Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Control checking, Pelican Bay.

The scene of battle, before the warring contestants have arrived...



One Cowboy Relay terrain in background, looking somewhat burnt, but not burnt out.

Spent a few hours checking control locations and looking for mire monsters. DIdn't find any mire monsters, unless you count beaver, which don't count.

Happily, there was no smoke or haze today. It was almost like normal!

Except it wasn't. Laramie was wayyyyy busier today than it has been in months. It was almost like somehow the population doubled overnight. This may bear investigation. Walmart was absolutely swamped (though no mire monsters there either.)

Checked control locations at Superfly Marsh. Didn't see a single fly, but, boy, was there a lot of beaver marsh. Maybe about time for a re-name.

Ran the Day 3 Red. Quite fun, and cattle scattered throughout the course made it even better. They are doing a nice job of the final grooming of the race area.

Headed out in the morning to beat the rain (success), take some pictures (failure), and check a control location (failure.) So, most unfortunately, more failures than successes.

The picture failure came down to failure to properly prepare--ie, didn't check battery life. There was none, which made picture taking problematic, especially since I didn't have back-up crayons with me. Too bad, since crayon pictures are more fun anyway.

I did successfully check the control location, so how was that a failure? Alas, it became clear only later, in the evening, that there were two control locations requiring assessment, and not only one.

Still, not a bad day. As I was driving in, I noticed that the relay exchange zone was being inhabited by a rather large bull moose with massive antlers. I hope it's still there for the race, as that will add an extra degree of excitement and interest for racers and spectators alike.

And, I found 9 beer cans while I was out. Killer.

Already I am eager for tomorrow to arrive. There could be more beer cans out there, and there will definitely be new opportunities to pile up additional humiliating failures.

Another cool day, overcast from start to finish, with rain threatening much of the day, and arriving in the early afternoon. I had planned intervals and was wondering if it would be better to re-schedule for tomorrow, but headed up early hoping I could squeeze things in before the rain. It was already raining on the way up and in various directions things looked like they were only going to get worse. Nevertheless I kept going, and by the time I was parking things somewhat miraculously were looking better.

It only started sprinkling again as I was finishing up, so it actually worked out perfectly. The conditions that would have been horrible for mapping, were perfect for today's effort.

10 x 5 min cruise intervals.

Air back to clear today, with all hills and mountains plainly visible.

To go with the bull moose yesterday, I came across a youngish cow moose today. I would have introduced them to each other except for the fact that it was different days in different places. Plus, they were moose.

The effects of the weekend rains did not last long. Today the haze in the valley was thicker than ever--the thickest I've seen yet, in fact. From downtown, you couldn't see a hint of the hills and mountains to either side of the valley, and even the cement factory to the south was well along the way to passing out of sight. But oddly, it seems the haze is mostly low. If you looked straight up, you could see blue skies, looking only faintly filtered. No smell of smoke--it's all visual.

What in the world could there be left to burn in California?