Training Log Archive: cedarcreekIn the 1 days ending Nov 11, 2006:
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Saturday Nov 11, 2006 #
Event: ICO Camp Ransburg
Orienteering race 1:56:15 [4] *** 6.78 km (17:09 / km) +385m 13:21 / km
shoes: Adidas $42 Cleats
ICO Event, Camp Ransburg Scout Camp, Bloomington, IN
Red Course set by Karan Keith
I was up late last night, and got about 3 hours of sleep before driving to meet hkleaf to carpool to Bloomington. The main attraction for me was the meet announcement that said, "an A-Meet quality map", and Gerald's was that and the blue course.
The map was very nice. I kept thinking it looked like Oak Mountain. The map has significant green on it, but it was just very pleasant to run through (in most places). The relief for most of the big spurs is 60-65m.
I really enjoyed the course. It had a lot of climb (385m is an estimate.) This course reminded me of the 2006 Flying Pig Relay courses, which some idiot set to go up and down and up and down.
I didn't study the legs when I copied the map, and the first leg had a really neat little problem. I didn't look at it until I turned my map over at the start, and I picked a decent route, but maybe not the best. (I went by a little firing range, and was surprised that the map didn't use the big arrow symbol. There was a mapped fence around it, and I almost jumped it, but my boy scout training kicked in and said, "You can't go across the firing range fence!"
Orienteering in Cincinnati has made me gunshy about crossing reentrants and streams. I always aim for likely good crossing points. This map is largely unlike Cincinnati in that it was fairly easy to cross a large portion of the streams. It's weird to look at mapped streams that have no contours on either side of them.
I missed a really nice route choice on my 4-5 (115 to 306). There was a right-hand route that saved a ton of climb, and didn't look too nasty. I took the left-hand route that climbed about 50m all at once. It wasn't terribly difficult, but it was a little tricky due to some subtle attackpoints where you needed to leave the road.
I think this section 4-10 was my favorite part of the whole course. It started out with a lot of contouring and reading the map, and then it had a nice little easy leg along the lake, and then a neat leg across some flat vegetation/marsh, into a little 100mx100m patch of extreme open forest.
Red 10 (314) gave me absolutely no trouble. It was a complete spike, although I think I got a little lucky. I wasn't making sense of the map, and I just kept moving north until I saw a reentrant (the clue) and when I got there, there was a bag in it. It looks like the circle is a little off here.
I had some issues with the course, but after talking to the course setter, it appears the one big mistake was the way the circles were drawn on the master map. This was a small event, and time was short, so I can't be too critical here, but...
It's so easy to use OCAD or Condes to draw the circles and control codes and then to print maps for the people hanging bags and to print a master course map for each course for people who are drawing their own map, that it seems like a false economy not to. I certainly understand having someone draw their own map, but please make sure the master is perfect.
I meant to ask if ICO considered printing advanced maps on 8.5x11 inch paper (preprinted). I love having the whole map, but honestly, I'd rather not have to draw my course. I don't need a legend, and you can always use OCAD to make up a sheet of legends (like 20 per sheet of 11x17 (about A3 size)) to hand out to people who need them. Red looks like it would fit, but Blue was just a little too big (for 8.5x11 inch paper (about A4 size).
I had trouble with 11 (315), which I thought was hung about 50m or so off. I didn't lose much time (seconds). I didn't stop to check it, but it just seemed wrong. Part of the problem was the new scout buildings in many places. I wasn't sure if they were new sometimes, or if the mappers didn't map the buildings with no walls. My guess is the buildings are new.
I'd love to see ICO do an A-Meet here (at least one day). Avoid warm weather to make the vegetation as good as it was today, and I think people will love it.
Red Course set by Karan Keith
I was up late last night, and got about 3 hours of sleep before driving to meet hkleaf to carpool to Bloomington. The main attraction for me was the meet announcement that said, "an A-Meet quality map", and Gerald's was that and the blue course.
The map was very nice. I kept thinking it looked like Oak Mountain. The map has significant green on it, but it was just very pleasant to run through (in most places). The relief for most of the big spurs is 60-65m.
I really enjoyed the course. It had a lot of climb (385m is an estimate.) This course reminded me of the 2006 Flying Pig Relay courses, which some idiot set to go up and down and up and down.
I didn't study the legs when I copied the map, and the first leg had a really neat little problem. I didn't look at it until I turned my map over at the start, and I picked a decent route, but maybe not the best. (I went by a little firing range, and was surprised that the map didn't use the big arrow symbol. There was a mapped fence around it, and I almost jumped it, but my boy scout training kicked in and said, "You can't go across the firing range fence!"
Orienteering in Cincinnati has made me gunshy about crossing reentrants and streams. I always aim for likely good crossing points. This map is largely unlike Cincinnati in that it was fairly easy to cross a large portion of the streams. It's weird to look at mapped streams that have no contours on either side of them.
I missed a really nice route choice on my 4-5 (115 to 306). There was a right-hand route that saved a ton of climb, and didn't look too nasty. I took the left-hand route that climbed about 50m all at once. It wasn't terribly difficult, but it was a little tricky due to some subtle attackpoints where you needed to leave the road.
I think this section 4-10 was my favorite part of the whole course. It started out with a lot of contouring and reading the map, and then it had a nice little easy leg along the lake, and then a neat leg across some flat vegetation/marsh, into a little 100mx100m patch of extreme open forest.
Red 10 (314) gave me absolutely no trouble. It was a complete spike, although I think I got a little lucky. I wasn't making sense of the map, and I just kept moving north until I saw a reentrant (the clue) and when I got there, there was a bag in it. It looks like the circle is a little off here.
I had some issues with the course, but after talking to the course setter, it appears the one big mistake was the way the circles were drawn on the master map. This was a small event, and time was short, so I can't be too critical here, but...
It's so easy to use OCAD or Condes to draw the circles and control codes and then to print maps for the people hanging bags and to print a master course map for each course for people who are drawing their own map, that it seems like a false economy not to. I certainly understand having someone draw their own map, but please make sure the master is perfect.
I meant to ask if ICO considered printing advanced maps on 8.5x11 inch paper (preprinted). I love having the whole map, but honestly, I'd rather not have to draw my course. I don't need a legend, and you can always use OCAD to make up a sheet of legends (like 20 per sheet of 11x17 (about A3 size)) to hand out to people who need them. Red looks like it would fit, but Blue was just a little too big (for 8.5x11 inch paper (about A4 size).
I had trouble with 11 (315), which I thought was hung about 50m or so off. I didn't lose much time (seconds). I didn't stop to check it, but it just seemed wrong. Part of the problem was the new scout buildings in many places. I wasn't sure if they were new sometimes, or if the mappers didn't map the buildings with no walls. My guess is the buildings are new.
I'd love to see ICO do an A-Meet here (at least one day). Avoid warm weather to make the vegetation as good as it was today, and I think people will love it.
Note
I'm not sure I like to criticize events in the interest of meet quality. Especially on 3 hours sleep, I feel like a grumpy old man.
"When I was a kid, we didn't have maps! If you wanted a map, ya made it yourself with an old newpaper and some toothpicks dipped in coal tar!"
"When I was a kid, we didn't have maps! If you wanted a map, ya made it yourself with an old newpaper and some toothpicks dipped in coal tar!"