Training Log Archive: PG

A few thoughts about the two European events we went to.

The first was a 5-day in the south of France. The first three days were on the north side of the Pyrenees, altitude about 6,000'; the last two days were a couple of hours drive away, near Narbonne, altitude not much above sea level. Three different clubs were involved in the organization.

I happened to meet the guy whose name was listed for all five days as responsible for maps. Turned out he was an English fellow, maybe in his late 30's, worked full-time in orienteering, mostly mapping. I assumed he was an employee of the French O' federation, but, no, he was employed by a club in the area. A good bit of his funding came from "subletting" his services out to other clubs. He's been doing this for quite a few years, doesn't get paid much more than minimum wage, but seemed very happy to be doing it. Seemed like just the sort of person we could use a few of in the USA -- mappers is the number one place we need "professionals" in this country, and it sure would be nice if progress could be made on procuring them.

The event was fine, though not without a few rough spots, though the maps and courses seemed plenty good enough. The e-punch operation seemed to struggle, especially the first couple of days, long lines to download, but that problem got worked out and the last three days it worked well. The event planning had been for a crowd of about 1,000, and when 1,700 showed up it was good for finances but a bit of a struggle to administer. But there were no major snafus that I saw. One thing I did miss that I remember from previous times in France was music (and a bit of announcing) at the finish. Low priority, but it sure makes hanging out seem more fun.

One odd thing was that there was no overall 5-day result, just 5 individual days. One of the joys of the big Euro events is that the competition lasts for several days, ideally building to a chase start on the last day. In this case it sort of just fizzled to an end.

The above notwithstanding, I would go back to France gladly, though preferably to some other part of the country just to see what it had to offer. France has lots of wonderful orienteering.

The other event was a 5-day in Croatia. I'd never been to Croatia, so it was a new experience both as a tourist and as an orienteer. The orienteering was in the mountains between Zagreb and the coast (with the exception of a city sprint in a town right on the coast). "Karst" terrain, which seems to mean hilly, rocky (limestone), lots of depressions both small and large and enormous, and a bit of a primeval sense in the forest. All of those things with the exception of the rocky footing are positive things.

The organization seemed superb. I don't recall any problems. Maps and courses were excellent, controls always sitting just where they should, everything on time and efficient. I think it was a rather small group that was doing the organizing, but they knew what they were doing.

Another plus for both events was the vibes. Things just feel different than most meets in the USA. The center of attention is area around the finish, that's where everyone hangs out, that's where you can buy food and drink, as opposed to the parking lot at our events. I'm not sure if it makes any substantive difference, but it sure feels different, and more fun. And of course there are more young orienteers and fewer geezers. That is also a good thing. If nothing else, the energy level just seems a lot higher.

Back to Croatia again? Maybe, but less likely. While we could always manage to do what we needed to, not knowing the language is an issue. Also, it's likely the next 5-day will be in the same area, and there are so many new places to go orienteering these days. But if you haven't been there it is definitely worth going. The one thing I would do differently is add a couple more days for touristing, hopefully getting down to Split and Dubrovnik, old cities on the Adriatic coast. But that requires more planning....

We did manage to see a bit of northeast Spain before and after the French event (we were flying in and out of Barcelona), especially a stop in Figueres to see the Dali museum -- a cool building and layout, though the art itself was a little less than I hoped for, certainly not as good as a traveling Dali exhibit we saw quite a few years ago in Hartford that had a bunch of his most amazing paintings -- and then a couple of days in Barcelona, visits to the Gaudi cathedral and one of his remarkable houses, and a bunch of walking around soaking up the culture.

It is good to get out of Sunderland every once in a while, even though nowhere else will you find as interesting a corn maze....

C • volunteering 9

Short late afternoon ride, seemed warm out but I guess it's a lot better than it's been. Plan is to do a bunch of riding as long as the warm weather continues.

Croatia, Day 5. Great day for our group as George won the day and did well enough to win M70 overall, Gail won the day and did well enough to win F65 overall, and I was a few seconds back on the day but well enough to win M65 overall.



The M65 course --



A fun place to orienteer. Very interesting for the first 4 controls, then got a lot easier but still had to pay attention. Missed maybe 2 minutes, part in the execution of my route to #1, and then didn't see #2 as I went by, had to come back. Otherwise very solid. Just one lapse in concentration, on the trail from 5 to 6 it occurred to me that this was the last O' day of the trip, and it was almost done, but I managed to put that thought away and pay attention to the task at hand.

Afterwards I went back out on the map, took a bunch of photos, which I will post shortly, including what should be a photo-O' for those so inclined.

OK, so here are the photos. The first few, up through the shot of the finish, are just for a warm-up, general shots of the terrain. Then photos A through K for the 11 controls on my course. In one you have to look carefully to see the control as it was partially collapsed.

My guess is you ought to be able to get them all, if you have your thinking cap on, or for JJ, if you figure out what order I took them in, and then what my route was. :-)

C • Hooray 9

C • photo-O 7

Croatia, day 4.

Well, that was a lot better. Mantra for the day was -- why go straight when you can go around -- although I think I blew it going to the last control and from the last control to the finish. Perhaps got carried away once, to the next to last control, came in the back door just to be safe, had a good run so far and why ruin it, though I'd guess it was 30 seconds or so slower.

The map -- and this is a two-for-one special -- all the M65 maps were gone, but several M/F10 left, so I snagged one of those. In case you can't tell the difference, my course is the blue circles. If we were in Swissland, telling the two apart would be much more of a challenge. :-)



No real problems. Quite warm, legs not the best but not as bad as I feared, and a decent effort. First by 5 minutes, so 3+ for tomorrow, though there is no chase start.

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In other stuff, got a nice history lesson of the Balkans from Stan (Barb's dad). As he was finishing up, a guy across the table (we were enjoying the Croatian version of waffles with chocolate and jam, plus the beverage of your choice) piped up with a few other facts. Turned out he was Portuguese, had been in the region roughly 1990-95 serving as bodyguard for the Portuguese ambassador, spoke the language (and about 5 others), knew the history. He gave Stan an A for his lesson, and added a few more things. Quite the fine lunch, as I've been meaning to brush up on a bit of the history.

And my biker friend from yesterday, grew up in Transylvania, apparently not a vampire, moved to Germany when the world opened up in 1990.

C • It's good you kept your shirt on. 1

Well, my orienteering today was quite terrible. On the other hand, it was a day of social triumphs, so overall totally positive. :-)

To get the minor stuff out of the way first (as usual, click on the map for a larger image) --



Various problems:

-- to #1, ran down to the corner of the trail, started contouring, never saw the big trail, never say anything else recognizable, fortunately decided to stop, and then climb, and happened to be right below the control. Pure luck.
-- to #2, just spaced out at the end. Meant to drop into the reentrant by the control, but didn't come close. Searched for a while, finally was figuring out what I had done when a Age, a Finn (normal percentage of vowels) who started 4 minutes after me, went sailing past me towards the control. Hmm, not a good start. More or less with him to #6, though he was a little stronger. I think I maybe got to 7 first, but then....
-- to #8, nice job going south from the little western extension of the depression part way!

Plus dead legs, heart rate very low. Maybe too much beer the last few nights?

Third on the day, but 6+ minutes behind, now 2 minutes down for the 3 days. Oh, well.

----------------

Now the important stuff.

1. Finish, over to get a bottle of water at the refreshment tent, and sitting there are Kar and Age, the two Finns from HS. And they speak good english (not a given for Europeans in my age group). Pay my proper respects to Age for the thumping he administered today. Then the talk turned to the sprint in Krk, and from there naturally the next subject was corn maze orienteering. And the easiest way to give them more info -- just send them to AttackPoint, of course. Where Kar has already showed up.

2. And then the announcer, Wolfgang, an Austrian, also involved in a lot of ski-O stuff, knew all about Ali and Alex and even Sharon, his duties done for the day and time for a beer and a sandwich, so we chatted and he introduced me to an Austrian in my class, who had also bombed today.

3. And then the real coup....

We had noticed on the way to day 1, and also coming back from day 1, an older man, shirtless, looking very fit, biking to and then from the event center. And there he was a couple of tables over, also a beer and a sandwich with a couple of friends. So I go over and the usual first question -- "Does anyone here speak English?"

Well, his friend did to some extent, and then the biker spoke up, perfect English. Turns out he turns 70 this year, so in George's class, lives in Germany, got to Croatia by taking a train to Budapest where a friend of his lives, and then borrowing a bike.

How many days to get here?

Five.

How far?

680 kilometers.

A few hills?

Ooof, up and down and up and down.

Are you biking back afterwards?

Well, it seems he's biking back to Budapest via Bosnia, and I think Romania, and maybe a couple of other countries, a lot longer but not so hilly. Turns out he has bad knees, can't run any more, but put 10,000 miles on his bike last year.

Very much the stud, also funny and cool. We laughed a bunch. I got his name, David Cornel, gave him mine, got what I've gotten once in a while over here (You're Peter Gagarin?), he'd been reading about American orienteering for 20 or 30 years.

George came over at some point, more laughs. What a fine day. Gave him the AttackPoint address too.

4. Finally headed off. Stopped in a little market to get lunch, then a short detour to have a look at a motorcycle race track just outside the town we are staying in. A few people around but not much happening, no one on the track.

Chatted up a German speaking couple, she spoke a little English, he had his racing gear on. Was there a race tonight, I asked. No, she said, in 5 minutes. It seemed like she was serious. I figured I better leave them alone, so we all headed up to the bleachers. And about 5 minutes later about 30 motorcycles were on the track and about 50 people in the stands. A couple of warm-up laps, and then the race itself, lots of noise, people going really fast. Fortunately only 10 laps, just the right distance for our kind of fan. But very cool, our timing couldn't have been better.

And then back to the hotel for a nap, very successful day, as long as one forgets about the orienteering. :-)

C • Racing 1

Just to make sure I don't forget the lesson --

Standing at the start line for the sprint as the seconds ticked down, I thought I had everything under control, except I failed to notice the orienteering marker that was apparently right there that had a sign on it saying "Start".

So, I was operating under the assumption that there was some distance to the start triangle. Ran to the end of the street, down the steps like everyone in the two previous groups had done, there was a control there, I assumed it was the start. And absolutely nothing made sense. Kept moving, because everyone else was -- how's that for good reasoning -- with a strong sinking feeling. Sort of figured out the building I was running to, but even when I reached the next street, I wasn't really sure where I was. Definitely helped at that moment to see the guy who started a minute before me heading down the street on the way to #2.

It shouldn't really be that hard.

C • ouch 2

Day 2, sprint in the town of Krk (yup, no vowels). Made a mess of the start, first time I can remember not knowing where I was in a city sprint, but excellent thereafter. Good enough.

Late afternoon race, then we stayed in town for dinner, very pleasant, though it made for getting home late.

But, with 41 minutes of O' over the last two days, clearly in need of a rest day, which it just so happens in on tap for tomorrow. :-)



Looking back the finish chute from the finish to the last control. Time in the chute was 3 seconds.



Results.

C • 2012 Results! 2

C • gap, or no gap? 4

C • I know where the vowels are 13

Event: Croatia Open 2013
 

Results from today.

Accomplished the only competitive goal of the trip, win a day in Croatia.

Croatia Open, day 1, classic karst terrain.

Sp lets do this report with the most important stuff first.... :-)

1. I see Izzy in the finish area after we've both run, and when I asked her how it went, she says the best line I've heard for some time -- "I turned the map over at the start, looked at it, and just smiled." Really complicated stuff, and she loves it. Very cool.

A while later, with Barb and Dave and Izzy and another of the juniors, a boy, and Barb is recounting the two different reactions to first seeing the map, one from Izzy that I already knew, and the other from the boy quite the opposite. I looked at him, thought for a moment, and said, I'm guessing you said something like "Oh shit." "My words exactly," he said with a big smile. Though he managed OK out there. Izzy was 4th, excellent.

2. So Gail made it 21 seconds -- the 305 has the proof, since it turned itself off then -- before she tripped and crashed, having not yet reached the start triangle. Whack her left knee, plus did a rib job, plus tore her map in three places. Got up, kept going, somewhat later another fall, scalp wound to the back of her head. But finished the course, navigated very well, in first place as it turned out! Helps to be young in her class, doesn't turned 65 for another 8 days.

3. And George, very solid, first place also!

4. And I did my good deed for the day, caught up to the Finn who started 2 minutes ahead of me, a clubmate of Neil's I think from HS, guided him around most of the course to a fine second place finish. Though I do have to work on my temperament, as I was getting a bit pissed at times. Mellow, PG, mellow!

C • Karst 11

C • Unidentified M-x.. 7

Nice couple of days in Spain, mostly Barcelona, now seem to have made our way to Zagreb. Life is good.

Day 5, last day. Getting closer to the coast, just outside of Narbonne. Similar to yesterday in that there was lots of green and yellow on the map, but this one also had some white forest, pines, where the running was good even if the visibility was not as good as you expected.

Anyway, pretty good run. Did the first few well, then a bit of weakness in the middle, then finished up well. The latter was due to the fact that I had set a goal of 40 minutes based on what I saw of the early times (44 best in M65, about 35 best in M60 on the same course). Realize that a goal of 40 minutes on a course that is only 3.1 km sounds absurd, but these are not fast "woods" and the kilometer times in all classes were very slow.

So with 3 or 4 controls left it seemed like 40 was out, maybe 41 or 42 was possible, but that got my legs and my mind moving a little quicker -- motivation, wherever it comes from, always makes a difference -- and I got myself finished three seconds to the good. Walked off to the download station sweating like crazy, but also with a good smile on my face. Though I suppose one could point out that that same sense of urgency should be there right from the start. No, forget that, some zip is still better than none at all.

Ended up first by 4+ minutes, so 2-1-1-4-1 for the 5 days. Just fine.





Problems --

-- #8, not paying enough attention, left 7 in the wrong direction, and took a while to correct.
-- #12, just wasn't thinking, took the wrong yellow opening down the hill, so had to make a loo around at the bottom.
-- other than that, just little stuff. So best I could have done was 37-38.

Took a few photos of the terrain, all taken from the spur just south of the finish. First, looking south --



Then looking west --



Then, some of the nasty stuff --



And finally, a closer look at the nasty stuff, a low-growing oak with pointy leaves. very slow going, but still better than greenbriar.

Map and route from day 4 --



And splits --



And Carcassonne the day before --

And after the O' it was time for a trip to the beach. The Mediterranean seemed to be on its best behavior, cool and clean water and very clean sand. I am no beach fan, but this was certainly acceptable.

Well, I guess I will post my map from today so my comments make some sense, but it will not happen until my blood alcohol drops a fair bit. Fortunately George was the designated driver.

A very fine evening out on the town....

Results from today. Pretty feeble.

Day 4. Totally different terrain, mostly green and yellow on the map.

Not a good day, lots of problems, a little bit finding the controls, a lot finding a good line through the green. When I finished I still hadn't figured out the best tactics in the general choice between running around and trying to plunge through. I guess if you run in this stuff a bunch you figure it out, but running in this stuff a bunch is very low on my wish list.

Though I will get a shot at something similar tomorrow.

Problems --

-- #1, misread things, turned in to look for the control a section too early and not surprisingly things didn't match up.
-- #3, way around, best route I think, but lost contact at the end. took all my intuition and a good bit of luck to find it without a lot of time lost.
-- #7, shaky on the steep traverse, unnecessarily climbed a little too high.
-- #11, terrible time getting there down the thick and progressively steeper hillside. Needed to be 20 years younger and a lot smarter.
-- #12, a bad exit from 11, caught up in more green, plus didn't realize until afterwards that the bit of road I ran on to the last control was X'ed off, so should have been DQ'd. Not that it matters, with this format (5 single days) you either win or you don't, very simple.

Was 4th on the day by a couple of minutes, absent the DQ. A day best forgotten. Though on the bright side, no rips in my new pants. :-)

Tourist day, a visit to the ancient walled city of Carcassonne in the morning and the pleasant old town of LaGrasse in the afternoon. All very pleasant, good company and a good chauffeur.

Day 3. Another good run on some terrain that was a whole lot of fun for the first 8 controls. Again trying to focus on keeping moving, although it felt like slow going at times (hills, wet areas). But I put out a decent effort at least, and that is worth something.



As usual, clicking on the map (or photo) often gets a bigger image).



Problems --

-- to #1, pretty decent line though should have been a little more to the right at the start, to open area and pick up little trail.

-- to #3, took the long way around the marsh.

-- to #4, not really sure where I was prior to the main trail, but kept moving OK and trying to stay on a straight line. Good after the main trail.

-- to #10, straight would have been better, crawl under the electric fence, rather than detouring for the opening.

-- to #12, really just after leaving #11, tripped just as I was about to try and jump across a ditch, and did a lovely dive right into it. And it was only just big enough to accommodate me. Emerged wet and quite covered with mud, including map and compass. Wonder what the guy behind me thought? :-)

Results.

---------------

So after we were done, decided that my O pants, quite full of holes and now also mud, were ready for retirement.



Went off and procured a new pair. And then retrieved my prize for winning yesterday, three different kinds of cookies and, in case they aren't sweet enough, a jar of local honey. Mighty fine.

C • holes in pants 3

Results from today.

Day 2. Seemed a little better. Still a couple of little bobbles, maybe a minute or so in all, but felt like I ran a little better. Not great, but at least didn't walk every time it turned up. In fact, put out a pretty decent effort.

Which, actually, surprising as it may be, was the one and only goal for the day -- run some uphills. Often I advise people to focus entirely on the orienteering and the running will take care of itself. But in this case it was the opposite -- work as hard as you can and the orienteering will take care of itself. Still had a whole lot of weak moments, certainly could have run a lot more, but this was a step in the right direction. And at 6,500'.

Don't know how I did. Was first of 6 when I finished, but didn't see any later results, nor is anything at all online. I'd assume in the top few.





Problems:

-- #6 was supposed to be at a water hole between two knolls. Sure looked total flat, just a bunch of trees. Somewhat lucked into it after a couple of zigs. And off my line on the way to the road, thought I was climbing a little more.

-- #7, checked out the higher clearing first, silly, had plenty of time on the road to see exactly what was going on. By the way, straight across the marsh. Wet and a little heavy but not bad. And the guy I caught at 6 was right behind me.

-- #9, came right to the rocks, didn't see the control, back just enough to check the trail, then saw it, just 5-10 meters from where I'd been.

Perfectly acceptable orienteering. Could have used a little better lines into 7 and 9, would have made it easier.

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The line to download. Maybe why results were slow?



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And then a little lunch, and a visit to an old solar research facility --

C • Solar facility 1

Event: 5 jours o'tramontane
 

Day 1 in the south of France. Can't say I was particularly psyched, more just in the frame of mind of go out and enjoy it. Managed to leave my 305 back in the room, so the route is done the old-fashioned way.



Not a bad run. Problems --

-- Any uphills... :-) (plus altitude, about 6,000')

-- There was a note in the meet info that some fences might be electric. Spent a while going to #1 looking for a way to get across the fence without touching it, finally just did, not electrified. Idiot.

-- #8, strange mapping of the logged areas, thought I had gotten over to the correct spot, but I was a clearing to soon.

-- #10, a problem I have had before, a control out in an open area. Had a hard time reading the map.

Otherwise perfectly fine. Results. One thing that is a little strange is that it is a 5-day, but they are not doing 5-day combined results, just treating it like 5 one-day races. Takes a little of the interest out it.

On the other hand, a nice touch, the splits print-out also gives your time per km for the course and all the individual legs.



Raining steadily, so we didn't hang around.

C • Route to 11? 7

I can't help but think that the slower times in the women's middle qualifier heat B (47:19 was the 15th and last qualifier), compared to heat A (38:06) and heat C (37:38), might be connected to the following -- only 11 of the 28 starters in B were ranked (in other words, had an average of 600 or more WRE points). In heat A it was 18 and in heat C it was 20.

Something that might be checked, and adjusted for, in the future?

If there are qualifying races in the future. There is supposed to still be qualifiers for the sprint, but I think the whole WOC process is still under discussion behind closed doors. Would be nice to know what is planned for 2014.

A short outing on a training map. First walked a bit with Gail, then jogged to several controls. Nice to get out, as it's been a while since I orienteered.

Watched the middle qualifier GPS tracking this morning, a very convenient start at 8 am. It was always interesting, but too much of the time it was also painful, watching people you know/admire/like make mistakes. And at the start of both the men's and women's course today there was very demanding terrain for the first few controls. And a lot of mistakes.

I wonder if the GPS tracking affects you in real time. You're out there, you make a mistake, do you also start thinking about the fact that in effect lots of people are watching you. We tend to do our thing quite alone. This must feel quite different.

I just know that Gail and I were watching and much more often than I would have wished we were saying, "Oh, no." And poor _____." Orienteering can be a very humbling sport, even for the very best.

But I guess it happens in most sports -- the batter strikes out, the pitcher suddenly can't find the strike zone, the hurdler can't clear the hurdles, the golfer can't make the short putts. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there in front of a crowd, and then keep trying when things are going bad. But what else can you do, because who knows, the next day everything may go just perfect.

C • People watching your mistakes 13

Short run with George and Lyn, got caught by a passing squall, thought we were going to get really dumped on but not so much. Did drop the temperature a bunch.

Now in Font Romeu (France), altitude about 5,500', so a little less oxygen. Legs felt OK but still a bit of right arch tenderness. Will have to bash some other body part to relieve the pressure.

C • Font Romeu 3

Overnight Boston to Frankfurt to Barcelona, no problems, then heading north into the Pyrenees, though still on the Spanish side. Traveling with George and Lyn, very fine. Stopped in the little town of Quinella for a cultural session and a little ice cream, then on to a tiny hotel George found up in the hills. Very strange, area was site of a huge coal mining operation that was shut down many many years ago, but there are still all sorts of abandoned buildings.

So while the others crashed, I managed a short jog, both to see the sights and stretch the legs, though didn't stretch them much. Hmm, O' starts on Saturday I think and I feel remarkably unprepared, and not overly concerned. :-)

Here's the route.

C • "Hotel up in the Hills" 1

Leverett loop counter-clockwise. Last bike ride for a while. I wonder if I'll remember how to run when it's time to go orienteering in a few days.

Shutesbury - Lake Wyola loop. First time this year, and while it was definitely slow going up Shutesbury hill, it wasn't quite as bad as I feared it would be. And then after that the rest of the route is quite fine.

Still haven't done much biking this year, but it slowly is getting better. A quite look at the numbers shows all of 284 miles so far this year. About what Biggins could do in a day if he really tried. But then he has a serious engine.

Note that whatever software that is being used to calculate the climb from my 305 data is seriously wacko. On 4 previous rides on the same route the climb given was 1355, 1496, 1424, and 1407 (all in feet). This time it was 2656. Other than being affected very slightly by some new pavement in a few places, it is exactly the same route. Am I getting some king of senior feel-good bonus? :-)

Weather was upper 80s, dewpoint of 67. Felt not so bad. Took (and actually drank) half a bottle of water.

C • feel-good bonus 2

Got the ride in earlier today, certainly was more pleasant, though 6 am would have been better. And managed this time to keep the effort to a modest level.

Hot day, but a lot more tolerable on a bike than running. Plus, I've been skipping the running for a while, had an irritated spot above the inside part of my right arch that I prefer to get rid of. Not that that's kept me from hoofing it around the golf course on a regular basis.

Short ride to Montague and back, usual wind from the south, usual ride that starts with intentions to take it easy, but doesn't.

River Road up to Greenfield, back Lower Rd to check out progress on the I-91 bridges. Not much.

Back from a very nice trip to Litchfield, which this time involved a celebration of my mom's 95th birthday. Excellent attendance at a luncheon today, my brother and his wife from Texas, my sister, a cousin who lives in NH, my mom's brother and his wife, and my dad's two brothers, the elder (Serge) now 95, still looks good, still goes alpine skiing, and the younger (also Peter), 90. Plus honorary family member Charlie DeWeese, just arrived on the red-eye from San Francisco -- this is a reciprocal thing, Gail and I are honorary members of his family having spent numerous Thanksgivings and Christmases with them. Plus Gail and me. Plus most important of all, her main caregiver Lina.

Highlight for me was when I asked my uncle Peter if it was true that he had crashed two planes during World War II. He smiled, and laughed, and laughed some more, and let on that he was one kill short of being an "ace" -- the requirement for being an ace was to have 5 kills -- as he had had just four. The problem being that they were for the wrong side.

Kill #1 -- age 19, training to be a fighter pilot over North Carolina, so he was always in a single engine plane, the engine conked out, he brought it down in a corn field, then through a chain link fence, ending up on the playgound of an all-girls school. Big smile as he related this one....

Kill #2 -- training over the coast of Texas, again the engine gave out -- it was really bad maintenance, he said, not bad flying -- oil spewed all over the windshield, managed to land safely just looking out the side windows.

Having proved his worth, he got sent off to Europe.

Kill #3 -- over Germany, flying very low, for a reason that was not quite clear, first he clipped some trees, then dropped even lower, now going up the main street of a little village trying to climb, clipped the tallest building, lost about the last 4 feet of wing, managed to limp back to the nearest allied landing field for a belly landing when the landing gear didn't work.

Kill #4 -- and this one was serious, his 25th and last mission over Germany, lots off enemy fighters around, lots of shooting, but he swears that he got hit by one of our fighters. Bailed out, altitude 600', just high enough for the parachute to do its thing. This was December 1944. Spent the next 6 months in a POW camp. No one back home knew he had even survived. Liberated in May 1945 when the Russian army arrived, at which point he said he was the most scared of the whole time, afraid they were going to grab him and ship him off to Russia. But he managed to get home safe and sound.

We laughed and laughed.

And more stories were told. And ate a lot and drank a fair bit too.

The only sad part was mom, barely there, very frail, very weak, barely aware of anything. Very sad. But at least she is being very well taken care of.

C • Jamie 5

Evening ride up to Montague and back. Was supposed to be mellow, but got progressively less so. Breeze out of the south.

Whately - South Deerfield loop, got out on the early side before the rain, had a modest amount of energy. :-)