Discussion: flying pig (partial report) with some results actually

Not sure if you could really call this thing the Flying Pig after today. "Swimming Pig" or "Rather Extreme Mud Pig" might be better monikers. It rained all night on ground that was already soaked from rains earlier in the week, and then all day long--and right through the race--more rain fell on the rain that had already fallen. There was a lot of rain. And then the wind blew. Boy, did it blow! It was almost being back home on the windy Wyoming steppes, though there weren't any attack badgers. Instead, to make up for that shortcoming, there were incredible amounts of mud. Everywhere. Even the paved roads fell apart and became mud. The places that were already mud from the earlier rains became ponds and the ponds became minor seas and oceans. At the Start, I thought I could hear low moans and pleas for help out in the forest, and when I asked the start crew if they could hear what I was hearing, they responded--a little too quickly--that they couldn't hear a thing. Once I started and came to the first death ravine, I could see what was happening. All the ravines were full of the sodden husks of earlier starting orienteers who had descended, but, un-jesus like, had not re-ascended from the ravines. They were useful as pointers to where *not* to attempt crossings. Sometimes you had to go several kilometers out of the way to circumvent the more vicious death ravines, and of course that meant more mud, but I don't think anyone regretted any of those route choices. After being out for a loooooong time, I came to the last control, and it was the happiest day of my life! I did a happy dance all the way through the waist deep mud of the finish chute (never was a finish chute more aptly named) and I was so happy! :) The only thing that would have made it better would have been cheerpigs with pom-poms, and while they didn't have those, they did have Red Bull Pigs passing out their rather peculiar tasting energy quaff. The best thing I can say about that is that at least it didn't taste like the mud tasted!

After everyone got back that got past the death ravines, we cleaned up and had a really rip snortin' team meeting that was easily the highlight of the day. During the meeting I asked several of the mathematicians and economists in attendance if they could determine how much mud had been on the course, but they all independently said that numbers don't go that high. Near the end of the meeting I saw the Red Bull Piggies coming back through on a second pass, so I decided it was time to beat feet and blast out of there and watch some NCAA Final 4 basketball instead. I'm waiting for the NC-Michigan St. game to fire up right now, and had just enough time to type out this entirely factual report.

I'm sorry to not actually have any race results to disclose, but then you can't ask for everything, can you? And anyway I thought if I admitted right up front that I didh't have any results then nobody would ever read all the way through to here.

Sayonara!

And now, after reading Mikell's post, there are some results. The Team Trials scoring list has been updated:
http://www.geocities.com/rileywyatt/Trials/2005Tri...

However, tomorrow I have to drive home, so don't expect a final update until at least Monday...

I can understand others being fearful of them death ravines, but you supposed to be the Swampfox, ain't ya?

Women's team:
Erin Olafsen
Samantha Saeger
Pavlina Brautigam
Sandra Zurcher
Suzanne Armstrong (alternate)
Viktoria Brautigam (alternate)

Sandra was added by petition. Well deserved -- check out her training log for today, two races and both really good, including winning 100 Swiss francs! (Should we be adding prize money for the Sprint Series?)

Men's team:
Brian May
Ken Walker Jr
Mikell Platt
Eric Bone
Sergey Velichko
Boris Granovskiy
Dan Stoll-Hadayia
Leif Anderson (alternate)
Wyatt Riley (alternate)
Note: Brian, Mikell, and Ken cannot make the trip to Japan. The WOC team will be Eric, Sergey, Boris, and Dan.

Despite Saturday's mud and cold rain that Mikell so lovingly describes, it was a very fine Trials. Excellent courses by Vlad (sprint), Steve Vaughan (short), and Matt Robbins, with course consulting by Mike Minium and Eric Weyman. And, as all agreed, perfect preparation for Japan -- steep hills, soft footing, thick in places, very high humidity, and 35-40 degrees. So what if celsius and fahrenheit got confused...

TT Scoring lists now posted too.
http://www.geocities.com/rileywyatt/Trials/2005Tri...

And some maps (sprint, women's short, women's classic).

On a more serious followup to my post at top, OCIN did a great job with the Team Trials. Actually flawless, as far as I could tell. And it was extra nice to have a third day added back to the mix with Friday's Sprint race. It was almost like the old days, when the Bearded One himself was still running Team Trials!

One question I am dying to have answered: did Sid Vicious (Reader) go out in shorts this weekend? If he did, his legs must be total hamburger!

hi, I would love to see the overall results from the weekend.. does anyone know where I can find them online? Great job to all the team trialers, looks like it was fun in the mud and rain:-) I am incredibly happy to be on the team again, and am looking forward to Japan! Thank you to every one who makes it possible to send a team to Japan and to World championships in general. Your hard work is appreciated!

they are now available here:
http://www.ocin.org/flying_pig/pigIX/results_2005....

On Friday, Vicious did indeed go out in shorts. I think he did wear O-pants on Saturday and Sunday - a habit he claims to have kept to for at least a year (when vegetation requires it.)