Training Log Archive: Spike

MTB on bike paths and roads. I went out to Clinton State Park and explored a bit.

I haven't been on a bike ride in a while. My legs got tired. I also got a bit tired of sitting on the bike - butt, shoulders, arms, neck...

I needed to ride because after yesterday's orienteering I was inspired to sign up for next weekend's adventure race at Perry. I can't get in biking shape before next weekend, but I can make sure my bike works and remind myself what it is like to ride.

1

Event: OK: Slough Creek
 

Orienteering at Slough Creek. Gene set the course. I made the map, but it was mostly a remote project. I used the lidar data, the old 1983 map, and some photos for most of the work. I ran there a couple of times and added a few features. I thought the map was good. I might do some more field checking next fall. More work would be useful to get some of the vegetation differences (though KP did a really good job for the most). There are also some old barbed wire fences to either cut down or map. And some of the rocky ground could use work.

I ran ok. I blew the route to the first control. But, otherwise I was navigating well and working pretty hard.

I ran with the GoPro and might make a mapflixer.

Weather was fine for running, but not ideal for an event. Temps ranged from about 37-41F. We had a little light snow and rain. The ground was wet and the lake was high. At one point the lake was across the road, but only an inch or so deep.

Dean beat me by a minute or so.

5

Jogging to warm up.

Jogging to pick up controls.

When I was getting ready to run I heard thunder. I thought I might have to wait a bit before the storm passed, but I checked lightningmaps.org and it looked like the lightning was not going to be a problem, so I got out the door.

I jogged on West Campus. I got rained on a bit. I felt ok.

1

Jogged on West Campus. Temps were in the low 60s, so it was too hot.

The buds are just starting to come out on the bush honeysuckle. I hate that.

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OCIN_FP2019_Kiser_Hollow_Sunday_Classic_7 Green B - Splits

C • Day 1 a rough day 8

OCIN_FP2019_Carter_Caves_Saturday_Classic_7_GreenB - Splits

Event: OCIN Flying Pig XXIII
 

Jogging on West Campus. It was warm - maybe 60F. I got rained on a bit. I did 5x MP. My legs feel ok and it was fun to run.

1

A bit of the map, some photos and a couple of videos from Honey Creek yesterday:

https://twitter.com/okansas/status/110779890176613...

Also, something I need to read..a new Swedish guide to MTB orienteering course setting.

http://www.svenskorientering.se/Grenar/Mountainbik...

And the book has an Orienteer Kansas member in one of the photos. Check out Sanna on page 29.

We went to visit Kathleen at Clyde and stopped at Honey Creek on the way home.

I prepared a KP map and ran with it, looking at it almost continuously. The area is nice. The hills are big, but not too steep. There are a lot of trails. The trails are wide - like the lane of a road. The woods are decent, maybe the best overall of any areas around here.

I explored the area a good 20+ years ago with a park map.

The only real downside is that the area is a ways away. Google maps shows the route as 1:26 from Lawrence (which is about 20 minutes closer than Knob Noster). What we need is for a club to get started in St Joe.

I think I'll play around with the lidar and do some remote mapping. I should be able to get most of the trails from the ground points. I can add streams and ditches, too. The vegetation seemed reasonable.

3

I did some orienteering technique training and also picked up the 5 controls from the training course at Rockhaven. My mind seemed to be working pretty well. That's good.

The forest is junky, but I managed to feel like I was moving ok through the junk.

I found a deep well that I'd never noticed before. I'll add it to the map.

Additional jogging on the trails and in the woods. But this was just jogging and looking at the map from time to time, not actually orienteering.

4

Jogging to/from the start/finish on West Campus.

I jogged through a short course that Mary set for me on West Campus. My orienteering brain was working well tonight. That was nice.

There were a few sprinkles of rain. Not enough to cause any problems for my glasses.

Just before I started an owl swooped over my head.

2

I stopped at Sunflower Nature Park on my way home from work to stretch my legs a bit. I include 1x HU/ML/HE.

It was windy out there. The forecast calls for winds of 60 mph. It wasn't that windy but it was windy. My guess is the wind was a steady 30-35 when I was running.

1

I jogged around on West Campus. The ground was squishy, but the rain didn't start up again until I was home.

1

I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I decided to explore the area east of Rockhaven with the 2015 lidar KP map. I figured I'd explore and make a few field checking notes. I ran/jogged/walked. It was ok, but there is some really terrible terrain.

2

PTOC red course at Weston Bend. This was fun, but a lot of work. Weston Bend has some big hills. But it was tougher than usual because of the ice and mud. Jason P. fell on the course and dislocated his shoulder.

One marker was not in the right spot. I don't know how, but Fritz found the marker.

Weston Bend is a nice area, but it just doesn't draw people. I guess it is just too far north from KC (38 minute drive from downtown KC, MO, according to Google). The map needs updating.

5

Here is a bit of the course:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @okansas on Mar 9, 2019 at 4:18pm PST

On West Campus and included 3x HE. The footing was a bit soft in places.

2

Also, this is cool:

https://github.com/Microsoft/CanadianBuildingFootp...

I jogged around a sprinty course at the arboretum. It was fun, but the snow was slippery and I wore my running shoes instead of O' shoes.

The sun was setting and the light was low for the last 10 minutes. To read any detail I had to come to a complete stop and use my magnifier.

Fun.

2

Shoveling snow. It was hard to tell how much snow we got because the wind was blowing it around.

To/from the start/finish.

I jogged through some controls from the course I set for Mary a week or so ago. She'd drawn extra uncrossable walls on the map. That makes the route choices a bit more interesting.

I guess the temp was about 12F and the sun was shining. But the strong north wind made it feel colder than that.

My legs felt ok, but tired from yesterday.

2

I ran on the rough trails west and south of Rockhaven. I'd only run those trails once before, so it felt like exploring. I made a KP map and carried it with me, reading the map quite a lot. I used the newly released KP version. I think the main change is about form lines. That shouldn't really make much difference in the terrain around here. But it also seemed like the program ran faster. Maybe that's just my imagination.

The trails were mixed - mostly ok, but some had been used by horses when the ground was soft and were now frozen and rough.

One section of the trail is marked by decorated horse skulls posted on trees. Sort of cool and weird.

I turned around before the trails cross County Road 458. I think the trails continue along Rock Creek for another mile or more.

I ran the orange trail out and started back on the blue trail. Without realizing it, I switched to the yellow trail at some point on the way back. I'll rough-in the trails on the map from my GPS tracks.

Running was ok, but I got tired near the end and my legs were unusually tired afterwards. That isn't so fun.

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