Discussion: Flying Pig XIII - Entry is now open

Entry Information for OCIN's Flying Pig "A" Meets and 2009 US Relay Championship Events on April 3-5, 2009 is now open.

Can't wait. One of my favorite meets. And now we will have the relay champs too.

on the "scruptious dinner" note, referring to " Last year?s menu: Whole wheat pasta w/ homemade tomato sauce and meatballs (made from local Black Angus ground beef), Locally grown mixed greens w/ basil buttermilk dressing, Toasted garlic bread (made w/ Shadeau's bread, a local bakery in Cincinnati), Lemon-lime mousse (made w/ local, free-range eggs) ", it was a feast that I remember well.

Public transit information (bus) has now been added to the Flying Pig website. It is easily possible to reach all of this year's Flying Pig venues by public transit from Cincinnati airport and downtown area lodgings. Thanks to chitownclark for his help compiling this information.

My pleasure Mike...thanks for mapping such accessible venues! I think by staying downtown, and riding the bus 30-40 minutes each day to the events, we'll get a much different perspective on Cincinnati than we normally do at the Pig. From downtown we can walk up to Mt Adams, the Riverfront, and even across the pedestrian-only Purple People Bridge to Newport, Kentucky.

And we might save some money, avoid the car-pooling hassle, forget about parking problems, side-step DUI possibilities, enjoy more interesting evenings than watching the Hooter's waitstaff in some mall...and give our right foot a rest from pumping carbon into the environment.

Well, this is pretty interesting and I'm tempted to try it. I did print out the info, maps and schedules. Although of all the things I might worry about, I've never worried about a DUI incident. More worried about "where do I keep my stuff?". But then I'm just not used to using public transit much. Many years ago I lived near a bus line and liked to use it from time to time. Also a few years back (ok, more than a few) I used to run or ride my bike for various errands, even some that were pretty far away. I still do that for dropping off or picking up my car from the shop, at least in favorable weather. Not sure I would run for dropping off, though, because in addition to 7 miles, there's the 1000' of climb.

Well if I might suggest a solution for the "where do I keep my stuff?" question: Just don't bring anything with you...including your wallet and keys. Riding the bus, you don't really have much use for a Driver's License, credit cards, or other ID's.

Before leaving your hotel room, pare down to only things you wouldn't mind losing...or having stolen: some quarters, a folded $10 bill or two, and your hotel room key. And of course, your compass and your SI dauber!

As far as storing gear, there are indoor park lodges reserved for our group at all events except the relay, so you'll have a dry corner to stash your things, and the only people around should be orienteers. At the relay, there should be a canopy at least, and everything (start/finish/etc) is central, so there should be orienteers constantly around.

Walking distance from the nearest bus stop to the event centers is about 2 km for the McFarlan and Mt Airy events, and well under 1 km for the sprint.

Clark, your idea is pretty good for Saturday, not as good for Friday (unless one checks in early) or Sunday. But I'm just set in my ways and have a bit to learn. Traveling light is a good skill.

Charlie, as to where to put your stuff, I would think any orienteer that drove there would be more than willing to allow you to store a backpack in their vehicle while you ran that way you could bring an entire change of dry clothes to wear after running. Riding home on a bus with wet O clothes in cold/cool weather could be very uncomfortable, I would think.

Dinner will be similar to last year, but with both meat and vegetable sauces available for the pastas.

Website now has a few photos from Mt. Airy.

Public transit info has been updated, including the route from the airport to downtown.

Although the deadline for entering without late fee was this past weekend, I'll waive late fees for anybody I get complete information from by this Friday, March 20.

List of entrants is updated for everything I have received thru yesterday's mail.

What is the deadline for registering Relay teams?

I have posted an updated entry list at http://www.ocin.org/flying_pig/pigXIII/start_list_.... This list also indicates people who are on a relay team. There are lots of people who are not yet committed to teams, so if you are looking, use this list to help find team-mates.

Although we will take entry forms for relay teams up thru the morning of the event, it is a big help to us if you can get them sent in sooner. Deadline will be about 2 hours before the start.

Course Setter's and Mapper's Notes updated for Middle (Fri) and Long (Sunday).

T-shirt design is now posted.

2 Canadians, 6 points looking to race the relay! Let me know if you are looking for members.