Orienteering 2:23:00 [3] 11.33 km (12:37 / km)
Kimbolton North. Arguably my worst effort for some years. I left Benalla late and it took 2 hours to get there. As I approached the area the rain grew more and more steady, the sky darkened and the temperature dropped. I wore tights and gaiters for the first time - but the tights soon became wet and were freezing cold. Nearly the whole map was green after the rain this year and visibility was really poor. After last month's noodle (and after looking at some other GPS tracks) I decided to give the features a miss and straightline it - which worked reasonably well up until 6.
Approaching 6, at the furthest corner of the map, the control was not where I thought it should be. I was getting colder and colder and, after 43 minutes noodling, was nearly ready to lie down and die. No-one else was around and I was convinced I was on the wrong spur - but which way to go? As there was nothing to go off. Then along came Ian (he DOES come in handy some times). Turns out that I was on the right spur but just didn't go far enough along it.
I plodded back, completing the course, but was absolutely frozen and could hardly get changed. 2 hours 23 mins!! That is the third time I have been in that area and been absolutely frozen. There seems to be an event near there in July each year and it is always freezing!