Training Log Archive: BillD

Event: WCOC Gay City State Park
 

Cool grey day in Gay City doing the Green course. Most leaves off the trees. The drought has dried up all the marshes.

On a nominal 4.5km course I traveled 5.4km, a more direct route than usual and probably attributable to good visibility, dry marshes, good map and familiarity with map.

My route.

Two booboos. I tripped on way to 6 as I approached the south dam on the swimming pond while I was jogging and reading the map at the same time. Rolled on the gravel path but came away with only sore hands and feeling stupid. Only a few seconds lost. Next, as I left 7 and crossed the barely wet creek using rocks not holding my Icebug cleats very well, I questioned myself whether I actually punched in at 7. Doubt with fear of a missing point, I returned, picking my way back over the creek crossing to re-punch. Later learned I had punched on first visit, lost 90 seconds there. I've got to have more confidence in my subconscious: I mean, have I ever come upon a control in last few years that I failed to check the control number? No. Well then, how likely is it that I would have checked the control number and not jabbed the dibber in for a beep?

But then I don't have a perfect record for zipping my fly. Oh, well, let's move on.

I was pretty much spot on all the way around the course and I'm rather satisfied with route choices. Quibbles: should I have flanked left going from 2 to 3 to take the trail? But I moved well through the woods catching good map features along the way that gave me confidence when to turn right and cross the swamp. Should I have taken a more gradual traverse of the hill on 7-to-8 to reach the trail later and forego some of the trail run?

A pleasing finale to the daytime fall season.

GREEN - Splits

Moseyed around Straton Brook for an hour between delivering and fetching Susan to/from the hairdresser. Nice quiet time. Flushed a whitetail deer on the minor yellow trail. Nice foliage reflections on the still pond surface.

Hiked from near Fisher Meadows in Avon west and south along trail that traces the old Farmington Canal. The high towpath along the eastern edge looked interesting but proved to be too untrodden to walk along comfortably now -- full of saplings and fallen slash. The terrain to the west goes high and offers some really interesting topography but the No Trespassing signs posted every few feet by the Avon Old Farms School is too forboding to ignore. Wonder if the school might be interested in offering an O opportunity to its students?

C • AOF 1