Discussion: Rocks Riverside Park Brisbane today - long course

Just wondering if there was anyone at Rocks Riverside Park today doing the long course that can help me out with something. I never found the 5th control and was really confused about whether I should be looking at the top or bottom of the cliff. The centre of the control circle on the map looked to me to be at the top of the cliff. On the control description (if i was reading it correctly) the symbol seemed to indicate it would be at the foot of the cliff.

I first went to the foot of the cliff but saw that the area was fenced off. I then checked my map again and went to the top of the cliff but couldn't find it there either. So, just after a clue where I went wrong so I can do better next time.

Also, a major set back for me today was woeful misjudgement of distance in the steep section. For example I took the track below control 4 and thought I wouldn't have far to go but ended up finding the control much higher up than I expected. I don't know how to pace so distances are just a guess for me anyway but now thinking in such a steep area maybe distances are a bit distorted (thinking trigonometrically) so maybe there's a way to estimate distance on the run?

Hi Mindabout,
I was the course setter for yesterday's event.
Sorry that you couldn't find the 5th control. If you take another look at the map, at the centre of the circle for the 5th control, there is a much smaller cliff to the south of the large one (the symbol used on the map is simply a solid black line representing a much smaller cliff, as shown on the legend). The description in the second-last column of the control description indicates that the control is "at the foot" of the cliff. I hope this clears up any confusion.
In terms of your trouble coming into number 4, whilst it is a good idea to try and judge distances, this is usually not the best method of navigating. Rather, it should be used in conjunction with other techniques, most notably in this situation, reading the shape of the land. A good way of finding that control would have been first find something obvious, like the top of the zig-zag track, go down the hill a little, then go east until you find the spur that the control is on. This should lead you straight into the control.
Many people don't pace count at all, rather using the contours and other map features to "pick" off things along your route, a technique known as... Attack points!
If you need more help, let me know.
Cheers

Thanks Macca that helps a lot. I must have spent some time in the vicinity of control 5 just didn't make it all the way there. I tried taking a bearing from the track junction and did find what seemed like a very small cliff-face - it had an old power-pole (with wires hanging down) at the base of it. As I came into that area I thought I must be at the right spot because I thought the power-pole must be the feature on the map - the circle with a dot inside it. It sounds like this one and control 4 would have been easier if I was reading the contour lines. I've had someone explain reading the contours to me at another event but I find it just doesn't really click when I'm running around as they're not as obvious as other features to my mind. Anyway, now I know what I need to work on, thanks! :)

I am anxious to see what tomorrow's circle w/ dots looks like. From the spec it should be one of these:

537 Cairn

Cairn, memorial stone or boundary stone (or a trigonometric point in some countries)
more than 0.5 m high.

Colour: black.

http://orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12...

To get a feel for reading contours, see if someone will print an O map with a few control points (terrain features, since that's all that'll be on the map) and contours only--no tracks, cliffs, streams, etc.--for you to practice on. It really helped me when I was learning.
Next step is learning to simplify what information you need to take in from a map glance... Or maybe that's several steps later.

I passed a white pole (think it had legs sticking out like tripod legs) - would that have been a trigonometric point?

Janet that sounds like an interesting idea although I imagine I could get lost for days with a map like that. Did you use the map to train or during an event?

Oh yeah, I also wanted to ask about shoes. I wear joggers but on the steep section I found it really hard to get traction and did a fair bit of sliding. What type of shoes do others wear for this type of mixed park/bushland type course? I've had thoughts of looking for shoes that would give better grip but thought in park/bushland others are probably wearing joggers too? Just curious - wasn't paying attention to others' footwear on the day unfortunately.

Contour-only maps are usually just for training. After I used one at a training camp to find marked points (which have to be contour/land features), my brain learned to pick them out on a map a lot faster.
Dobbed/studded O shoes are usually worn where permitted. Short metal spikes like on snow tires (oh, maybe you don't have them in Oz? :-) ) help with traction on climbs and rocks. Ask your local orienteers where to obtain them (often special order or specialized vendor).

So it turns out on my map that the cairn symbol is used for piles of rocks, like you'd find on the edge of a field, rather than stacks of rocks like you mind find marking the trail on a mountain.

Thanks Janet. I was actually curious about what shoes people wore as it was part parkland, part bushland and part street.