First off, let me say the guys from
Encompass
set up a really fun
day of orienteering. Of all the "classic" orienteering courses I've
ran, I think this one was the toughest all-around and I'm sure they put
a lot of work into setting the course and making it happen. Thanks
guys!
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Some O-purists
might have thought the course was too tough or complained that there
wasn't enough opportunity to run (very dense deadfall and vegetation,
even for December!), but Encompass caveated everything properly and I
had a lot of fun and got a great navigation work out from it. The map
wasn't as accurate as a true classic orienteering map, but -again-
Encompass warned everyone going in and I treated it as part of the
challenge. Click the small map to your right to view a higher resolution version (500K) of
my map for the long course; I didn't draw my routes onto the map so my explanations below will
have to suffice.
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I want to capture my thoughts on the course while it's fresh in my
mind; in the past I've done this personally but never posted one
publicly -- who knows, maybe somebody will get something out of this.
Lets see how it goes . . .
Start to Control 1:
I took the paved road East until it ended
and jumped onto the dirt road that wound South and then Southwest.
Seeing the lake on my right, I left the road and cut South heading
straight for the control. I learned a few things very quickly over the
next several hundred meters, these lessons would prove to be themes for
the day:
1) The map didn't show every detail, there were more re-entrants than the
map indicated (Encompass told us to expect this)
2) Traveling off trail was much slower going than I expected.
There was a lot of downed trees and thick vegetation.
I ran into Mike en route to #1 and he was learning the same lessons
I was. We collaborated and eventually located the control together,
but it took me a good 10 minutes longer than I would have first
estimated.
Control 1 to 2:
I followed the gulley South-Southwest all the way
to the dirt road cutting east-west through the map. I took the road
West a short bit and then cut due south from the Y intersection of the
road with the trail, keeping my eye out for the control on my left as I
made my way (slowly) through some more dense vegetation and deadfall.
I found the control fairly easily, the re-entrant was very prominent
and there was also a team of 4 hanging out near the flag -- I think
they were discussing their route to #3. That's a lesson I could pass
on to others . . . don't linger near the control and debate your route
to the next bag; instead, get some space between yourself and the
control or you risk leading others to the location. Of course, if
you're not competitive about your time it's not a big deal, but in a
"real" race situation it can help the competition!
Control 2 to 3:
By this point I had learned the hard way how
dense the vegetation was all over the map -- not just in the areas
mapped as "dense veg." I opted to cut East from control 2 and rejoin
the dirt trail heading Southeast. When I got to the slight Eastern
curve in the trail, I left the trail heading South and followed the
re-entrant down to the control location. My route here was certainly
circuitous, probably twice the distance as a straight shot, but
traveling briefly on the trail let me be certain about my baring and
helped me avoid some of the deadfall. I think it was the right choice
for me.
Control 3 to 4:
This is another one of those decisions where I
was very conservative and took the trail Northwest to the main dirt
road, and then the dirt road East until it ended. The control was in
the bottom of a pit just a hundred meters from the end of the road -- I
found it easily. This route choice was probably TRIPLE the distance of
a straight shot, but I didn't have to use my compass at all with the
choice I made and I was able to actually run the entire way. I made
fast time, for the first time all day, and it was a good decision based
on the circumstances.
Control 4 to 5:
Here is where I got into some real trouble and it
shows one of my weaknesses as an orienteer. I took off Northwest from
Control 4 and, finding the going relatively clear of vegetation, I
focussed on running and lost track of my exact location on the map. I
misred the color on the small "x" on the map, thinking it was a
"man-made object" such as an abandoned shelter or something -- it was
actually marking a rootstock instead so I was looking for the wrong
feature. I encountered my catching feature, the BIG ravine and swamp
Northwest of the control by 300 meters or so, and realized my error. I
ended up backtracking to control 5 by just following along the ridge
line and noting all the re-entrants. I easily wasted a good 15 minutes
on this one.
Control 5 to 6:
From
5, I made my way South by Southwest, just aiming for the dirt road. I
caught the road and cut West on it for a while until a trail joined it
from the North. This junction was my clue to cut South and reach the
disconnected trail bending to the Southeast. I did find this trail,
but it extends much further than the map indicates and it took me 20
minutes scanning every re-entrant up and down the Southwest facing
valley. It turns out the control wasn't nearly as close to the edge of
the valley as I orginally thought and I found #6 on my way back to the
Southeast heading trail -- I was backtracking and planning my
alternative attack point when I came across the control. Lucky, I
know. Many gave up on #6 and the thought did cross my mind, I must
admit.
At this point I was over 90 minutes into the course and, having
heard an estimated "good" finish time of 150 minutes from Encompass, I
was getting concerned. I had a lot of controls still to get!
Control 6 to 7:
I traveled due West from Control 6 and found the
hillside with #7 on it had many, many small re-entrants although only 1
or 2 were actually on the map. Making matters worse, there were a lot
of downed trees, BIG trees, sprinkled all over the hillside and I was
crawling under or climbing over every minute or two. I admit I
struggled with #7 for several minutes until I decided to regroup and
head for high ground (the pronounced summit of the hillside #7 was
on). I got to the high spot with ease and shot a baring to where the
flag should be. Of course, there was a dense fence of downed trees --
I'm talking about 20 thick tree trunks, standing in my way but once I
squeezed through I found the flag in short order. This is a tactic
I've used time and time again when I'm having trouble with a control:
regroup by finding a known location on the map and attack it from a new
point. It worked well for me this time.
Control 7 to 8:
I struggled North through the vegetation to the
trail and eventually the asphalt road. I ran West down the asphalt
road until I saw the start of the gulley to the North. Then I ventured
into the gulley and picked up Control #8, but not without a little
challenge to pick the correct re-entrant. I think this was another
area where the map neglected to show things as they really were -- but
it wasn't so bad that I couldn't find the flag.
Control 8 to 9:
This was an easy one, I jogged down the stream
bed past two big re-entrants and then up the third one to the control.
This took only a few minutes and I was starting to see that the tough
part of the course was the first half and the second half, the part I
was on now, was going much quicker.
Control 9 to 10:
The vegetation was thick heading South from 9,
but once I got to the asphalt road I picked out the hill that 10 was on
and ran straight to it. This control was hanging high, too, which was
a nice surprise since the bags had been placed low and tough up until
this point.
Control 10 to 11:
I headed due East from 10 and nabbed 11 in only
a few minutes. The trees weren't quite so dense through here so the
going was quicker.
Control 11 to 12:
I followed the streambed Northeast and counted
the re-entrants until the valley narrowed significantly. The narrow
area was my clue to head North up the ridge and, sure enough, the flag
was right there. By this point, I was really "into" the map and
guaging my pace, the contours, and the terrain really effectively. Too
bad it took until the last few controls, huh? I haven't been on a
"real" o-course for 6 months or more, though, so I shouldn't be too
hard on myself.
Control 12 to 13:
This was a quick jog North across the road and
then down the hill to the control. I punched it quickly and then
headed straight to the finish as quickly as I could. Shawn, from
Encompass, was hiding in the woods taking pictures and I stuck my
tongue out at him as I went by.
My final time was 2 hours, 35 minutes (if I remember correctly).
When they said 150 minutes (2 hours 30 minutes) was a "good" time, I
set that number as my goal and I was happy to get within a few minutes
of it. Now, orienteer-extraordinaire Scott Pleban did the same course
in 1 hour less than me -- which shows I have a ton of room for
improvement. By the sound of it, however, a lot of people struggled so
much with the first half of the course that they didn't attempt to
finish it. It was a tough course with lots of decisions and many ways
to make errors . . . I made more than my fair share of errors,
probably 40 minutes too long just on #5 and #6, but I recovered from
the mishaps. I was particularly happy with my route choices for the
day: even though my routes weren't all that aggressive, they were
effective and that is what matters on a course like this one where you
can loose 30 minutes bashing through downed trees and vegetation. I
was also encouraged by how I was working with the map near the end;
granted, it took nearly 2 hours for me to get into the groove with the
map, but a groove late is better than no groove at all! I suspect
great orienteers establish that "groove" with a map nearly right off
the bat.
Again, thanks to Encompass for making the event possible! Let's see some more O in Hampton Roads!