Orienteering 1:16:46 [3] 5.5 mi (13:57 / mi) +132m 12:59 / mi
West Point, Green X
Start->1: Couldn't believe how easy this was, so I cut in to the woods early to see if there was something I was missing from my vantage point on the road. There wasn't. 1:49, but I certainly should have done better.
1->2: More or less straight at it, off by a small amount. 3:27
2->3: Ditto, starting to like the map and course. 4:11
3->4: Unlike most, this bag was not visible from a distance, but it was easy enough to find. 2:51
4->5: Went left around the swamp and came out near the trail, but wasted a lot of time figuring out where I was on the trail when I was exactly where I wanted to be. 4:52; analysis says 43 seconds of error - my guess was 30 seconds.
5->6: A DISASTER. Went over the hill, up the road and headed in on a bad bearing (or more likely a bad start spot). Ended up going back to the road to relocate after which it was easy to find. 9:25; analysis says I lost 4:46 here - my guess was five minutes.
6->7: In a pack. 1:55
7->8: Group of five split up with one above me (on the road as it turns out), two below me, and one in front of me taking the small trail. After the trail, he went high while I went low, past the cliffs with a flag (38?) to the bare rock and in. I think I was the first of the five. 8:18
8->9: Up the hill in group of three. Each of us went to a different rock face. I was last to mine, but it was the right one, so I was "first in" again. 4:53. Analysis calls this my best leg - it sure didn't feel that way.
9->10: More or less on the line, but in the circle, I went between the boulders looking for the flag and then had to scramble down to it. 1:24; analysis says I lost 29 seconds, but I didn't feel that way.
10->11: Three of us heading down hill, but I stepped in mud and popped my shoe. By the time I untied it, put it back on and retied, they were almost out of sight. Caught one person at the water stop and more or less followed him up the road and in to the flag. 7:12; analysis says I lost 43 seconds here - that's the shoe.
11->12: Over the spur and down to the road junction, up the rock face any way I could manage and then along the flat at the top to the flag. Semi-chasing the same guy. 5:08
12->13: After getting down the rock, I debated the road, but the woods looked SO open. Ended up seeing the flag from well over 60m away. 3:08
13->14: Again, down the ridge, but the cliff system at the end was tricky. Lots of folks were there and looking around, but without much success. Eventually, we all found it a bit lower than I had expected. 2:45; analysis says I lost no time here, but that must be more due to other folks having similar problems than my being clean.
14->15: Across the stream/marsh and up the hill. Came out at the building/water stop and took the trail over the top. Lots of folks looking for it and finding it in succession rather than as a group. 6:01
15->16: Apparently only one of these folks is on my course and he's out ahead of me (and higher). Flag turns out to be between us, but he really got there first. 1:46
16->17: Went just left of straight, down the cliffs and across the stream. Past the rock before the control and then to the right a bit; turned left into the reentrant and found it. 5:31
17->18: Crashed more to the road than on the line and just ran the road. 1:31
18->Finish: :39
All in all, not bad, except for 5->6.