Race Evaluation
Mt. Penn - Pagoda: Red
peggyd
| 1. | Went west a bit on the trail because straight looked thick. Down the reentrant, nasty stuff in the bottom; finally told myself I had to turn left and get out of the reentrant. I had drifted too far right and hit the ridge well below the control. Looked uphill and saw the control. | ||||||
| 2. | Angled across the hill, hitting the trail just NW of #4. Michael Eglinski was heading off to #5, on what looked like a distinct trail. Not seeing a trail on the map, I was momentarily confused, but was reassured when I came to the powerline. Went straight at the trail junction up to the control. Nadim, who started 4 min before me, was coming back to the control at the same time. He said something to me, which sounded like "blah blah blah Peggy" so I said "uh-huh." | ||||||
| 3. | Led Nadim to #3. He was kind enough to let me punch first. | ||||||
| 4. | Left the control just north of west; hit the trail and decided -- even though it had been rocky and a bit slow going to #2 -- to take it to 4. Seems pretty far out of the way in retrospect. I was second guessing myself a bit on the leg, so I took a deer trail down the powerline. When I got close to the control, I saw Nadim retying his shoe right by the control. | ||||||
| 5. | I left the control about the same time Nadim did, me a bit ahead. I took the trail/ditch to the uphill trail on the line. Nadim went over to the powerline. Slow slog up and slow green rocky stuff at the top. Took the trail & the indistinct trail right to the control. Nadim was 30 sec ahead of me going to #6. | ||||||
| 6. | Misread map and went to the north of the spur & had to go all the way around the cliff(s). | ||||||
| 7. | I heard someone behind me as I crossed into the crappy reentrant I had struggled through at the start; I eventually turned and was a bit surprised to see Nadim again. Up the slope and along to the control. | ||||||
| 8. | Nadim went more straight while I stayed high a bit longer. Through the ferns & onto the trail; Nadim fell just as he approached it. Two other guys were nearby & ascertained he was okay. He stopped at the trail to think; I was thinking, use your best skills -- take the trail. He did that. Then he stopped again a short while later. Daniel Schaublin came up behind me on the trail & we all cut off, Nadim in front, then me, then Daniel. | ||||||
| 9. | Daniel & Nadim stayed low while went just left of the line, hitting the small trail halfway just before it junctions with the road. I got there just before the guys & led them through the woods to the little trail around the bit of detail just east of the control. After we hit the big trail to the east, Nadim passed me and ran very confidently to something that looked a bit like a charcoal terrace (not mapped). We followed and when there was no control there, we all just stopped. Then we headed uphill & fanned out a bit. It finally hit me that we were way too high and I headed back down. The control was tucked in a tiny depression just south of our original location. The guys were still uphill & searching. I snuck off. | ||||||
| 10. | Contoured, as it turned out, hitting a trail junction and thinking it was the one just left of the line. When I headed up it I was surprised to see the 90 degree turn on the trail north of the control. Went past the stony ground, then past the big boulders, then things seemed odd -- trails that didn't seem to match up. Came across a control that wasn't ours. As I left it, Daniel came in to the same location. We then headed uphill and somehow came across the right boulder. | ||||||
| 11. | I left the control first but Daniel got ahead on the trail. At the trail split he headed right, while I went straight/left. Here came Nadim; I asked him if he'd found #10 & he said he was looking for #11. Over the ridge, turned right, saw Daniel and then Nadim punching in. | ||||||
| 12. | Not a good route down the hill -- scary! Daniel came screaming behind me; Nadim had a good route & beat us both there. The guys got a good 20+ seconds on me in my cautiousness. | ||||||
| 13. | Straight, keeping the guys in view. | ||||||
| 14. | Ditto. I was surprised I caught up to them at the control. | ||||||
| 15. | Angling up the hill to the trail; not surprisingly Daniel and Nadim got ahead of me. Took the steep straight trail down just to the first turn, then the indistinct angled trail, which was quite obvious, & onto the bigger angled trail. I saw Nadim at the big bend pausing to check his map. By the time I got to #15, Daniel and Nadim were once again just ahead of me. Fun leg, but my quads were sore for days from the downhill pounding! | ||||||
| 16. | Ack, back up hill. As the guys headed up to the big clearing, I slogged around the smaller clearing below and came to steps. Took those up to the clearing, then the big trail to the next clearing. I saw Daniel ahead climbing the hill at the corner of the clearing. I did the same, slipping a bit on the mud. | ||||||
| 17. | Saw Nadim and Daniel up ahead. Daniel was slowing to read his map, but Nadim was going straight to the control. | ||||||
| 18. | I kind of wanted to climb to stay on the trails & hit the control from above, but in the end I contoured along the hill, hitting the trail just below 18 just after the big junction (with the dot knoll). Saw the Green Y women go to a control in a reentrant; then I saw a control up ahead and I sped up. I saw Daniel coming down the hill & I was pleased I was ahead of him, but soon I realized the control I saw wasn't ours & I had to climb a couple contours to get to the ditch end. Ack. | ||||||
| 19. | Downhill as fast as I could once I was out of the leafy ditch. Pushed through the marshy stuff. | ||||||
| F. | I could see Nadim and Daniel, already finished. Not surprised they pulled away from me at the end, with all the fast running, but I still managed to beat Nadim (I'm savoring these wins because they're not going to last much longer!). Fun course, neat terrain. |
Total Time Lost - 00:00:00