Race Evaluation
Blue Hills Traverse:
PG
| 1. | I meant to go around to the right and come in from the back right, but couldn't make myself do it with everyone going straight. | ||||||
| 2. | So, I went to the right on this one, past the marsh and then in from the NE. All by myself (with good reason!). | ||||||
| 3. | Left, up high a bit, didn't like it, then down low, snuck between the road and the big cliff, trying to stay legal. | ||||||
| 4. | |||||||
| 5. | Over to main trail a little right of beeline. Still rocky after all these years. Joe B. and Abi a little ahead of me at the control. | ||||||
| 6. | A little unsure. Ross goes charging by, and I follow him for a moment, before asking myself, "What the hell am I following Ross for?" (He is known for moving very fast, and occasionally in the right direction.) In fact, Ross hit it right on. | ||||||
| 7. | More or less straight. Joe and Misha (?) just ahead. | ||||||
| 8. | Hit the main reentrant and it seemed like a stream of people on the way to 9. JJ was kind enough to tell me that they had all already been to #8. | ||||||
| 9. | Catch up to Tim Parson. | ||||||
| 10. | Took the lower trail all the way to the little piece of wall just past the depression, then up. Not a bad route (for me). | ||||||
| 11. | Tim is ahead, increasingly so. | ||||||
| 12. | About a minute to eat/drink/heckle Boris and Matthias for quitting. Follow Joe most of the way, pick up Steve W., who came via #13. | ||||||
| 13. | An eye on Joe off in the distance, another on Steve right next to me, who should know the way (and does). | ||||||
| 14. | A little right, using the left edge of the long knoll. Helped having Joe out front (this was the last I saw him for a while). | ||||||
| 15. | |||||||
| 16. | JJ and Abi missed 15 and punched just after me. Abi was moving much better and was soon gone. I had JJ and Steve for company, though Steve turned off left from the trail too soon and was not seen again. | ||||||
| 17. | Small trail to the right. Lots of company at control (JJ, Ross, plus a couple others). | ||||||
| 18. | Back up the small trail, then main trails around to the right. No faster than straight, but no slower either, and less work. | ||||||
| 19. | Straight, slowly losing ground to JJ. | ||||||
| 20. | JJ, Joe, and Clint all ahead of me on the road. I'm struggling to keep in contact. | ||||||
| 21. | Ditto, except Joe is gone ahead, but we pick up Ross. | ||||||
| 22. | I remember heckling Ross for running so slowly (he claims to be out of shape). | ||||||
| 23. | The others, now including Tim, go straight, I go back up to the road, take the main trail across to the ski slope, down the slope and in from behind. Pass Ernst, the Norwegian, Abi, and Joe all heading to 24. Get to 23 just after my group, so lost a little... | ||||||
| 24. | but apparantly I knew the best way to 24. By the time I climbed back up the ski slope, no one was in sight, and I thought I had lost the group. As it turned out, JJ and Tim were about a minute behind, having gone low through a bunch of crap, Ross was in the process of self-destructing by going even lower, and Clint had run out of gas. Took the left route instead of going over the top. | ||||||
| 25. | Straight across the slopes. Stood on the spur for 15 seconds or so looking for the control. Finally looked at the clue (spur, south side) and spotted the flag about 20 meters away. Clue could/should have been "reentrant". | ||||||
| 26. | Just going along, all by myself (I thought). | ||||||
| 27. | Ditto, except just before the control I look over my shoulder and there is JJ 50 meters back. | ||||||
| F. | Fortunately, his usual awesome sprint is less awesome after 150 minutes... Did anyone else think the course was longer and more difficult than it needed to be? I enjoyed it, but I imagine it was a long day for some people. |
Total Time Lost - 00:00:00