Race Evaluation
QOC: Pohick Bay: Blue
Nadim
| 1. | +04:27 | I used the trails to get to the field and originally thought to attack off of the field. As I approached I thought to be safer and quicker so I stayed on the road a few more meters and left it off the second car pullout. I came down the steep slope but I suppose I angled too much, I was looking to my right but I never saw the control or a spur. I passed it, descended a second spur and hit the Blue trail before turning back. My backtrack was too low, I eventually came close to the field and came in from there. My GPS track shows that I lost 4:27. | |||||
| 2. | +00:04 | I hesitated briefly, then used trails around to the left. Along the way, an orienteer still in her first year flagged me and looked somewhat lost. I signed to her that I was racing and went on by it looks like my slowdown, cost me from being fastest on the leg by 2 seconds. | |||||
| 3. | I ran down the reentrant, the climbed up to use trails. The trails (shown on my GPS track in Route Gadget) were in need of updating. One had been planted with trees; the park service looks like it wants to close it. The final descent to the control was longer than expected. I hesitated at the end, not able to see it but just 20m away. | ||||||
| 4. | I ran straight but got a little high as I crossed the road. I corrected going around the bottom of the large spur then ran along that spur somewhat until I reached the green area. I plowed through it but didn't see the control on the first ditch that I hit. I looked left and right, then saw other orienteers descending. I went on a bit more and found a more defined ditch that I then descended a bit to the control. I got to it just before Fedor Iskhakove did who had started about 6:30 before me. | ||||||
| 5. | +00:40 | I decided to stay low and run along the river to #5. The initial trail was nice but once I got past the first big spur, the nice white mapped woods turned out to be more like light green and rough to run on. I was careful to stay above the private property, then came off a driveway just above it. I was on a good line but got distracted by orienteers to my right who were punching a control. My GPS track (modified on Route Gadget) shows that the reentrant they were in was mapped much closer to the road than it actually is. I saw a control and though I didn't think it to be mine, I went to check it out. Time lost is based on my GPS track. | |||||
| 6. | +07:30 | I ran directly to the circle for #6 but once there I knew something was amis. Even two FUMA kids who were there were confused why there was no control on the correct spur. I hunted low and then high, left, then right before taking another look low. I found the control on a trail in a reentrant. I punched and started to run away (WinSplits reflects my first punch) but I decided to come back and fix the control location. With wet knots to undo, altogether, I lost 7:30 minutes on this easy leg. | |||||
| 7. | I corrected my WinSplits time for this leg based on my GPS track. The WinSplits time shows my first punch at control #6, not my second after resetting that control. Running up the steep trail and across the parking lot, I attacked and punched but had to go around the green at the end. Based on my GPS track, I had the 2nd fastest split. | ||||||
| 8. | Fedor was approaching #7 as I got back to the road and I was starting to realize how much time I'd lost at #6. I ran past the boat lot, along the reentrant, and into the control. | ||||||
| 9. | +00:54 | I crossed the main reentrant, the up a side reentrant. It was mapped white but the right (north side was actually green). Crossing the flat area a bit to the right, I descended into the next reentrant system and noted my joining to the larger reentrant while I plowed down. In retrospect, I was thinking I had descend more than I had on the way down but once I got to the control location, A shallow but broad spur just above a reentrant junction, I knew something was wrong again. I looked uphill and soon found the control on a higher and more narrow spur. Time lost is based on my GPS track. | |||||
| 10. | +08:15 | Leaving #9, I had looked at the leg and thought all I needed to do was to go down to the reentrant juction and turn left. However since I was actually much higher than where #9 was mapped, when I followed my plan, I got into the wrong major reentrant. I probably should have known this by checking my compass but I my overconfidence and confusion with the incorrectly placed #9 didn't let that happen. Both the reentrant that I ran up and the one that I should have run up were green but mapped white. In green areas I don't look at my compass as much and my past experience with the reentrant that I should have come up was that it was green but mapped white too. This history reenforced my willingness to believe that I was moving along the right direction. Eventually, I turned up a reentrant and didn't find another reentrant that I was looking for. I did find another FUMA kid who eventually asked me if I was hunting for #102 (my second control). I didn't take that clue as to where I was until I'd backtracked through thick green for a way and found more flat ground. Correcting, I passed #102 and used trails to get close. Even the trails were wrong (a new switchback was missing) but I realized it and found the control. | |||||
| 11. | I ran on trails that I'd used earlier to get to #3. Attacking from the intersection near the building, I was forced left a bit by the green. I cleared the green and ran along a reentrant edge not seeing the control. Cutting right, I eventually saw it in a flat area, not a spur as the control description had it. | ||||||
| 12. | +00:45 | Leaving #11, I could see that the attack to #11 would have been easier had I come in from that direction--it was more white instead of green as mapped. I passed the building and eventually got on a road that descended. The bends of the road didn't seem to match the map well so I got off the road early planning to aim off. Above me, I saw Francis Hogel and this made me think I was too low. In fact, I was at the right height. Francis looked like he was having trouble too but maybe not. I continued but hesitated a bit further. The first spur I saw looked too big so I studied the map wondering if I'd passed it earlier where I'd seen Francis. Another more careful look revealed the orange of the control to me so I went down to check it out. | |||||
| 13. | Leaving #12, I was kind of mad. I ran up the ridge, got on the trail and wondered more at the trail mapping (my GPS track on Route Gadget was corrected a bit but still shows the map distortions). I just ran a rough compass and relocated on trails after crossing the next ridge. I eventually attacked off the field. The map shows much more of a spur than is there, especially at the field edge. | ||||||
| 14. | +02:00 | Still flustered, I ran out of #13 fast, and crossed the reentrant that I should have climbed. This mistake is all mine. I hit the power line, still in the forest. My GPS track on Route Gadget incorrectly shows me passing in front of the ranger houses; I ran along the back side, and descended back into the reentrant quickly. The reentrant had some nasty unmapped thorns; not so great for a finish sprint. | |||||
| F. | I ran fast once I got to the road and saw Fedor ahead of me. He is much older and I was frustrated that he was ahead of me again. He must have been quite a good orienteer when he was younger. I chased him down so that I at least finished ahead of him--I'd caught him at #4. |
Total Time Lost - 00:24:35