Training Log Archive: Spike

Work commute. Crazy windy coming home.

To/from the place I started tonight's technique training.

Corridor course on West Campus. This is the training for tomorrow's Ulrik's Hill session. I can't make it tomorrow, so I tested it tonight. Fun, but my legs are still tired from Saturday.

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Solo for the "Thumper" adventure race at Junction City.

The first bit of the race was in Junction City. You biked around to a series of parks and found a few control locations in the parks.

Finding the controls was difficult because the USGS maps are rough and the trail networks in the parks don't show up. The descriptions didn't help much. The descriptions were "off trail" or "on trail" or "terrain." Also, the controls were marked by just a punch (because the organizer was worried that if they were marked by control flags, the controls would get stolen).

After a few of those city parks, we headed out the bike path along the Republican River and ran around looking for makers below the dam at Milford. These controls had flags but were also tricky to find due to the rough map and placement.

Next, it was back along the bike path with a few controls along the way. One of those controls required wading the Republican River. The water was cold and a bit over my knees.

Finally, we were back in Junction City with a visit to a control at the Basking Robins.

I won overall and Sandy was the top solo female. I haven't seen the results, but Sandy was probably 3rd or 4th across the finish line.

A few of notes:

Except for the part below the dam I ran in biking shoes. That's not ideal, but it seemed like the running parts were short enough that switching shoes didn't make sense and there was enough biking that riding in running shoes didn't make sense.

Sandy's GPS showed 30 miles.

I thought I was behind most of the way, but in retrospect, I think I was probably in the lead after about the first hour or 90 minutes.

The map was just a USGS topo with a few changes drawn in. Local knowledge of new roads would be a big help. For example on one section in town, my route (best on the map) was 3.2 miles, but if you knew about the roads not shown on the map, you'd ride 1.8 miles.

Finding the punches when there was no flag was difficult. It'd have helped to put out some tape at the location, too.

There's readily available lidar data all around Junction City. It would be pretty easy to make a map that would be a lot better than the USGS topo.

C • It's not orienteering, it's an adventure... 4

My bike was at Cycleworks getting some repairs and new pedals. I picked it up and rode a bit on the bike paths. The clunking was still happening so I brought it back to the shop and worked with Gary instead of the usual kid-mechanics. I'm hopeful that Gary will have it fixed.

We also had a nice chat about the old days.

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Work commute.

The trip home was a bit of a chore. The headwind was a steady 25 mph with gusts to 40 mph. The temp was in the 40s and falling. Oh yeah, and it was raining, too.

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An observation about improving orienteering performance:

I believe that looking for barriers to getting better is bound to fail, look at the advantages you already have and make the best of them. In the US we have a lot of advantages.

C • Barriers 7

2 x Ulrik's Hill plus some jogging around, including putting out flags for some sprint O' practice. We had a nice turnout: Mary, Matt, Gene, Sandy, Kevin, Max and Simon.



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Work commute. It was snowing during the day, but warm enough that it didn't stick. Warm enough that the snow didn't stick, but it was still chilly going to and from work (~30-33 F).

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At Rockcrusher. I picked up the mini markers that I put our a month or so ago. Nice day, but legs were shot.

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PTOC MTBO at Crowder State Park.

This was tough for me. The ground was soft and it was just a lot of work to keep going. It seemed like the bike wouldn't roll and that made it slow and tough. I got tired. I walked up a bunch of hills that I couldn't ride up because I just couldn't keep moving in the soft stuff. The new map holder works a lot better than my old one.

I'd guessed on being out more like 90 minutes. Maybe if the trails had been faster. I should have brought some sport drink or gel.

My bike mostly survived Gene's bike rack breaking. I'll probably replace the seat and grips, but otherwise it didn't have any obvious damage.

I should probably get some new MTB shoes, too.

Crowder SP features very pleasant woods - reminding me of St Louis with a little bit less climb. I can't find any lidar for Grundy County and I don't know what the basemap was, but the contours are overly general (though consistent). The bigger problem with Crowder is that it is a long drive from KC (1:50 from Lenexa) and I don't think many locals will make a drive that long.

The terrain and facilities at Crowder would be good for an A-meet, but hosting an A-meet that far from the volunteers' homes makes things a chore (and make it more likely that something goes wrong).

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C • oops 10

Work commute. Warm but temp is falling and the forecast is for about freezing for tomorrow's MTBO.

Also, watched some KU bball.

Work commute. With most of the students out of town on Spring break it is nice and quiet for biking.

Ran to/from the grocery store. Warm outside.

Also, this is pretty cool. Frank M is an inch shorter than me:

http://www2.ljworld.com/videos/2014/mar/20/35873/

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I read some of the stuff about the OUSA strategic plan. For what it is worth, I think things would work out reasonably well if all clubs did what we did.*

We looked at the plan and took out a few concepts that we thought made sense and talked about them at a club meeting. In the end, we settled on setting local goals for increasing local starts and club OUSA members. We set very modest goals, but it certainly helped us to have some framework and to think of our local club events as part of a bigger plan.

We also used the OUSA strategic plan as part of our thinking when we decided to work with PTOC to host an A-meet. Although the main reason we did that was to raise some money to fund SI punches.

*Maybe some other clubs (or even most others?) did something similar?

A little bit to get to/from West Campus.

I did the MTBO course we used last summer on West Campus. The course is mostly roads/bike paths/parking lots, so the MTB technical aspect is very low. And, of course, the navigation isn't difficult. Still, it is useful to do some map reading and work with the map holder. Fun.

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Training with OKers after work. We ran 2 x Ulrik's Hill. Once was before and once was after the O' session.

We had a good turnout with Mary, Gene, Matt and Sandy.

On the last hill I felt really tired - I was working hard but my legs weren't moving very well on the hill. I recovered a bit on the flat bit at the end.

2

5 x short 2-control courses on West Campus. Fun and I pushed hard.

1

We had a nice visit from Martin and Severin Oppliger. It was fun to talk with Martin about the old days - the Louisiana A meet and various 1980s orienteers (like Dan Mean-man, Eric Weyman, Dave Linthicum and Fritz).And it was fun to catch up on what's been going on since the 1980s.

Severin is on his way across the country in an old SUV he bought. It is just like his Dad...except his car isn't as cool as the yellow convertible that Martin and Daniel drove.

Jogging around at Clinton overlook putting out and picking up controls markers. It was comfortable running, but when I wasn't running I was cold. I got cold and never really warmed up.

1

Kartlek at Clinton Overlook and state park. I ran a mix of trails and forest, but most of the time I was on trails.

There was a bike race at the campground:

https://vine.co/v/MbVxH60bQX5

Also it was warm - maybe low 70s. Sunny, too. I don't like warm and sun. But it brought a lot of hikers and bikers out to the park.

4

Easy biking on the bike path with Mary. I rode my MTB to give my map board a second test. I like it. I also like having Open Orienteering Map as a way to get a quick map ready for something like this ride.

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Work commute.

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Work commute. Chilly (maybe 30F) in the morning, but warm (70F) on the trip home.

Just a short run at Clinton overlook, checking out some points from Gene's courses - some junky forest out there.

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Work commute.

Grocery store run. They've moved the pita bread.

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Nice video interview of Thierry Gueorgiou:

http://youtu.be/WVcdD9yIO3I

Work commute. I had a nice tailwind in the morning and the temps were warmish (around 50F). When I walked at lunch, the temp was around 70. Then right about 5, a cold front arrived and the wind shifted and the temp began falling. The shift in the wind gave me a tailwind for the trip home.

Jogging on West Campus. Fun and I managed to be dressed in exactly the right amount of clothing for the strong north wind and falling temps.

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The time spent running at Woodridge while installing permanent markers for the new permanent O' course. As far as I know, OK has never had a permanent course before.

Sunny with light wind and temps above 50 (and nearly 70 later in the day). It felt strange.

2

I was in class most of the day at KU, so I couldn't make it to the PTOC event. After I got home, I did a little biking on my MTB but on pavement. I gave my new MTBO map holder a test. It is much better than my old one.

1

Work commute. The temp reached 60F or so today.

A short jog on West Campus. I ran in just a t-shirt and shorts and it was fine...for a few minutes and then the wind picked up and it was a bit cold.

After the run I watched the TV coverage of the mixed relay in the Euro Ski Orienteering Champs. The coverage was good.

1

The work commute and no more.

1

Work commute with a trip to the grocery store for salad.

I was looking forward to watching the KU game tonight. It is pretty much a dud. KU is up 39-19 at half. Not much fun to watch. I'm hoping the game I listen to on the radio tonight is closer and more interesting.

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An easy run on West Campus. Most of the snow has melted but the ground was not yet very muddy. It will be muddy soon.

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Jogging on West Campus. The snow was nice to look at and made it easy to spot the little deer trails that I'd normally not see. I spent a bunch of time shuffling around on those little deer trails. I found two permanent O' markers and two regular O' markers that I hadn't seen before. I think it must all be ROTC-related.

It was pretty chilly (~5 F) and windy.

2

Snow shoveling. The snow was a mix of snow and sleet that formed chunks that broke as you shoveled. It was much easier than I'd feared. I thought the layer might be sticking to the pavement, but it was actually pretty easy to peel off with a shovel.

A few photos from the trip to illustrate the log...

360 panorama (with Mary) from an open are on Blacktail Plateau (the map link places the photo in the ocean off the coast of Africa - no idea why):

http://www.360cities.net/image/meglin-00995584-5d7...

Also, Mary in the wind and snow on Blacktail Plateau: http://instagram.com/p/ksgEE-w00q/

360 panorama at Caste Geyser as the sun is just coming up:

http://www.360cities.net/image/at-castle-geyser#-7...

And a hot spring next to Caste Geyser:

https://vine.co/v/Mmnq50H0YFT

Mary disappeering into the steam at Black Sands Pool:

https://vine.co/v/MmhFI5Kx9YZ

From the trip to Lone Star Geyser...

Mary on the trail to Kepler: http://instagram.com/p/kxnbQgQ07V/
Mary on the groomed trail along the Firehole: http://instagram.com/p/kxnnsWw07x/
Lone Star Geyser: http://instagram.com/p/kxn0ILw08J/

From the Bannock Trail....

Mary on the return trip skiing in our tracks: http://instagram.com/p/kp56UBQ0_5/

Landscape at the trail head: http://instagram.com/p/kp6DywQ0wD/

The early morning light on a trip around the terraces ski loop (while Mary slept): http://instagram.com/p/ksgQOeQ01E/

And a couple of non-skiing photos....

Bison: http://instagram.com/p/kp6KKVw0wR/
Old Faithful: http://instagram.com/p/kvNuU6Q00h/

C • Bison photo 2

Picking up mini markers from the training course at Rockcrusher and then setting out mini markers for a new course. Two of the markers were gone. That surprised me.

Also did some just-plain-running on the trails and in the woods at Rockcrusher. I made an effort to get some hills and ended up with >200 meters of climb.

The temp and wind were steady. As I got back to the car the first few snowflakes fell. It'd be nice if we don't get the freezing rain/sleet.

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