at the start.

During the last week, the Film Set has been enclosed by a fence. Within the film set, many trees have been felled and scaffolding and film buildings are now being erected.

NEITHER THE FENCE NOR THESE LATE CHANGES ARE ON THE MAPS.

Competitors on MANY courses, including YELLOW, ORANGE and LONG ORANGE, may find a ride through the south west edge of the film set to be on their chosen route. This new fence will be open at the ride so that competitors can use the ride and pass through the set.

The WHITE Course does NOT go close to the film set.

Competitors on SHORT BROWN should also note the new path (with tracking) to the north of the Film Set.

In addition, vehicle tracking has been laid on rides and roads throughout the forest to improve access to the Film Set.

All courses are printed on waterproof paper. Black to Short Blue and Long Orange courses use an A3 1:10000 map. All other courses have an A4. 1:10000 map. Control descriptions will be printed on the map. White, Yellow, Orange and Long Orange will have text descriptions.  All other courses will have IOF descriptions.

Loose control descriptions on waterproof paper will be available from registration.

Courses

All courses use the same start and finish. Course closing time is 14:30.

Start is approx 500m from registration mostly along a gravelled road. The finish is also about 500m from download. The start and finish are not far from each other – there will not be a clothing dump.

Safety

Star Posts is a large area. The map does not cover the whole area, so it is possible, but unlikely, to run off the map. The competition area is on the northern part of Star Posts. The car parking and assembly is in the North East corner.

Registration

On the day registration will open between 9.30 until 12.00. For EOD you will be given a registration slip at the Car Park entrance. Please complete prior to going to registration.

There is EOD for all Regional Event Courses subject to availability of overprinted maps. Cost for the Regional Event Course is £14 for Seniors (£12 BOF members) and £4 Juniors and Students. EMIT hire £1, Free for Juniors.

Wayfarer Courses (White and Long Orange) are EOD only.  Cost is £8 for Seniors (£6 BOF members) and  £3 for Juniors and Students.  EMIT hire £1 seniors, juniors free

Starts

Allocated start times are on the www.Fabian4.co.uk website.

We are adopting a block starting procedure.  The Fabian site allows a choice of  5 blocks. For this event the time ranges below will be used. Your start time on the Fabian web-site will be the block start time.  

Very Early : 10:00 to 10:14

Early : 10:15 to 10:44

Middle : This has been split into 2 blocks  - 10:45 to 11:14 and 11:15 to 11:44

Late : 11:45 to 12:09

Very Late : 12:10 to 12:30

Please come along within your allocated time block and queue up to go.

Electronic Punching

The event is using EMIT electronic punching. If you have pre-booked an EMIT card then you need to pick this up from Registration prior to going to the Start. There will be no spare cards at the Start. A demonstration control will be available outside the enquiries tent.

It is the competitor’s responsibility to ensure that their card has been correctly activated at the Start and that they obtain a correct punch at controls, including a backup pin mark on the yellow backup card, by placing their card flat onto the control bed. All controls have a light on them which flashes when a card is registered. There will be no reinstatement without evidence of punching on the backup card.

Finish

You must punch at the Finish control, then follow a taped route to Download.

You MUST report to Download even if you retire. Course closing time is 2:30

You will be registered as having started so to avoid an unnecessary search for a missing person, please ensure that you visit Download even if you retire from your course. 

Feedback

RouteGadget will be available via the event website, and competitors on all courses are encouraged to use this to help provide feedback on course design

Facilities

Toilets, First Aid, Squash, Ultrasport and Caterers

Dogs

Well behaved dogs and owners are allowed

String Course

A free string course will be available close to the parking and assembly area

Cancellation

In the event of severe weather, information as to whether or not the event will go ahead will be placed on the BKO website www.bko.org.uk

Officials

Controller :        Tim Pugh - GO

Planner :           John Owens  – BKO

Organiser :        Eric Harper – BKO  eric.harper@ntlworld.com

Course

Map Size

Length (km)

Climb (m)

Controls

Equivalent Age Class

Black

A3

10.8

265

21

M21

Brown

A3

9.3

230

20

M35, M40

Short Brown              

A3

7.4

155

16

M18, M20, M45, M50, W21, M21S

Blue

A3

5.8

135

13

M16, M55, M60, W35, W40, M35S, M40S,

Short Blue

A3

5.1

125

14

M65, W20, W18, W45, W50, M45S,

M50S, W21S,

Green

A4

4.3

140

11

M70,W16,W55, W60, M55S,

M60S,W35S,W40S

Short Green

A4

3.6

100

13

M75, W65, W70, W75, M65S, M70S,

W45S, W50S, W55S,W60S,

Light Green

A4

3.3

80

9

M14, W14

Long Orange

A3

5.4

105

16

None (Wayfarers, EOD only)

Orange 

A4

3.2

80

10

M12, W12

Yellow

A4

2.3

60

9

M10, W10

White

A4

1.4

30

9

None (Wayfarers, EOD only)