11/29/14 SLOC Turkey O 2015 by Captain Ahab
It has
been awhile since this O meet, but I will try to recall some highlights. Kevin Minton and I made our way to Grafton IL
to Raging Rivers and looked forward to racing in new terrain. The maps were handed out with a clue sheet
that had to be plotted at race start.
You had to choose to run either to an area to plot or run to a
pre-plotted map and copy it over to your map.
Kevin and I were going to use this as training for him to learn how to
plot, but as we ran and sat in the grass to plot Kevin noticed most everyone
was running to copy the pre-plotted map.
Kevin says, “David Frei just ran to the pre-plot.” I jump up and say, “I will teach you later.” We run to the pre-plot and start
copying. I have a red sharpie and the
map is extremely red so I have a hard time plotting. I start on the left hand side of the map and
pay less attention to the far right side of the map thinking I will never make
it that far.
Kevin I
take off for the closest check point in our direction plan. We hit it after crawling through a thicket
and then hit our second (check point 8) after crossing a nasty little creek. We bushwhack to the trail and run to CP#1,
then to CP#14 and somewhere we hit #9 but I never plotted it on my map so I still
don’t know where it is. Kevin was able
to pick it up on his map. 
From here we
back tracked to CP#1 and then we decided to split up and hit CP#12. I decided to bushwhack and Kevin decided to
trail run. What was wild is that I
barely beat him to the CP…within seconds.
I then ran to CP#13 and tried to gain more ground between myself, Kevin,
Mickey and SuperKate. I tried to bushwhack
some so they couldn’t see me and then from CP#13 I trail ran to CP#11. I think I remember this CP was marked wrong
and I ran back some to check my location and ran into Kevin and told him I thought
it was marked wrong. I ran back to the
CP and punched it as Kevin ran to CP#10.
I then ran back to CP#10 and saw Kevin making his way to #11. 
From 10 I wacked to the trail and ran around
this hellacious hill that CP#11 was on top of and watched out of the corner of
my eye to see if Kevin was wacking down that hill.
I also knew Mickey and SuperKate weren’t that
far behind Kevin. Not seeing them I ran
to CP#7 and #2 quickly. Then I lost a
ton of time trying to find CP#3. I bushwhacked
up the creek through the worse thicket I have ever seen and it stopped me dead
in my tracks. I had to back track to the
trail and then run in and out of the woods and creek and back to the trail and
back to the creek until I found the man-made object that had hidden the
CP.
From here we
back tracked to CP#1 and then we decided to split up and hit CP#12. I decided to bushwhack and Kevin decided to
trail run. What was wild is that I
barely beat him to the CP…within seconds.
I then ran to CP#13 and tried to gain more ground between myself, Kevin,
Mickey and SuperKate. I tried to bushwhack
some so they couldn’t see me and then from CP#13 I trail ran to CP#11. I think I remember this CP was marked wrong
and I ran back some to check my location and ran into Kevin and told him I thought
it was marked wrong. I ran back to the
CP and punched it as Kevin ran to CP#10.
I then ran back to CP#10 and saw Kevin making his way to #11. 
From 10 I wacked to the trail and ran around
this hellacious hill that CP#11 was on top of and watched out of the corner of
my eye to see if Kevin was wacking down that hill.
I also knew Mickey and SuperKate weren’t that
far behind Kevin. Not seeing them I ran
to CP#7 and #2 quickly. Then I lost a
ton of time trying to find CP#3. I bushwhacked
up the creek through the worse thicket I have ever seen and it stopped me dead
in my tracks. I had to back track to the
trail and then run in and out of the woods and creek and back to the trail and
back to the creek until I found the man-made object that had hidden the
CP.
I
sensed people coming so I ducked down and waited a second and then bushwhacked
as quickly as I could up the hill to the trail above. 
I picked up CP#5 and then went back and bushwhacked
to CP#33. From here I hit CP#4, then
went to CP#30, which I had marked wrong.
Here I ran into Mickey and SuperKate and we compared maps and I noticed
I had mismarked my map’s right side since I hadn’t planned to make it this
far. I also had decided not to use a map
case and was constantly folding my map and the middle of the map wore off. Looking at it now to remember the race is
even difficult because portions of the map are worn away…lesson learned. From here I am searching for #23 and know I need
to turn back soon if I want to make it back in time before point
deductions. I learned at Cliff Cave to
never lose points again due to time penalties.
So I am searching for 23 and notice Mickey and Kate pass the area where
I think it is. I think they are on to
something and follow them to a CP which is way farther than what I was
thinking. 
To my horror it is CP#27 and I
turn tail and run as fast as I can back towards the finish. I pass CP#25 and am worried I am going to
turn on the wrong trail that would take me way out of my way, so I stop gather
my wits and direction and hit the correct trail. I keep an eye on the time and realize I can
snatch CP#15 on the way back to the finish via a nasty little hill wack. I drop into the parking lot and stupidly stop
to make sure I didn’t miss any nearby CPs.
I don’t see any and I cross the line with 15 minutes to spare. I get beat by a few seconds by someone who
has the same amount of CPs because of that last minute stop. Kevin finishes a few minutes later. We then find out that a racer was hurt and medevac’d
by ambulance. As we stand around
receiving awards I notice that everyone’s butts are covered in mud so much so
that they look like they pooped their pants.
I think I was the only one that didn’t butt slide down a hill that day. I finished at 12:47pm with 18 points. Kevin finished at 12:50 with 15 points. Cliff Cave redemption! This is the best I can remember now that it
is January 12, 2015. Apparently I
snatched another one because my math is not adding up, I think CP24, but my map
is destroyed so I am not sure. - Ahab.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1596367253919809.1073741869.1422175918005611&type=3
I picked up CP#5 and then went back and bushwhacked
to CP#33. From here I hit CP#4, then
went to CP#30, which I had marked wrong.
Here I ran into Mickey and SuperKate and we compared maps and I noticed
I had mismarked my map’s right side since I hadn’t planned to make it this
far. I also had decided not to use a map
case and was constantly folding my map and the middle of the map wore off. Looking at it now to remember the race is
even difficult because portions of the map are worn away…lesson learned. From here I am searching for #23 and know I need
to turn back soon if I want to make it back in time before point
deductions. I learned at Cliff Cave to
never lose points again due to time penalties.
So I am searching for 23 and notice Mickey and Kate pass the area where
I think it is. I think they are on to
something and follow them to a CP which is way farther than what I was
thinking. 
To my horror it is CP#27 and I
turn tail and run as fast as I can back towards the finish. I pass CP#25 and am worried I am going to
turn on the wrong trail that would take me way out of my way, so I stop gather
my wits and direction and hit the correct trail. I keep an eye on the time and realize I can
snatch CP#15 on the way back to the finish via a nasty little hill wack. I drop into the parking lot and stupidly stop
to make sure I didn’t miss any nearby CPs.
I don’t see any and I cross the line with 15 minutes to spare. I get beat by a few seconds by someone who
has the same amount of CPs because of that last minute stop. Kevin finishes a few minutes later. We then find out that a racer was hurt and medevac’d
by ambulance. As we stand around
receiving awards I notice that everyone’s butts are covered in mud so much so
that they look like they pooped their pants.
I think I was the only one that didn’t butt slide down a hill that day. I finished at 12:47pm with 18 points. Kevin finished at 12:50 with 15 points. Cliff Cave redemption! This is the best I can remember now that it
is January 12, 2015. Apparently I
snatched another one because my math is not adding up, I think CP24, but my map
is destroyed so I am not sure. - Ahab.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1596367253919809.1073741869.1422175918005611&type=3
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete