Wheel isn't accurate either and certainly not on an xc course. There is no hope of the wheel not bouncing and spinning in the air slightly (and frequently). That all adds up. Even hand wheeling a paved course takes some real diligence and concentration and will not typically yield the true distance in one go.
That is why good course measurement is done by calibrated bike. The weight of the equipment and rider keeps the wheel in firm contact with the surface under measurement, vastly reducing the up and down motion you mention, which is a real problem. The speed is kept low to allow for the rider to focus on maintaining a constant line along the SPR of the course. All grass and deform-able surfaces, such as grass, will have to be steel taped. And the measurement is repeated several times. And the equipment is calibrated that day for temperature as well.
It will never be perfect, it will certainly be very close.
Thank you for reading the USATF road measurement manual. No one is doing this for XC.
Thank you for reading the USATF road measurement manual. No one is doing this for XC.
You are welcome. Unfortunately, it still applies as much now as the first time I saw 2 decades ago.
But hey, be all problems, and no solutions. Cool. I mean that is the problem, no one has taken the time to think about, test, delineate and work through good course measurements for XC. And that is a big problem.
Since your handle indicates you are a coach, you tell us how this should be done. We will wait.
It's smooth grass, turf, and concrete. It can be easily wheeled (and was) without much bounce variation.
I have measured my share of road courses using the procedures. It would be difficult to replicate on varied terrain. First problem would be calibration of the wheels on a similar surface and if it's a mixture of different surfaces then how to calibrate the bike wheel? If someone wanted to get really crazy then they can use a steel tape, I believe that's what RunningLane does.
The day before RunningLane nationals, a high school coach wheeled the notoriously fast John Hunt Park course in Huntsville and measured it at 4935m. But that doesn't tell the whole story. *MB Is the RunningLane Course 5K? Or...
