Training Log Archive: Nadim

Grand Teton National Park - Snake River Scenic Raft Float - After a slow morning driving out of Yellowstone, we took in more sights along the road, stopping to overlook the Lewis River gorge.



Eventually we checked-in to a comfortable, yet 100 year old cabin in Colter Bay, and had lunch in Moose, WY, before our raft trip.



The raft trip was purely about sitting and enjoying the sights. The raft was guided so we did not take one stroke. We just enjoyed the majestic views of the Tetons and things around the river. The guide pointed out a couple of eagles and beaver works. In 2000 when I did this I saw more wildlife. Samantha was nervous and it came out as she had difficulty stopping her chatter, but eventually she calmed down. The river was flowing high but not as high as it had been. It was braided. At one point the guide asked Max for his decision on which flow to take. Max didn't understand the question well, being surprised that a guide would appear to value his opinion; Max hesitated and finally picked one. At this point it was a bit late. The guide tried to move us over but wasn't able to. Then he got worried and told all of us to get low on the raft. We headed straight into rootstock lodged on a sandbar. We bounced but the guide thought we might have caused some damage from how hard we hit. It was the liveliest point of the trip so it was okay with us--no one got hurt, except for the guide's pride.







Afterward we explored an old ferry store in Moose and Max learned more about the value of money. He bought a tin Coca Cola sign and regretted the expenditure that wiped out the rest of his vacation allowance, when he saw it for less in Jackson, WY a few days later. We had an early evening dinner but erred when ordering a pizza that ended up having hot wings sauce on it. Max and I did some laundry even later--he was enjoying a chance to use Peggy's iPhone to play games that we hadn't let him do for several days in Yellowstone.

My sneezing and runny nose kept going throughout the day but didn't slow me much. .

Yellowstone National Park, WY - Mud Volcano. When I'd come here in 2000, I recalled a short stop and seeing some great bubbling mud that splattered and was even building small cones. I guess I was there at the right time. The area was still interesting this time however it was very different. Signs explained that an earthquake had shifted the water flows. Everything seemed much more watery but it still looked muddy. It was pretty active too. Peggy somehow got Samantha to walk up the big steep hill while I climbed with Max and took pictures.





On the way down, we saw a bison.



After the hike, we went to the Lake Lodge area where I'd stayed several nights in 2000. It's funny how little of it I could remember. This was followed by a drive to the Fishing Bridge, the visitor center there, and a store in which we waited out some rain.

Yellowstone National Park, WY - Storm Point - A planned horse ride in the Canyon area had to be cancelled since the trails were too muddy. However, we did get to see a lot of bison from the herd we'd seen far off on our Clear Lake and South Rim Canyon hike. Our timing with the highway traffic was lucky in that we got close just as they were crossing the flooded Yellowstone River. The calfs had to be coaxed into the waters and it was good seeing all of this.













We drove a little way out on the east access road and got going on this nice flat little hike. At first the trail across a large flat field was muddy. I stayed to the side. Stepping on the trail as Max was initially doing, was pulling off a layer of dirt which stuck to the shoes. The rain was looking like it'd hold off. We caught-up to and passed a big guided group at the large pond and headed into the woods along the lake shore, not fully certain that we were on the right trail. However soon enough we got to Storm Point, a beautiful and open rocky knoll overlooking the large Yellowstone Lake. The hiking trail continued along the shore for a little more, then cut across the forest (lush, but with lots of deadfall from an earlier fire), then back across the field. Rains came again pretty soon after we finished.









On the way to Grant Village, we stopped on the road again and saw another bear--no cub this time, but it was pretty close to the cars in front of us.



At Grant Village we checked-in for the night and ate dinner in the Lake House overlooking Yellowstone Lake again. A geyser in the West Thumb must have went off, because I noticed what seemed like a fog filling that area suddenly.





By the end of the day, it was clear that the sore throat I'd been feeling was becoming a summer cold.

Yellowstone National Park, WY - Norris Geyser Basin - We'd gotten a slowish start. It was nice and sunny, but still comfortably cool as we walked around the geysers, bubbling springs and fumeroles. I hadn't seen this part of the park before. It was nice but not knowing it'd rain a lot later, I'd have rather seen it in the afternoon on our way home. We did see a geyser go off but when we got close on the boardwalk, it stopped. Samantha was still being fussy and Max hadn't been having much fun either. He thought the couple of geysers we'd seen in Iceland were more interesting; one was certainly more active.

Yellowstone National Park, WY - Grand Prismatic Spring - Driving to this place, I already knew that area people swim in the Firehole River, had been closed. We also hit a big traffic jam. A herd of bison were moving across a big field and eventually crossed the road. We must have been waiting 45 minutes.









I loved seeing Grand Prismatic Spring when I was here in 2000. I must have spent 2 hours on the hill overlooking the spring then, and I got a great picture of a herd of bison crossing the hot waters. The view from this hill is really necessary to seen the sun-like multi-colored rays emanating from the circle. On this trip, yet another disappointment was the closing of the trail that lets one get to that hill--they were doing a bridge repair and walking-in from the other direction would have required a walk of a few miles one-way.

Settling for the boardwalk with a lot of other people, we did get a feel for the place. Approaching the spring there were some good rays. Standing on a bench I got a panorama shot I liked with Peggy in it. It was windy and we'd seen one hat that had been blown off a tourist and was sticking out like a sore. Peggy had cautioned Max about his hat but sure enough, his blew off to where we couldn't reach it too :(. I want to come back here one day. I know enough to not expect the same experiences when returning to places, but I can sure hope for something approaching my 2000 trip.

Yellowstone National Park, WY - Upper Geyser Basin, near Old Faithful. After getting lunch with a great window view toward the Old Faithful geyser, we had a short wait on the boardwalk to see it go off. There were several false starts before it shot off pretty well. The sky was darkening behind it from our vantage.





After Old Faithful was finished till it's next interval, we quickly went off to see what we could of the Upper Geyser Basin. It was a bit of a walk just getting there, with the usual delays with Samantha not cooperating on hiking. It got colder and we put on jackets. We rushed past what are usually some fairly interesting pools. Unfortunately with the dark sky, we didn't get a sense of the depths or the colors. We would have gone on but it became obvious that the rain would hit us. We finished a loop and even took to running part of the way back. A few drops hit us but we escaped most of it to get indoors and shop. I got a t-shirt and a photo book souvenir.

Yellowstone National Park, WY - Old Faithful Geyser Basin. After shopping we emerged and the rain had nearly stopped. I was encouraged to go do more hiking and photography. Peggy and the kids felt comfortable with going to visit the famous old lodge (I stayed there a night in 2000).

It turned out that the rains didn't go away. It rained harder and slowed again several times. By the time I got to a placard with a map, I estimated I'd only have about a mile one way walk to get to the end (going along the Firehole River) so I thought to suck-up the poor weather and hope for some interesting shots that can only be gotten in inclement weather. Like my Mammoth Springs hike, I moved into the sport of running photography, going from feature to feature. That kept me warm but I didn't get to see a single geyser spout; I never stood still long enough. The map turned out to be misleading too. It was about 2 miles to the end where the Morning Glory spring was. I pushed on to it and did a small side loop too. I had most of the places to myself but a few other hardy souls were out too. At the time of this writing, I'm still not sure how my photography turned out, but it turned out to feel disappointing again. It had taken me 15 years to travel out here again and it could be another before I return.











We drove on some side roads as we headed back to Canyon Village but only saw limited wildlife. Being on roads untraveled before did however surprise me. There were just a lot more geothermal features in the park than I'd remembered or knew. Evenings come late in Yellowstone at this time of year. Back in Canyon Village with more rain, a faint hope to go out the Lamar Valley in hope of seeing wild wolves just wasn't feasible. It was cold and rainy.

Yellowstone National Park, WY - Starting at the wonderful Artist Point on the south rim, we took in the classic grand view of the lower falls and the river canyon. It took a good deal of coaxing to get Samantha going. She had been falling into a pattern of not cooperating on initial hikes for the day, and this was not much different.













After great view, Peggy and I discovered an opportunity to do a loop hike right from where we were. It went further along downstream on the south rim for a way. Of course it was gorgeous. There were some pretty steep up and down hills but Samantha didn't have us stop too many times. We headed away from the canyon through thick forest toward Lilly Pond and another small pond. Surprisingly we came upon active geothermal features and got good close looks at them (still keeping a safe distance from ground that could collapse). The trail lead across a starkly contrasting small flat white valley that looked like everything had been blasted away--the trees had probably just died naturally as the underground activity heated up. It had more thermal and muddy ponds, some of which bubbled. Eventually we got to Clear Lake which starkly contrasted again. It was clear and apparently safe looking but looking into the water, I could see where the ground had been disturbed from past bubbling. It reminded me of some African lakes I'd heard about which became supersaturated with lethal gases and eventually killed whole villages. Past Clear Lake there was a junction we went out and back on. It bought us a view of the wide open valley for the flooded Yellowstone River (heavy snows in the region were making for high water from Idaho to WY). We could make out some bison herds far off. Finishing up we went through interesting terrain with scattered open areas, depressions and intricate reentrants. I would have taken the trail toward Uncle Tom's (staircase) Trail but the way to it, and the South Rim Trail, had been closed for infrastructure work. It was disappointing because the rim walk looked interesting (I'd been down/up Uncle Tom's Trail in 2000 and enjoyed that but even if it were open, I was unlikely to get the family to make that 500ft vertical effort). We had to settle on walking along the busy road for a mile but it went quickly. This still turned out to be a wonderful hike and all the better since we hadn't planned on doing it.














After a late lunch, rains came and it got colder. By the evening, even with my light rain jacket, I was feeling cold walking in the village between buildings where we shopped and ate more.

Yellowstone National Park, WY - After lunch at a make-do saloon in West Yellowstone...



we got to the Artist Paint Pots. Samantha was reluctant to do much but Peggy got her going. This was a good outing. I pointed out the Lodgepole pines and the telephone poles too. The sun let us see into the pools which were nicely active.







Driving north after this, we hit construction traffic that delayed us about 45 minutes. It seemed such a waste; they had one-way traffic on a couple miles of roadway, which was being repaved and protected from falling rocks.

Yellowstone National Park, WY - Mammoth Hot Springs. After the visitor center, I dropped Peggy, Max and Samantha off on the one-way road up top, then drove to the bottom. Starting my hike I was upping the ante on my sometimes practiced sport of running photography. I had to make my way up quickly as the rest of my family was walking down. I did pause a lot and got fair results given how fast I was taking pictures (108 images in 75 minutes). It's no way ideal for my photography, but my compromise being a father. I ran parts in-between shooting. As we converged, Samantha ran to me and gave me a good hug. I went on where they had been, to see what I'd missed. I moved even more quickly despite the altitude and carrying my daypack with a full liter of water. I returned a slightly different route but overall, I did a lot of back-tracking. The springs were better than when I'd come here in 2000. I guess on that trip, when I was alone, that I was feeling somewhat lazy and didn't see all of what I did today. Going this year in June also had the advantage of there being lots of water flowing and making things beautiful.



















It was getting late when we were done and we were hungry. We headed to dinner at Tower Junction. Along the way we stopped where a crowd was pulled over and saw a mother bear with her cub. They were making their way up a reentrant, to cross the road. They almost turned back since there were so many people where they were going, but they persevered and we got a good look!





We ended up not eating at Tower Junction and seeing some bison as we drove on to the Canyon Village.

From the parking area to the start of the US Middle Distance Championships.

2017 Gold Rush Meet and USA SML Championships near Stanley, ID, on the Dutch Creek map; Middle Distance. I started well enough though I was exerting a good bit. That may have contributed to errors. Through #5 I was fairly clean. For #6 I popped out on the drop off to the right and found 3 small unmapped boulders in a similar configuration to the mapped ones. I lost time dropping down and going left until I found the control above. I wanted to avoid green and more climb going to #7 so I dropped and got right. I cut back left but didn't see the pond that I expected to, and I didn't have an attackpoint. I wandered a bit with others before finding it. I didn't spike #8 but was pretty close. On the way to #9 I passed an orienteering I'd seen earlier and got distracted racing him. I read a depressions as a hill so I went left of a hilll instead of reading my bearing closely. I didn't figure out I'd misread the map until after finishing but wandered close enough to see others coming out of the control, to find it. I hit #11 well but was getting tired. I went over the spur and saw the pond on the way to #10 but paused on the wrong side of a knoll near the control. I went at #12 hard. However I again misread a depression for a knoll and went along the flat until I found a knoll to attack from. That eventually got me to #8 again. From there I figured out how to get to #12. I got there just before a younger woman did. She chased me straight at first but I dropped into the greenish depression and was slower skirting the left side of it. I couldn't catch her even though I tried. The run-in was the same but it was really too steep for me to push hard really down, given my back problems.

From finish of the US Middle Distance Championships, back to the parking area with Peggy. It was nice to get to walk together and just enjoy the views with the aftermath of our competitions. Neither of us did well racing but we both enjoyed this walk.

Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID. After brief walks around some cinder cones and other vulcanism, Peggy, Max, Samantha, and I walked out to the Dew Drop and Indian Tunnel caves. This was on a paved trail across the lava fields. It was hot in the sun however once we got 20 ft. underground, it was rather cool and water was dripping. The Dew Drop lava tube cave was roomy but only a bit larger than house sized. The second, Indian Tunnel, was well over 100m long with some parts of the roof caved-in. It must have been 30ft. deep or more. It was well worth the hike! We ended up the day with riding across a flat desert (the result of past Yellowstone-like caldera--hot spots 10s of millions of years ago) seeing distant volcanos, and staying in Idaho Falls, ID.

Green Middle - Splits

2017 Gold Rush Meet and USA SML Championships near Stanley, ID, on the Stanley Trap Creek map. I jogged a streamered route to the start of the Long course. There were a lot of downed logs along the way which helped get me ready for more when actually racing. The elevation was over 6,700 ft. and it was getting a lot warmer than the chilly morning. That was making me feel sluggish.

2017 Gold Rush Meet and USA SML Championships near Stanley, ID, on the Stanley Trap Creek map-Long Course Championship. This glacial moraine area with views toward the majestic Sawtooth Mountains was challenging terrain for me. The course setters took pity on us by having big catching features on many controls, some long handrails and even by looping through the same part of the map more than once. Overall I felt that I did a pretty good job navigating and not letting the deadfall distract me too much. My main errors were from poor judgement or loss of concentration on technically easier legs like #6 and #13. Sluggish at first, I had the impression that I sped up towards the end. JP Ingebritsen and Tom Overbaugh didn't have great days like they often do, however Tapio Karras showed both his technical skill and good speed as he dusted the group of us with a 68 minute run. I got Silver in +M55 with JP getting 3rd only 3 minutes back behind me.

Stanley Trap Creek Map; to the start area, then back after the race.

Green long - Splits

Event: 2017 Gold Rush Meet and USA SML Championships
 

2017 Gold Rush Meet and USA SML Championships at the Boise State University campus. I ran a fairly clean race but I just wasn't moving fast enough. One of my worst legs was out of the start when I almost missed going to #1--it was just about in line with #2. I may have lost some seconds for hesitation getting through the tennis courts the first time and I took a slightly longer than necessary route to #14. I was slowing mentally on the last 2-3 controls which lost me more seconds. Others could say the same or worse. JP Ingebritsen, Tom Overbaugh, and Tapio all beat me within about 45 seconds.



It was a fun and straight forward race. Several joined for lunch downtown and the Hession's joined us for a stop at a science exhibition. The longish drive to Stanley came afterward--it was capped off by awesome views of the Sawtooth Mountains and dinner with friends.

Boise, ID; warmup from Boise State University campus, to E. Julia Davis Park and back, then some loops near the start of the US Orienteering Sprint Championship.

Green-Orange sprint - Splits

Boise, ID. After a morning tour of the Old State Penitentiary, a visit to a candy factory, and a few other things, Peggy, Max, Samantha, and I started in the Boise River Greenbelt from E. Julia Davis Dr. and did the Golden Apple Quest. This was a hunt of sorts with written walking directions and clues to a puzzle. Max played along while Samantha was lagging being tired or just not into walking. She wanted to go to the swimming pool, which came later. We solved the puzzle and stopped briefly at the Discover Idaho science exhibits made for kids. The downtown area seemed pretty nice overall. Much of it was newer than I'd have guessed and the people were pretty nice. I couldn't remember much of anything from my last visit +10 years ago.

Rehoboth, DE. From Seaside Outlet Dr., the Junction & Breakwater Trail to the parking area on Wolf Neck Rd., back toward Seaside Outlet Dr., then back to the parking area on Wolf Neck Rd., and back to Seaside Outlet Dr. I set out to do about 4 miles like Peggy had earlier. The turn off for the parking area was just a little over what I needed. I had a bathroom break there. It was warming-up on the way back. At the last intersection before finishing up and pushing in, I realized I no longer had my car keys. I'd left them in the restroom a couple miles back! My best option was to run back and get them so that's what I did. I did it slowly so as not to stress myself by my running too much. I sweat a lot on this.

Rehoboth, DE. From Seaside Outlet Dr., the Junction & Breakwater Trail to Hebron Rd. and back. This was a nice little run and just what I needed to make my insides feel better. This was the first time I'd run the part of the trail toward Rehoboth. It was similarly and pleasantly wooded with the trail improved by bluestone. I saw a few runners and passed one.

From Colonel Zadok Magruder HS, I set out controls for the QOC Summer Short Series. The grasses in the fields, and the invasive grasses in the forest were up making this not so easy. I was slow when I could run and it was also difficult to find low lying rocks. The heat, in the upper 80s and low 90s F, only added to the difficulty. Those who participated mostly didn't have a pleasant time which was unfortunate. I still think the area has some promise for local meet use, in colder months. It was a lot easier to move around last spring and winter.

From Muncaster Mill Rd., to a control to put out water, then back.

From Muncaster Mill Rd., to a control to pickup water, then back.

From Northfield Dr. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Battery Ln.

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to Cheshire Dr.. to Grosvenor Rd. to the Rock Creek Trail, to the Cedar Ln. to the Elmhirst Trail, to Cedar Ln., to Rockville Pike, to the Bethesda Trolley Trail at Jones Bridge Rd., to Maple Ridge Rd. to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. I got out for another late run. I was more tired this time than the last. The weather felt humid.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD.

From Northfield Dr. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to Cheshire Dr.. to Grosvenor Rd. to the Rock Creek Trail, to the Cedar Ln. to the Elmhirst Trail, to Cedar Ln., to Rockville Pike, to the Bethesda Trolley Trail at Jones Bridge Rd., to Maple Ridge Rd. to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. I didn't want the day to have gotten away from me so I got out for a late run. I was tiring toward the end but that wasn't surprising given the hour.

QOC Summer Short Series at Fountainhead Regional Park. Peggy had set a training session for the ICC 2017. The QOC members participating were to vet the courses and provide feedback. Part of the difficulty was getting used to running with full leaf-on vegetation. I navigated okay but missed the finer details of several legs. The courses were set with controls in tricky terrain where the map often had similar nearby features. I missed a few times on parallel reenrants.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. After getting passed, I hung on into Georgetown.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to Northfield Rd. When he passed me, I got a good bit of help by drafting off a guy whom I'd passed in Georgetown. He pulled me into the wind rather well. Another rider joined us later.

From Northfield Rd to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From Northfield Dr. to the Bethesda Metro Station. I was able to shift my front derailleur today. It worked pretty smoothly so my field repair yesterday seemed to be good. I was tired getting going.

From Northfield Rd to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Battery Ln.

From Battery Ln. Northfield Rd. via Keystone Ave., N. Brook Ln., Old Georgetown Rd., Huntington Pkwy., and Custer Rd.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. For a long while I didn't know which way the wind was blowing but it seemed very breezy. By the time I passed Georgetown it was clearer that there was a tailwind. The air felt cool the whole way. I rode alone and passed a bunch. I'd have been faster if not for some delays early on. My front derailleur cable had been slipping for a few weeks. On my last ride with Samantha, it wouldn't shift at all. I neglected to do the maintenance after that ride so I hurriedly tried to do it before leaving home. I had to start and stop (off the clock) several times in the first 200m before I got a solid middle range gear. Once there I kept it there the whole way which was good in keeping me spinning rather than mashing gears.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to Northfield Rd. It was still windy when I left work, and still hard to tell what direction it was coming from. I definitely had headwinds getting to Georgetown and got through the traffic there pretty well. Less than a mile out, a guy who'd drafted me for a while passed and I stuck with him to Falls Rd. It seemed like we had a tailwind at times and I was happy to be able to get the draft.

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, down Independence Ave., to 17th St., along the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial circle, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to P St., NW., to 20th St., NW., to the Dupont Circle Metro Station at Q St., NW. I felt good starting out. With other runners nearby, I ended up pushing a bit. After 2 miles I slowed. I was also trying to catch a walker whom I'd seen far ahead, just before leaving the Rock Creek Trail but I didn't. Pushing there however, kept me from getting passed by a young woman since I was able to turn off ahead of her.

Event: QOC Jug Bay
 

QOC: The Beverage (a.k.a. Beer) Chase at Jug Bay. The end of the long season finally came. Peggy set the courses and they were fun. They felt a bit different from some of the earlier races. I'd started the season last fall in pretty good shape and slowly got worse into the winter. I'd been focusing more on mapping then and de-trained a lot. However, since then I felt like I've been on a slow ramp to getting better again. I'm still too heavy and so probably slower than last fall but I've been closing the gap. I set out the day to try to stay ahead of various competitors whom I anticipated running near. I wanted to do that by navigating well and I did end up having the least error as AP computes it, than any other Long course runner had. It certainly helped me stay ahead. Of course with this being a mass start I got a lot of help. This is an fairly flat area with some climbs at steep, but not really deep, stream valleys. One can generally go straight through the flat forests. I ran 5.371 miles for the 7.7K course. It was in the 80s and perhaps 90s F.

S-1 - I got off to a mediocre start; gulping down my first beer since the race the previous year. I followed Ted Good and Dann Quinn on the right side of the fenced area since it was shorter than the road route was going left. Michael Wood, Michael Dickey, and Eugene T. were ahead of Dan and I, with Tom Nolan right behind me.

1-2 - Eugene T. was nearest in front of me and a little left of me. When we hit the reentrant, we had to cut right. I think I got ahead of Eugene briefly and ended up behind Vido.

2-3 - I was already feeling my stomach expand from my first drink, so I was slowing down lumbering back across the larger reentrant at #2. Vido was following the edge of the drop off. He led me down a gentle slope to the control with others behind and to the right a little.

3-4 - We climbed up to the edge of the drop off and hit the trail. Rather than staying high, the group went low on the trail. Others turned up to the control correctly but I got a little past the control before climbing. I may have lost 5 seconds.

4-5 - Ted led a group across the flats to the trail junction. I was behind Vido.

5-6 - Still on Vido's tail, we eventually got onto the trail and off again when we could see the barn. I took time to read ahead for the start of the second loop. As we got to the control, Ted Good was not far ahead, after taking a less than optimal route to #3.

6-7 - The first loop was short--less than 2K. That meant having to drink more without getting to run much of it off. After leaving the barn Jon Torrance and Turner Leigh were already in the narrow gate-like gap and heading the other way on their second loop. In the open ground I got ahead of Vido.

7-8 - My beer split was once again mediocre.

8-9 - I got off to a good start knowing from reading ahead earlier, that I had to go back toward the barn. I could see Ted take the intermittent trail from the barn, with Eugene not far behind. Ted seemed to go off to the right too much. Eugene was more on target but still seemed to me to be to the right. As we got closer to the reentrant I saw Ted and Eugene cutting left. Others were punching from another course and leaving the control.

9-10 - I had to force myself to be a little left with the small rise after the initial exit from the stream valley. I still was a little to the right and felt like I'd lost Eugene and Ted. I came down the broad spur where it was less steep. I think I saw Eugene go near the side reentrant leading toward the control but in any case, that's where I went. I pulled out just right at the vegetation and spiked the dot knoll

10-11 - I stayed high, going around the first side reentrant. Victor Lin was nearby and I think I passed him just barely. I did drop into the next reentrant, since the vegetation pushed me closer to the main reentrant. It was a little down and up but it felt efficient.

11-12 - I crossed the stream and recall Eugene on my right. I could hear someone behind me nearing the next reentrant (VIctor or Vido?). I was just left enough to go up the spur SW of the control.

12-13 - Eugene had gotten to #12 before I had but he mistook it for #13. I got started going the other way almost 180 degrees off. He must have been across the creek when I yelled to him that he was going the wrong way. I'd gotten ahead of Vido, Victor and it seemed that someone else was nearby too. I was on target but when I got to the reentrant, I misread it for one to the left and earlier. Vido says I went right past the control by 2m. As everyone else punched I realized I was just too close to open ground and a house before turning back.

13-14 - I fell in step a little behind Victor who was on my left on the flat ground. Vido was leading Eugene off to the right of me, and using the reentrant as a loose handrail--a slightly longer but safer route. As Victor got to a reentrant, there was some hesitation. I soon realized it was just SE of the control but Victor got there ahead of me and the others.

14-15 - I lost track of Victor as he went more left and straight. I started leading Vido around to the right of the green, and onto the road, but Vido got ahead of me. We attacked from the trail intersection but ended up left of straight at the stream. We both knew to go right after crossing and I think Vido stayed ahead. Victor apparently made a slight error and got behind.

15-16 - Vido lead me around the right side to the trail. He left the trail after the bend. I thought to stay high but upon inspection, the lower route looked more open. I followed Vido across and we climbed up the other side right at the control.

16-17 - Vido and I went straight. On the gentle down slope, I got ahead and kept going. I recognized the marsh at the road and went right/left briefly. Continuing straight I was concerned about missing. I came in a little to the north. Unseen for a while, Eugene had gotten well ahead but he was wandering back. We crossed paths. I realized the reentrant was too shallow so I cut south. Eugene had decided to do so too and got there just ahead of me. Vido had dropped off but wasn't far behind.

17-18 - I ran a straight route, checking my bearing regularly. Eugene was ahead but seemed to be off bearing (left or right?). I hit the open field along the fence a little further north than desired. I didn't want to run too hard on the grass; I didn't want to be out of breath too much before drinking the next beer. Eugene came in a little while later.

18-19 - My beer split was again mediocre. I couldn't down it in one breath.

19-20 - I was confused looking at the loop. The typical Beer Chase final loop has more often than not been around the large field. I went to control #27 first--this was actually the Go control (excluding the beer splits). I straightened myself out and got on the road. I could hear steps behind me. Going into the forest I cut in where Sid Sachs and others were exiting. It was just green enough that I couldn't go straight and I hadn't left from a good attack point. I got very slightly to the left. Eugene had a straighter route and got there ahead of me.

20-21 - I chased Eugene. He seemed stronger. Rather than go straight through the green we went around the edge of the medium green. We hit the ditch east of the control and went in.

21-22 - Still behind Eugene, we ran fairly straight. Eugene ran to the end of the reentrant and I made up a little time coming more directly to the lower part of it.

22-23 - As we left 22, Eugene ran a bit to the right. He was going faster. I had to try to make up for it by running straighter so I was on his left. Vegetation pushed me to the right a bit, back closer to Eugene. He got to the road first but ran straight across. I recalled seeing the control as I'd driven into the park and thought it might have been a Yellow control. The road bends told me to go left. I got ahead of Eugene on the road while he wandered through the greener bits. He popped out behind me onto the road but I got to the control first.

23-24 - With a sliver of hope of finishing ahead of Eugene, I pushed on. It was like two fast sloths at this point but it was a race. I kept a good bearing. I thought I'd hit the reentrant north of the ditch but fortunately I looked right too and saw it before passing it.

24-25 - I ran straight and into the dry marsh. At the control, a couple was debating where to go.

25-26 - Expecting Eugene to catch me, I hit the road and ran past the barn. Into the deep grass I went. Half-way across I got into an elephant track. I hit the root stock from there easily but almost too hard. Dashing to keep ahead of Eugene, I jumped ahead of Virginia Debons and Rae Ann Hicks. In the process, I stumbled on thorny vines and yelled just before catching myself and punching. I felt bad about disturbing them but it wasn't a yell at the woman.

27-27 - I angled out of the forest onto the grass. The control was visible far off but I'd been there earlier anyway.

27-28 - This part of the map was very cluttered and I wasn't sure if I could go around Peggy Bronsan's and Dave Linthicum's house by going through their driveway, but I did anyway.

28-29 - I had to pause to breath on this attempt to gulp my last beer.

29-F - After the beer, I thought I was done. Someone (Dave?) told me to run down the chute. I'd already stopped my watch so I started it again and finished. Eugene was coming in from control #27 and got there ahead of me. I told him he needed to drink again so he went along the chute to the drinking.

I was happy to hold up in the running and be able to navigate when tired. I'll need to try to stay calm at the US Champs as that will be very different from this mass start stuff. The whole family seemed to have a good day. People seemed to like Peggy's courses. Max won the Yellow course, and even Samantha got to go out on White with Peggy. Max even commented afterward on what a good (fun) day it had been--winning and playing in the river may have had some to do with that.

Long - Splits

From Northfield Dr. to the Bethesda Metro Station. Once again I kept encountering traffic, but it was a nice morning. Summer is coming--this was just warm enough that I started to feel the small of my back getting heated-up. So that it could cool and dry, I needed to sit without leaning back on the train.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Dr. There was a good headwind returning home.

From Northfield Dr. to Willow Ln. After I'd gotten home, I towed Samantha and rode along with Peggy and Max on a leisurely ride to get dinner. We meandered our way back on a very nice evening.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. There was a fair amount of traffic early on. I got passed near Dalecarlia so I drafted the guy up to Georgetown. There I passed him and finished up mostly alone. The winds were negligible or at least not much of a factor.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to Northfield Rd. I'd narrowly escaped work on-time. The guard had already closed the gate despite a rider 30 seconds ahead of me asking her to wait. She was locking-up early and grumbled about having to open it just as I'd gotten there and the gates clanked. There was some bus traffic early but I got a draft off of it too. After that I had headwinds getting to Georgetown. I'd caught up to a young woman rider but couldn't get around for a while due to oncoming traffic. Taking separate ways to Water St., I did get ahead. The auto traffic was moderate in Georgetown but I caught up to a guy in green just as we were exiting to the Capital Crescent Trail. I wisely stayed in his draft. The young woman stayed close behind me--with everyone having some skill drafting closely, we were moving well through more bicycle traffic. We picked up another rider as we continued into the wind at a good pace. I was okay until we hit the climb. My legs were still tired from running so I had to put in more effort going up, just to keep up. At the overpass at the sewage treatment plant, an older rodie passed me but we still stayed a 4-5 person group that was moving well. Just before the River Rd. overpass the older cyclist got around the guy in green and both took off. I lost contact, but still pulled for the woman behind me. We split-up at Falls Rd. and I just tried somewhat unsuccessfully, to hold it all together getting home.