Training Log Archive: PG

Over to the gate, down to the river, and back via Gunn Farm. Such a nice loop, interesting but not too difficult and really pretty. A few puddles and lots of wet leaves so took it a bit careful.

Saw an owl, a barred owl I'm pretty sure. They're rather common, but usually I hear them at night, less often see one flying. This one I scared up when it was right next to me, I mean right next to me, on the ground and just to my side. It flew right up in front of me and landed on a branch just ahead of me (maybe 10 feet?) and maybe 10 feet up in the air. I looked up briefly, still have this image of it perched right there, felt like I could just about reach out and touch it. Put the brakes on and a foot down, looked back behind me and it was already gone. When they fly they are so quiet that you don't hear a thing. Really cool, best look I've ever had at one, even if it was just for an instant.

From the gate, running over to the start of the Power Line Power Climb, then hike up it, then ran back down, via the Robert Frost trail at the end. Light rain, sweating a lot, the usual combination of hard work and slow speed. But the legs mostly survived.

18:02 up the power line. Getting slower and slower. Of course if I trained a little....

Legs are very sore from yesterday, mostly the quads. They had mostly forgotten what running is all about.

Let's see, 26.2 km at 15 min/km is about 6 and a half hours. Yesterday was an hour and a half. So I just have to keep going for an extra 5 hours?

C • 26.2km 3

And here's a fine photo from yesterday at Paugusset -- Ali, Dr. Dan (just got his phD in astronomy this summer), and Gail. I'm pretty sure Dan is all set to open the Far West chapter of WCOC (he's moving from the Twin Cities to Seattle this week).

He also made great progress on his own quest for 2,000 controls, roughly doubling his count is just one day. Awesome.

Had a very fine trip down and back with them, other than the fact that the car was quite unbalanced, the average IQ in the back seat being so much higher than in the front seat. Hmm, but it drove OK. I guess the disparity in age between the front and the back must have just about exactly offset the difference in brain power.

Several excuses not to go out today. Legs were very sore, it was raining, and I had jury duty. But jury duty was a bust (all the cases on today's docket got settled before going to trial, so the jury pool got dismissed after sitting and doing nothing for two hours, and that takes care of jury duty for at least the next 3 years).

And the sore legs, well, that was a reason to go do a little something. And the rain, well, I figured I needed to see what it was like on the mountain bike in the rain.

But trying not to be excessively stupid, headed over to the Montague plains, mostly dead flat, sandy soil, lots of jeep roads criss-crossing the area, plus a hill on the north end. Just sprinkling and low 60s when I started, raining quite steadily by the time I finished, but quite a pleasant outing. And if I had some proper clothing....

Just one fall, while bushwhacking around a fallen tree, no damage done.

And did my best when I got home to clean up the bike, washed it off with the hose and dried it off best as I could. I'm trying.

Event: WCOC Paugussett
 

Score-O at Paugusset, course by Peter Grollman. 90 minutes to see how many I could get.

An interesting day. I decided it was time to do a little running and just see how things felt and see how much running I felt like doing. Expected things to have to deal with -- out of shape for running, plus heels, especially the left one, plus right hip, still a bone bruise there from a crash a few days ago but not too bad. Took several ibuprofen in anticipation....

Outcome:

1. The running. After running bits and pieces on the way to the first few controls I was quite exhausted. But I kept at it the whole way, alternating running and walking, pretty much walking up all the hills and running the rest. Slow, but not as bad as I expected.

2. The heels. Right heel was mostly fine. Left heel was moderately sore. A little worse going uphill. Didn't feel so bad over the last half, but that was because....

3. The hip, not bad to start, got slowly worse, very sore the last 30-40 minutes.

So maybes that is all really good news, since I've believed for the long time that the best way to get rid of an injury is to have something else hurt worse, takes the pressure off the first sore place.

Orienteering skills were OK. Got 31 of 34 controls. One bad control, 52-53, don't know how I made such a mess of it, obvious culprit is the map. :-)

And one other bit of simplemindedness -- At some point I guess I hit the wrong button on the 305 and it was stopped. Noticed it at a control, assumed it had been stopped since the previous control which I figured was about 3 to 4 minutes earlier. So I shot for getting in in about 86 to 87 minutes, which I did. Except it seems the watch was stopped for about 9 minutes, so I was 6:01 late. Oops. Had I know would have skipped 59-57-61 and made it in very close to the 90 minutes.

And all the time I had a watch on my other wrist, but of course I hadn't looked at what time I'd started.

But the results are quite irrelevant. The question was how the body would feel and the result was better than expected. So quite pleased.

So I guess I should reconsider going to the Highlander. Though that's a hard choice, as plan B is what looks to be a very appealing ride in Bar Harbor.

And here's my route. Also went to 41 (the one with no number) while the watch was off.

C • Highlander 1

C • hip etc 6

With Walter and Zoe (his dog). Very mellow ride, even my one crash was very mellow.

C • crash 2

Short ride to South Deerfield and Whately. Was also thinking of a trip up South Sugarloaf, but I wasn't feeling very zippy so that plan bit the dust.

And then just about done, crossing the bridge over the Connecticut, when my rear tire exploded. At least that's what it felt like. On closer inspection there was a little over a half-inch gash in the tire. So that killed plan A (replace the tube on the spot), because I wasn't sure that would last. And plan B (call Gail on my cell phone) was out because I had forgotten to bring the phone.

So I went with plan C, walked over to see Norm at the bike shop. He fixed me up, but needed a new tire and tube. At least it's fixed.

C • That's why you carry duct tape 6

And then home with a swing by the post office to get the mail, except I had forgotten the key.

I would be tempted to say it's just not my day, but it's not all been a loss -- took my car back to the Subaru place as it's been making strange noises since they worked on it a couple of weeks ago. Expected to leave it there and bike home, but they said wait a little so we can at least see what the problem was, and in fact they had it fixed in about 30 minutes, no charge, and I way on my way home.

And we are also on the second and final day of the getting a bunch of insulation added to the house, all part of the MassSave program that gave us, among other things, free fluorescent bulbs for the whole house. We're paying something to get this work done but way less than market price. It will be interesting to see what the heating bill is this winter. So far the electric bill has definitely been less, bill for August when it seemed the air conditioning was running a lot was about 90 bucks. And should be better next summer after this work.

Pocumtuck Ridge, usual running route plus a loop at the north end above Eaglebrook School. No crashes -- my hip is still a little sore from the last one, but getting better -- but couldn't make it up two steeper sections (and just made it up several others). Got off the bike both times without falling, but once was certainly more graceful than the other.

Also did 3 trips up to the top of South Sugarloaf late in the afternoon, but it would be a stretch to call it training since I was driving.... :-)

Playing chauffeur for the ladies, driving them back down, Gail twice after hiking up the steep trail, and Ali and Alex three times after their rollerskiing intervals. I can attest that they were working hard.

And then the highlight, barbecue at Bub's, pigging out in style. Very fine.

--------------------------

I must say it is fun to watch the two of them rollerski, because they are so good. Strong, fluid, what looks to my uneducated eye as really good technique on a stiff climb.

It reminded me of going to watch my niece play soccer, she was goalie for the University of Texas, a top Division 1 program. I saw several games over the years she was playing, always impressed, but never so much as in one game where the other team was counterattacking and there was a defensive lapse and it was just her against the attacker, and at the the time she figured was right my niece just came at the attacking forward, laid herself out sideways, smothered the ball and wiped out the attacker all in a flash. And I was thinking, wow, she really is good.

Same feeling today.

When I was growing up Title 9 hadn't yet been passed and women just didn't have the opportunities. It's a lot better now, though I think still a ways to go.

-------------------------------

Talk at the barbecue about a sprint at Mike's Maze in Sunderland during the week between the US Champs and the CSU/NEOC meet, especially if Cristina and Biggins are in the area. Will have to investigate the possibilities.

C • Mike's Maze 1

Over to the gate and back. Did fine going out, but the hill back up from the gate got the better of me. First physically, just about made it up the first steep part, but foundered on the last bit in the rocks and roots and ended up me going airborne in a slightly different direction than the bike. And landing a bit hard on my right hip, sore but no serious damage done.

And then mentally-- picked myself up, walked up just a little to a flatter place to get on, got going again, the shift levers felt weird, wondered what I'd done, in fact the whole front felt weird. Stopped, looked carefully, hmm, the whole front was rotated 180 degrees. Well, live and learn.

Fixed that, moved on, got up to the last steep pitch, this time I got off before it got to my limit, i.e. when I could still manage to get off without crashing, and trudged up to the top. A little discretion is not a bad thing.

Still put out a good effort on a surprisingly warm afternoon.

First time out on the new (for me) mountain bike. Up to the power line and on the Sugar trail to the bridge and back. Bike seems OK, not quite as smooth over the rocks and roots as I hoped -- maybe I'm just being picky -- I may need to adjust the tire pressure and/or shocks. But going up seemed excellent, didn't try any hard pitches, but it went easily up what I did try.

And it was fun!

Beautiful late afternoon of a perfect fall day, even though I realize it is still summer, at least for one more day.

A trip to Litchfield to get my mom to sign her tax returns. It seems that last week the accountant that prepares them went over to the house to get her signatures, and she refused! Who knows what goes on between her ears....

But she was on good behavior today and signed without objection, also clearly without having any idea what she was signing. And her signature is failing along with the rest of her -- I had to position the pen in the correct place and then she would scrawl a few letters. Quite sad.

Went today because I was already part way there, in Longmeadow in the morning, taking advantage of a chance to play a nice private course (Twin Hills), an outing organized by MGA. Played with two fellows from the eastern part of the state, very pleasant. The odd thing was they had us all playing from the back tees, about 6,700, par 71, and the fairways were soft, not much roll, so felt very long, especially the holes into the wind. But my game was not bad (except for atrocious putting), and I was very pleased to just sneak in under 90. And also very pleased with my behavior. :-)

Glad I took advantage of the opportunity, should do such things more often.

Event: WCOC Sessions Woods--NOD
 

Spent much of the day at Sessions, helping to put on a WCOC local meet. Positive aspects of the day --

1. Got two serious tests of trying to do the course with help from a GPS, though both tests were more along the lines of doing it just with the GPS and little or no O' map, as opposed to what I had assumed might be tried, namely, using the GPS to supplement the map as needed.

First test was by Clint Morse, and here is his report. He had a hand-held GPS, about the size of a landline phone, and he was using it for primary navigation, with just a little looking at the map. He was doing very well where the forest was wide open, quite badly where there were cliffs and thick areas.

But sounded like he quite enjoyed it.

Second test was by Joe Brautigam, and it sounded like he did not really enjoy it, but that had nothing to do with the GPS. Nope, just that he was seriously sick, looked about ready to die, sent messages back to pick him up at the water stop on the far side of the map, was eventually found wandering along a dirt road. He then curled up in a ball for a couple of hours before we revived him, got some fluids into him, determined that he was at least as much together as he usually is at hour 18 of a 24-hour AR, and so cleared him to drive home on his own. Which he actually managed.

Before he croaked and bailed, his method was to load the points on his Forerunner, and also on his phone, using some $3 app he had just bought. Which was fine as long as he had phone service.

And he was giving it the ultimate test, didn't even take a copy of the map. I think he was doing quite well, moving good, until he got in the same cliffy area that gave Clint problems, and there were a couple of controls quite close together and the GPS kept rotating, directing him first to one and then to the other. And the midst of that his stomach hit the emergency button and he bailed.

Will have to analyze the splits to see how he was doing.

2. A very modest turn-out, which could be considered a negative, but then it makes running the event on the day so much easier. And enough did come out to make it worth doing.

3. Help, as at all WCOC meets, from George and Lyn, also from Peter Grollman. Plus help from George and Lyn and Phil in collecting controls, so that all went quickly, plus Gail for picking up the water stop.

4. I spent some time running the e-punch computer. Never done it before but not so complicated, though it was just as good we didn't have a big crowd. Though this also might be a negative since it makes me more liable to being roped into such duty in the future.... :-)

Negative aspects of the day --

Can't really think of any. Very mellow.

The "courses" were done using Western Mass. rules. i put out 30 controls, set four thresholds for doing the results -- find at least 25, or at least 20, or at least 15, or at least 10. Had several who found all 30, a couple who found less than 10. Maybe some found the set-up a little weird, but no one came back complaining. And several claiming to have enjoyed it a lot, especially the fact that if you couldn't find a control it didn't mean you were going to be a DNF, you just moved on to another one.

And it is easier for the course setter for sure. :-)

Results will be here before long. In the meantime they are here.

And the map is here.

Oh, one more thing, controls were picked up, and all the gear sorted and delivered back to its home, and George is taking care of the results, and I was home by late afternoon and everything was all done. Very cool (which seems to be a description of any WCOC operation).

Setting out 11 close-in controls. Beautiful morning.

Picking up a few controls. Surprise, my left heel felt fine, and it's been the worse one and hurt pretty good by the end of yesterday afternoon's outing. Don't know what gives, had to restrain myself from trying some running, didn't want to push it, but was walking very briskly.

Got my new used mountain bike yesterday. Bought it from a fellow in southern California. Walter put it back together for me. It needs a little work, new cables for shifting and checking the alignment of the brakes, so I left it at the local bike shop to do that, but Walter said it was overall in great shape. Still have to get some ordinary pedals.

Looks really nice. No regrets so far.

Been taking a few days off, but decided it was time to get out the door again, which took a bit of effort, but glad I did.

Shutesbury-Wyola loop. Decided to see how much faster Alex goes when she's trying harder. Of course she wasn't with me, but I looked at her ride a few days ago where she did 3 x 10 on the Shutesbury hill, and figured that was a decent effort. So I did 1 x 10 on the same section and I think she would have been about a minute ahead -- I did 1.67 miles, she did 1.8, then 1.75, then 1.74. And if I'd tried to do it a couple more times, I think the margin would have been a minute and a half to two minutes.

So that was interesting. And neither encouraging (because, after all, I was a good bit slower) nor discouraging (because, after all, she is younger and fitter), except for the fact that I had thought about possibly doing 2 x 10, but that thought quickly disappeared. So a little lacking in willpower.

The rest of the ride was pleasant enough, a little chilly actually, had a long-sleeve shirt on.

C • bikes 3

Putting out controls at Sessions, 26 of the 30. Saved the other 4 (and a very short White course) for the morning. Nice reasonably vigorous walk around, but the heels were quite sore by the time I was done. Discouraging.

For those complaining recently about faded controls, but assured that if you can't see them tomorrow, it is your own damn fault. Brand new controls, hung perfectly. :-)

Managed to make it around without getting beaned by any falling acorns. There are a lot of them this year, and they were coming down regularly.

I am setting the courses for a Western Connecticut local meet at Sessions WMA in Burlington, CT, on Sunday.

The courses are a version of "Western Mass. rules," something I tried a long time ago at Mt. Tom, and which has been repeated from time to time. Like a score course, in that you can take controls in any order, but unlike a score course in that there is no time limit and no penalty for being late.

For Sunday there will be 30 controls out, numbered 31-60, and 4 "courses" -- get 10 controls, get 15 controls, get 20 controls, and get 25 controls. You don't have to decide how many you will get before you start; you can decide as you see how things are going. Note that "get them all" is not a course, because I think getting 25, meaning getting the most efficient 25, is more interesting than just getting them all.

Start anytime between 10 am and noon, control pick-up starts at 2 pm. E-punching will be used, maps will be pre-printed with all 30 controls. And some of them are in places none of you have been even if you've been to Sessions a few times (except for Geroge Walker, the mapper, of course).

Directions to Sessions are at the WCOC website.

One of the things I've been curious about is whether a GPS is of any use to an orienteer, and if so, what's the best way to use it. So Sunday offers an opportunity to see what anyone can come up with. Sheets with the coordinates for all controls will be available.

However, you might find it easier to take care of that before you arrive. So here is an Excel spreadsheet with the coordinates in a couple of different formats. And here are the coordinates in order (31-60) in a gpx file. Let me know if you have any problem with this (so I can contact my advisor, Clint Morse, to find out the solution....).

So will anyone try to take advantage of this? Or do we all think GPS is useless?

C • Not useless, just immature 6

Short ride late afternoon, same route Gail did on Saturday when she decided it was time to try some hills. Legs felt mostly OK.

Some of the Western Mass chapter of CSU (Alex leading Ali) was out training hard on a Monday evening. The rest of the chapter was taking the day off.

(Not sure if this works or not. Maybe I ought to learn something about putting video on the web....)

C • works fine downloading and ... 12

Dinner at Ali's featuring pizza of various kinds by Ali, a scrumptious salad by Alex, a chocolate raspberry concoction by Gail, and absolutely no contribution by me....

Even forgot my camera so there is no video record of the gluttony.

Barbecue is planned for next week after repeats up South Sugarloaf, with me in the crucial role of downhill chauffeur, since going 40 mph on rollerskis with a sharp hairpin approaching is not yet in their training plans.

C • CSU - Western Mass Chapter 27

I wasn't planning on going to Pawtuckaway, though I've been there many times and always enjoyed it, even in terrible weather. But since running seems to aggravate my feet, any orienteering would have to be at a walk, and that was less appealing. Plus, there was a century ride right here in the Pioneer Valley on Sunday that I was interested in doing. Plus, some other stuff I needed to get done on the weekend.

But the lure of the Wicked Hard Night O was too hard to resist. Checked with JJ on Friday afternoon, yup, he'd have a map for me. Thanks, JJ!

Got the other stuff done by mid-afternoon -- the somewhat short version is I own some stock in a small company which the CEO has taken private. He offered an unsatisfactorily low price for the stock. Normally in a situation like this you just take it and move on, it was still more than I paid for it. But Nevada, that's where the company is registered, has laws allowing you to dissent in such a situation, but the laws are very specific about what has to be done.

Step one was about 6 weeks ago, getting my broker's company to properly do what needed to be done to register my dissent. Many, many phone calls, it finally got taken care of properly, but not before I was seriously stressed, at one point I remember just pacing back and forth across our living room, just going fucking nuts after yet another phone call didn't get me the answer I wanted to hear (that everything had been done correctly).

Step two was to get my own valuation (appraisal) of the company. Hired a firm, paid them a bunch, got their draft report late Friday, their appraisal is a good bit higher than the price offered (which is good), but I figured it was in my best interest to go through it line by line to check. Finished that up Saturday afternoon (the thing runs 78 pages), now need to get their final version so I can file paperwork demanding a higher price, this needs to be done in the next couple days.

So I also spent some time Saturday afternoon going through things with Gail, instructions on what to do to protect her rights if I croaked at Pawtuckaway.

Finally got off at little after 4 pm. Stressful drive up, the whole time thinking about possible scenarios for step 3 (possible negotiations with the CEO) and step 4 (going to court in Nevada). Got up to Pawtuckaway, such a pleasure to drive into the parking area, see a few old friends, and just wipe all the financial stuff out of my mind and shoot the breeze until it got dark.

The night O' was fun, but it took me a while to get my act together. I think I was dead last part way to #1, I really did walk the whole way. Slowly passed a few people after that, but most of the time until #7 there were other lights around and a sense of urgency. And also a lot of sloppiness.

#2 was OK, knew where I was as needed. #3, most of the last third of the leg I had little idea where I was. But there where other lights around and I kept going, got on the gently sloping hillside left of the point and it was clear that was where I had to be.

#4, mostly in control. To #5, got off my line to the left, but relocated on a tiny form-line knoll oriented N-S (it was the only one in the area like that), then headed due west to the point. To #6, very sloppy, towards the end I was relying on going where people ahead of me (now heading to 7) were coming from. And then to #7, lots of people around, mostly knew where I was, at the end I spotted it off to my right, while others seemed to have gone too far, though I'm not sure.

And then I turned to go north to #8, and I was totally alone. Got there reasonably well, saw Phil and Ernst there (I had punch and moved off about 50 meters, they had not yet punched), and then that was it, all by myself.

And my orienteering got better and better, I'd say for the rest of the course I always knew where I was within 25 meters.

Finished, pleased to be in, 6th place I think because a lot of the 25 starters did only part of the course, still 3 or 4 out including Ernst, a surprise. Chatted a bit, but was getting cold, shirt was soaked with sweat, so I headed back to the car, changed, and then, since I was feeling quite awake, headed home, it was a little after 11, two and a half hour drive ahead of me.

Just missed a skunk that went racing across the road (wouldn't have guessed, they are fast!), other than that no adventures. And spent the whole time thinking about version 2 of Orienteering Superstars, and dreaming up cool events (all inspired by famous orienteers). Just need to find a date in the crowded schedule to do it, and then planning can get serious.

Got home about 1:30 am, still wide awake, so it was 2:30 or 3 before bedtime. Up at 7:30, a quick breakfast, and then off to the start of the bike ride, very convenient, just about 10 miles away.

As for the ride, nothing exceptional, quite fun, I'll add a few details under its entry, the only thing I will say here is that I think for the first time ever I fixed a flat out on the road (i.e. without calling up Gail, having her come fetch me and the bike, and then fixing it at my leisure at home). And I managed, though not without some effort and certainly not quickly, as I don't believe taking 16 minutes to fix a flat is quick. But it I dealt with it, got it fixed, got back on the road, and kept a good positive attitude throughout. And that was a very pleasant surprise.

And now, in the evening, I think I am quite tired. But also quite content. Just another typical weekend for a Medicare beneficiary.... :-)

Connecticut Valley Century, sponsored by the local Rotary Club, with proceeds going to good causes. Net riding time for the 102.8 miles was 6:28:15, time including 3 aid stops, one a little longer than usual because I was procuring a new spare tube, and fixing the flat, was 6:53:44.

Legs felt pretty good, butt pretty good, only bad part was the headwind for the last 40 miles, not strong, 5-10 mph, but as Gail said afterwards, great for character building. Passed a lot of people at one point or another, only got passed by a couple. Much have been a weak field.

Weather was overcast and in the 60s, pleasantly cool, and the rain held off until I was home.

Actually I was home after about 93 miles, or at least at the bottom of the driveway. But I had not the slightest inclination to turn up and call it a day. On the other hand, if it had been pouring rain....

I do seem to be able to keep going for quite a while, both physically and mentally. Just not very fast. Had the same experience in running some years ago.

C • looked for you 3

Wicked Hard Night O' at Pawtuckaway. Supposed to be about 7.5 km and harder than last year, which it probably was, but on the other hand it was a beautiful night, not the rain (or heavy rain) of the last couple of years.

Walked the whole thing and the feet still hurt. My O' was shaky for quite a while, lucky not to make any significant misses, and then really sharp the last half, totally in touch with the map and nailed everything.

Here's the course. And my route.

C • WHNO 12

Wicked Hard Night O' - Splits

Long day, to Greenwich (CT) for a funeral of an aunt. Took my bike along and took a mansion tour afterwards. Quite something.

A bit more about the "mansion tour." I suppose Greenwich is a step down from Beverly Hills, but it has more than its share of really really large homes, even though you can't really get a sense of a lot of them because they are hidden behind these mammoth stone walls, nothing like the stone walls you see on an O' map, these guys are 8 or 10 or 12 feet high and uncrossable for most of us.

But you do get a better view on a bike. Especially since, Greenwich being a rich town, there is no such thing as a pothole, the pavement so uniformly good that you don't have to watch where you're going. And the traffic was quite light, just a few chauffeurs, plus all the gardeners going to and from their jobs.

I do believe there are more gardeners in Greenwich than any other place in the country, even though I think hard times have hit here too. There were a number of mansions where the grounds seemed to suffering a bit -- a brown spot or two, a hedge not perfectly trimmed, a few leaves not vacuumed up. Who knows how bad the unemployment rate is among Greenwich gardeners. Is it possible that there are owners doing their own mowing? The shame it would be.

So it doesn't take much riding around to come to the conclusion that not only should the tax cuts for the rich be extended indefinitely, but preferably even cut some more. The gardening jobs that would be created, why, it would pull us right out of this slump.

Back to the funeral, it was certainly not a jeans and T-shirt crowd, but I had dressed up properly and felt quite at ease. Sat with an aunt and uncle (#1), he is fine, she is fading. Saw another uncle (#2) afterwards, he's 91, still downhill skiing regularly and full of zip, his wife died several years ago and he has received a number of marriage proposals since then. And then one other uncle (#3), widowed just last week, he seemed fine, though I remember him being much taller than I am. He must be shrinking faster than I am.

A lot of driving, but very glad I went.

Uncles #1 (left) and #2 --



Me and uncle #3 (he's also a PG, I was named after him) --

C • uncles 4

Whately, then back road to Conway and home. Trying to not work too hard.

The weather is changing. Less daylight, a few leaves are falling, fall is in the air. The best time of year.

C • Best time 2

The heels seemed OK during yesterday's joglet, but they started to hurt afterwards, and were quite sore this morning, especially the left one. Discouraging.

So I took some vitamin I and headed off to Sessions to field check points for the WCOC local meet there on Sunday the 19th, not quite two weeks, definitely time to start getting my act together. Tromped around for almost 4 hours, just walking, quite hot and humid. Felt very frail. And quite beat by the end. But a nice outing, and quite a variety of forest and orienteering.

The plan is sort of a score course, except there's no time limit. There will be 30 controls, you get your choice, pick any 10, or 15, or 20, or 25. No bonus for getting more than 25 (since getting them all actually makes it less interesting).

One of the reasons I wanted to do this was it offers a chance to put points where courses don't usually go. And I think I found some spots that no one but George (the mapper) has been in the last decade (or century?).

The other thing I wanted to do was see if anyone could figure out a way to get any advantage from having the GPS coordinates available (and available well in advance). So part of my field checking was to get the coordinates at every point. I think I managed that without screwing it up.

The other reason for field checking is that, it you are doing it right, it usually means tossing out maybe a quarter of the points you were intending to use. Some places just don't look quite right, or the feature is not as distinct as you'd hope. So it's better to pick another spot. I think I moved 8 of the 30 points.

I'll post the coordinates before long. That's not giving anything away. They'll be available on the day before you run, just as the maps (and pre-printed control sites) will be available. If you care to look at it a lot before you run, or a little, or not at all, whatever. It's just a local meet, for training. Hell, you can just click on my globe and see where I went. :-)

Reminds me, for those on the 2000-control quest, better to have the possibility of 25 on your course than some smaller number, plus the chance for bonus controls when you help pick them up.... :-)

I think this will also be a National O' Day event, for which I think we get a few prizes to pass out. I think I wll be biased in favor of any able to use GPS to their advantage.

C • 2000? 5

I'd brought my bike with me, figured I might as well ride someplace different than usual. At some point while finishing up my field checking it occurred to me that a ride with Charlie might be a possibility, perhaps at one of his usual places, starting at Pleasant Valley. So I called him up when I got back to the car. No answer, so I left a message and headed off to PV.

Headed off on the bike, a mellow route planned up to the state line and back, and after about 7 or 8 minutes the phone rings and it's Charlie. And my immediate thought is, great, I'll turn around, meet him back at PV, will be nice to have company. But he is sick, sounded like he is feeling quite awful, he'd just been to the doctor, and a bike ride was definitely not in the cards.

So I continued on, feeling quite beat, got up to Route 8, decided that was enough, turned around and headed back.

One bit of excitement on the return trip. I had just come down a slight grade, it had flattened out, I looked up and saw a sign saying the speed limit was 25, looked at my speedometer and it said 22. Thought to myself, I know what Alex would do, so without any more thought I mobilized the dozen or so fast-twitch cells in my legs and managed to crank it up to 26. Quite pleased with myself. Though, to be clear, it only stayed at 26 for a moment, but that was enough.... :-)

Had a nice chat with Charlie after I was done.

Quite wasted (probably dehydrated) by the time I got home.

C • Mark Voit story 2

So I might have bought myself a used mountain bike. Not yet sure but I think I have a deal.

Bear in mind that I have no experience in such transactions so I hired an agent, my friend Walter. This is similar to the time I needed a new watch, my old Casio having died, and at that time my agent turned out to be JJ. He didn't start out as my agent, just my finder, let me know he found a guy selling such watches on EBay and he was selling boxes of 5 of them for $85.

So I told JJ that sounded great, but I had no experience buying things on EBay, and would he care to be my agent, the commission being one watch. And that sounded fine to him, and in a few days I had my 4 watches and JJ his 1 and all was good.

In this case, Walter, a master of never buying anything new, called me up this morning, he had found a really nice bike on EBay, bidding closed in a couple of hours, I should take a look. But I was off riding with Jeff and Judy.

I took a look when I got back, the bike hadn't sold, didn't meet the reserve. Called up Walter. Talked about it, he thought it was a great bike, I should just call up the seller, his number was listed. I said I had no talent for that, how about if he called, one way or another he'd get a commission.

He called back a few minutes later, everything checked out, the guy was also interested in selling a couple of spare parts (i.e. Walter's commission). So I said go for it. Another set of calls and we supposedly have a deal.

Nothing is done until it is done, but this has good possibilities. Would be cool. Very good bike, full suspension. As Walter said, with it, if I have any problems riding I can't blame it on the bike, just on me.... :-)

C • agent 9

With Jeff and Judy, a nice tour of some of the local back roads, including up to Wendell. Beautiful day, great company.

A little longer, but still just a joglet. Certainly helps that it is cooler.

River Road - Old Deerfield loop, very windy from the west, so usually a cross wind. But lovely day, low humidity. Totally different feeling than on a mountain bike, just hard work.

With Walter over near his place, using his hardtail, which seems noticeably less stable when going down over rough stuff at some speed. Other than that, who knows, but that is certainly a consideration.

So we cruised around for a while, fell off a few times, including a couple of times when Walter (who has done a whole lot of mountain biking) did not extract his feet from his eggbeaters. The latter time, set in motion by trying to extract a stick from some place while climbing, he lost his balance, down on his side, the tire banging on a couple of rock points, and then next thing you knew he had a flat.

We pumped for a while, no CO2 cartridge, but neither would have helped because there was a hole in the (tubeless) tire. So we switched off, he walked/ran the bike down to Norton Hollow, then I walked/ran it the rest of the way.

Nice outing, best part of it being, given that both bikes were his, that he was the one who got the flat. :-)

And then stopped on the way home for a short jog. Legs were tired.

Walked up the first hill, then up to Gunn and back. Longest run since April (not counting O' outings, which had substantial walking), legs feel fragile but not terrible. Have to try to keep going little by little.

One last ride on Walter's bike, over to the gate and back, an old standby running route. Very good fun. I'm a beginner at this but I can see how one gets better, just by doing it a bit.

Though it's not as good a cardio-vascular workout, too many rocks and roots so the downhills take longer. For cross training for O' I'd guess it is pretty worthless. But real nice to get out.

Went looking at the bike shop today. Main decision is hardtail vs. full suspension. Walter says there's a safety factor, the latter is better on the downhills, he has both, chooses to ride the latter most of the time. Then ran into two young guys near the end of this ride, asked what they had, both hardtails, one was a 29", both happy with them. But they are young and have hard butts....

I'd guess I'll get something before long, but who knows what.

C • x-training 14

C • Suspension 1

Trying another section on Mt. Toby, plus a trip to the Post Office. Couldn't make about 3 sections climbing up South Mt. road, lots of loose gravel and rocks and sand, but then surprised myself by making the last little pitch, steeper and lots of roots but better traction. And then the downhill is the fun part, but there is always the little voice saying, Be careful, not too fast....

I've been doing this without clip-on pedals, probably good, but my feet do go flying every once in a while.

Now have to go investigate bikes to see how crappy a bike I am willing to settle for. :-)

C • pedals 21

Back to Northampton to pick up the Subaru. Bit of a headwind, tired legs, just going through the motions, except for a decent effort the last mile or two. With a pack with a change of clothes and shoes.

A larger repair bill than expected, but it was time for new tires (4th set, got 190K on the first 3 sets), plus a few other things that needed fixing. Don't know how much longer it will go for, but at least it seemed fine driving home (as opposed to those times you get a couple of miles down the road after a repair and already it doesn't feel right). Perhaps another year or two, at which pont maybe a good electric car will be an option.

I'm hoping the heels are getting better. Try another run tomorrow.

Back home from Northampton after leaving the car to get some maintenance done. Came back on US Route 5 as opposed to the back road along the river, would seem not to make sense, but I-91 runs parallel to 5 and so there isn't much traffic on 5. And there is a nice shoulder. And, main point, really nice pavement all the way, as opposed to River Road which has its share of cracks.

Nice morning, no wind, but hot even at 8 am, sweating profusely. May be a three-workout day (depending on whether I get a ride back to N'ton or not), because it's also time to venture out on the mountain bike.

So I borrowed a mountain bike from Walter, his best one I'm pretty sure, full suspension, lots of quality components I think. Fortunately it's about three years old and has a few scratches so it's less likely I will ruin it cosmetically. Mechanically, well, I'm capable of most anything.

His thinking was, try this, then when you go see about buying one you'll be able to see how much you're missing.

I think the bike is pretty good. I did a loop up on Mt. Toby, a reasonable amount of hills and rocks and roots. He switched the pedals for me to just platforms so I didn't have to deal with clipping in and out, which was just as good since I had a couple of times when I had to bail very quickly and I'm not sure I would have managed unclipping too.

No crashes. And even a little common sense once -- took the back trail to the house at the end and there is one spot where there is a sharp little drop and some roots and rocks and you'd have to get just the right line because the trees are very close just below. And just above is a smaller drop with a turn in the middle of it, and I managed that, but not with much to spare. And so I immediately got off and walked down the larger one. Didn't even think about trying it. Occasionally I'm not stupid.

Had a good time. But it is hard work going up, and seemed hard on the hands and arms coming down, though I suppose you get used to it.

Note -- the reason the bike is available is that he fell and hit his head and had a concussion a few days ago (yes, he had a helmet on), so doctor's orders are no activities for a week where he might hit his head again. I think bad things can happen mountain biking. Of course that's true for orienteering too.

C • Bad Things Happening while Mountain Biking 1

Just a little bit of running, same as Monday. Not awful.

With Alex and Phil, Millers Fall, up to Wendell, down to Lake Wyola (where there had been talk of stopping for a swim, but no takers), up to Shutesbury, and back via East Leverett. Nice ride, nice company, and nice pace (not too fast). A little warm (upper 90s).

And in the ongoing battle between maintained and unmaintained bikes, yet another victory for the unmaintained -- Phil's chain came off at some point and it took a while to get it back on, and Alex, having recently changed the shifting cables, seemed to spend a lot of time trying to get into a gear, any gear. I had no problems. :-)

And then a superfine dinner orchestrated by Gail -- Ali showed up bearing lots of healthy food, Alex's Ed arrived on the way to Vermont, Phil's wife Margi made it just in time for the main course and dessert. Lots of good stories, many at Ian's expense (granted, he was not here to defend himself, but then some of the things he does are indefensible no matter what he might say), some at Phil's expense (much laughter at the tales of his first date with Margi when he ended up in the hospital packed in ice), almost none at my expense, rather just admiration for the fine tan stripes I have on the top of my head from too many hours in the sun with a bike helmet on.

And making plans for version 2 of "Orienteering Superstars," if we can just find an open weekend. Stay tuned.