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Sunday May 9, 2010 #
Orienteering race (Rogaine) 11:47:00 [3] **
shoes: Salomon XA Pro GTX 2nd pair -
Dakota Rogaining Champs
The bottom line... a friendly, well-organized race in fantastic terrain with abundant wildlife and scenic vistas. People who work hard to put on top quality navigation events deserve our support, so please consider travelling to South Dakota on the 3rd weekend of June 2011.
My teammate Barb is someone I “know” through Attackpoint but we’d only met briefly in person a few times before. Barb is a rogaining legend – someone who would happily do 24-hour events on consecutive weekends. This was my seventh 24-hr rogaine so I have some established habits and strategies too, and I’d wondered how our styles would blend. It was cool to see that our different ideas and strengths were complementary rather than causing conflict. It was great fun getting to know Barb in real life.
We’d planned a route that - in theory - would earn us 2,000 of the 2,730 available points in 24 hours. We intended to go at a strong hiking pace. No running. Most of the high-value controls were in the south and our plan was to pick up as many of them as possible, ignoring most lower-value controls and anything at the north end of the map.
We started in grassy, open terrain with pine trees spread far apart even in the “green” areas of the map.
Heading to the 2nd control, I came over a rise and woke up a huge buffalo who had been napping in a little hollow. He leapt to his feet and glared at us.
Oh crap. We moved slowly into a grove of small trees well to the side of our intended route. If the buffalo charged and we climbed one of those little things, it would bend right over like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. He kept staring without moving and our confidence grew. Barb filmed him on her video camera while I took his portrait. Then we tiptoed slowly until we were well past him. When something like that happens early in an event, it convinces you that scary wildlife will be hiding behind every rock. As it turned out, we had 23 buffalo-free hours until passing two friendlier-looking buffaloes near the finish line.
We talked a lot about our navigation and practised using precise words so we could keep moving without stopping to look at each other’s map. Our nav went fairly smoothly with the usual small bobbles and parallel errors that are almost impossible to avoid (for me, anyway) in 24-hr rogaines, plus one really silly, inexplicable error - leaving a re-entrant junction in the wrong direction, which cost us a lot of time. We worked well together but Barb was the star. She’s accurate and has a wonderful knack for relocation. Our only defeat was #78 after an hour of searching. Turns out we were at the correct place but needed to scramble up a cliff to see the flag from our direction of approach. We didn’t think that could possibly be right, so we gave up.
We moved from the grassy plains into rougher, rockier, steeper terrain with some areas of logging debris and fire damage. We had great views of the Black Hills and the plains beyond, and passed some beautiful rock formations.
There were only 18 teams in the 24-hour event, so we rarely saw other people. We met Harps and Phatty at a scenic hilltop lookout.
Funny how short we look when a tall person holds the camera!
At dusk we heard cracking sticks and quiet voices, then Phatty jumped from the trees and ROARED like a mountain lion. Through the night, Barb and I held loud conversations whenever we passed the types of rocky areas these nocturnal cats prefer – which was pretty often. And then we saw...
OK, not really. That one was a stuffed poseur in our hotel restaurant. But Barb did see a bunny.
After dark in a rogaine, I like to stop and eat real food (not gels or bars), change socks, adjust my layers and plan routes for the night controls. It was cold and windy, so when we arrived at a horse camp to refill our water and discovered the men’s washroom unlocked and heated, we decided to hold our team meeting inside. You have to be really hungry to enjoy a roast beef sandwich when you’re sitting just a few feet from a urinal. We let our feet dry out nicely then did about 8 knee-high creek crossings over the next hour.
After our rest stop, fine snow flurries swirled around us for several hours. The Wadd Squad said their thermometer measured -6C. With my soaking wet legs, I got chilled and didn’t warm up until I was wearing a regular polypro top, an expedition weight polypro top, a Salomon Pertex (like thin synthetic down) jacket, a nylon jacket and a Paclite waterproof-breathable coat with hood. Michelin woman! Around 3 a.m. the sky cleared and revealed spectacular stars and an orange quarter moon.
At one point we thought we’d aim to the right of a group of picnic tables, then we realized that we were really looking at two dozen pairs of glowing eyes. A blast of my Night Lightning light outed them as harmless deer but during the night there were other pairs of eyes that we couldn’t identify, so we talked loudly to them.
Toward dawn, Barb got sleepy. Finally, silhouettes of hilltops and trees emerged from the darkness, then the sun rose and it was my turn to zone out. Luckily, I’m a night person who can stay conscious in the wee hours and Barb is a morning person who snaps into action at first light. She drew me into conversation and got my brain back in gear.
Our bodies held up pretty well. We both used trekking poles after the first couple hours, transferring load to our upper bodies and improving balance in rough terrain.
The soles of my feet got sore from being wet and wrinkly, but drying them out at our 10 p.m. rest stop limited the damage. With 2 hours to go, Barb’s stomach became unhappy. Fortunately, we’d already adjusted our plans to drop some farther controls. She was tough as nails as we pushed hard to reach the finish line before noon, picking up some low-value controls as we marched the last 5 km along Hwy 16A.
So much fun! And my teammate was awesome.
I was incredibly proud of our Canadian contingent. Harps and Phatty, first-time teammates with no 24-hour rogaine experience, won overall with 2280 points.
Phast Generation (experienced super-veterans Ken Walker and Glen Brake) placed 2nd with 2070 points. The international Team Barbs placed 3rd overall with 1820 points. Team GHOSLO were 3rd Mixed Super Veteran and 11th of 18 teams overall with 890 points.
We had a good post-race meal (buffalo on a bun) in the sunshine. In the evening, the Canadians plus honorary Canadian Barb went to Custer for Mother’s Day dinner. Sue and Barb were Moms without their kids, and Harps, Phatty and I had left our Moms in Ontario, so we all celebrated motherhood together and finished the evening at Dairy Queen. Yum.
Here’s Part 1 of the movie Barb is making of the Dakota Rogaining Champs!
The bottom line... a friendly, well-organized race in fantastic terrain with abundant wildlife and scenic vistas. People who work hard to put on top quality navigation events deserve our support, so please consider travelling to South Dakota on the 3rd weekend of June 2011.
My teammate Barb is someone I “know” through Attackpoint but we’d only met briefly in person a few times before. Barb is a rogaining legend – someone who would happily do 24-hour events on consecutive weekends. This was my seventh 24-hr rogaine so I have some established habits and strategies too, and I’d wondered how our styles would blend. It was cool to see that our different ideas and strengths were complementary rather than causing conflict. It was great fun getting to know Barb in real life.
We’d planned a route that - in theory - would earn us 2,000 of the 2,730 available points in 24 hours. We intended to go at a strong hiking pace. No running. Most of the high-value controls were in the south and our plan was to pick up as many of them as possible, ignoring most lower-value controls and anything at the north end of the map.
We started in grassy, open terrain with pine trees spread far apart even in the “green” areas of the map.
Heading to the 2nd control, I came over a rise and woke up a huge buffalo who had been napping in a little hollow. He leapt to his feet and glared at us.
Oh crap. We moved slowly into a grove of small trees well to the side of our intended route. If the buffalo charged and we climbed one of those little things, it would bend right over like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. He kept staring without moving and our confidence grew. Barb filmed him on her video camera while I took his portrait. Then we tiptoed slowly until we were well past him. When something like that happens early in an event, it convinces you that scary wildlife will be hiding behind every rock. As it turned out, we had 23 buffalo-free hours until passing two friendlier-looking buffaloes near the finish line.
We talked a lot about our navigation and practised using precise words so we could keep moving without stopping to look at each other’s map. Our nav went fairly smoothly with the usual small bobbles and parallel errors that are almost impossible to avoid (for me, anyway) in 24-hr rogaines, plus one really silly, inexplicable error - leaving a re-entrant junction in the wrong direction, which cost us a lot of time. We worked well together but Barb was the star. She’s accurate and has a wonderful knack for relocation. Our only defeat was #78 after an hour of searching. Turns out we were at the correct place but needed to scramble up a cliff to see the flag from our direction of approach. We didn’t think that could possibly be right, so we gave up.
We moved from the grassy plains into rougher, rockier, steeper terrain with some areas of logging debris and fire damage. We had great views of the Black Hills and the plains beyond, and passed some beautiful rock formations.
There were only 18 teams in the 24-hour event, so we rarely saw other people. We met Harps and Phatty at a scenic hilltop lookout.
Funny how short we look when a tall person holds the camera!
At dusk we heard cracking sticks and quiet voices, then Phatty jumped from the trees and ROARED like a mountain lion. Through the night, Barb and I held loud conversations whenever we passed the types of rocky areas these nocturnal cats prefer – which was pretty often. And then we saw...
OK, not really. That one was a stuffed poseur in our hotel restaurant. But Barb did see a bunny.
After dark in a rogaine, I like to stop and eat real food (not gels or bars), change socks, adjust my layers and plan routes for the night controls. It was cold and windy, so when we arrived at a horse camp to refill our water and discovered the men’s washroom unlocked and heated, we decided to hold our team meeting inside. You have to be really hungry to enjoy a roast beef sandwich when you’re sitting just a few feet from a urinal. We let our feet dry out nicely then did about 8 knee-high creek crossings over the next hour.
After our rest stop, fine snow flurries swirled around us for several hours. The Wadd Squad said their thermometer measured -6C. With my soaking wet legs, I got chilled and didn’t warm up until I was wearing a regular polypro top, an expedition weight polypro top, a Salomon Pertex (like thin synthetic down) jacket, a nylon jacket and a Paclite waterproof-breathable coat with hood. Michelin woman! Around 3 a.m. the sky cleared and revealed spectacular stars and an orange quarter moon.
At one point we thought we’d aim to the right of a group of picnic tables, then we realized that we were really looking at two dozen pairs of glowing eyes. A blast of my Night Lightning light outed them as harmless deer but during the night there were other pairs of eyes that we couldn’t identify, so we talked loudly to them.
Toward dawn, Barb got sleepy. Finally, silhouettes of hilltops and trees emerged from the darkness, then the sun rose and it was my turn to zone out. Luckily, I’m a night person who can stay conscious in the wee hours and Barb is a morning person who snaps into action at first light. She drew me into conversation and got my brain back in gear.
Our bodies held up pretty well. We both used trekking poles after the first couple hours, transferring load to our upper bodies and improving balance in rough terrain.
The soles of my feet got sore from being wet and wrinkly, but drying them out at our 10 p.m. rest stop limited the damage. With 2 hours to go, Barb’s stomach became unhappy. Fortunately, we’d already adjusted our plans to drop some farther controls. She was tough as nails as we pushed hard to reach the finish line before noon, picking up some low-value controls as we marched the last 5 km along Hwy 16A.
So much fun! And my teammate was awesome.
I was incredibly proud of our Canadian contingent. Harps and Phatty, first-time teammates with no 24-hour rogaine experience, won overall with 2280 points.
Phast Generation (experienced super-veterans Ken Walker and Glen Brake) placed 2nd with 2070 points. The international Team Barbs placed 3rd overall with 1820 points. Team GHOSLO were 3rd Mixed Super Veteran and 11th of 18 teams overall with 890 points.
We had a good post-race meal (buffalo on a bun) in the sunshine. In the evening, the Canadians plus honorary Canadian Barb went to Custer for Mother’s Day dinner. Sue and Barb were Moms without their kids, and Harps, Phatty and I had left our Moms in Ontario, so we all celebrated motherhood together and finished the evening at Dairy Queen. Yum.
Here’s Part 1 of the movie Barb is making of the Dakota Rogaining Champs!
Orienteering 1 [3]
SPOT GPS track - with the final 4 3/4 hours missing (sigh).
Saturday May 8, 2010 #
Note
Dakota Rogaining Champs - Pre-Race. I caught up with the other Canadian teams at the event HQ (Hash House). Phatty and Harps were racing as Team Untamed New England.
The Wadd Squad were Team GHOSLO.
Barb and I were (what else?) Team Barbs.
A park biologist outlined the various ways in which we might meet our death during the event. We listened intently and made mental notes on how to improve our odds:
1) Mountain lions – Make yourself look big. Do not run away from.
2) Buffalo – Get behind a tree and be prepared to climb. Do not run away from. You *will* step in their rather impressive poop, which is all over the place. (This pic was taken about 1 meter from the front door of our cabin.)
3) Elk – See “Buffalo”. Except for the impressive poop part.
4) Rattlesnakes – Avoid stepping on. They'll be on rocky, south-facing slopes. If bitten, sit still and remain (?!) calm. Phone for help.
5) Wild Turkey Hunters – Avoid gobbling and don't wear royal blue clothing. Do not run away from.
6) Poison Ivy – Won’t kill you so doesn't really belong on this list. No point running away from.
A common theme in these risks was the avoidance of running, which fit perfectly with our race plan.
Barb and I took our maps to the lodge and succeeded at blending our different rogaine planning strategies.
We both would navigate but I assumed (correctly, it turned out) that Barb was more skilled, so I asked her to take on the role of primary navigator with final say on route choice after we’d both had our input. Since I’ve done more training on foot recently, I took over ‘Bent’s usual role of carrying team gear and the tow rope.
Back at the Hash House, everyone was doing their final pre-race preparations. Phatty was pumped about their race plan.
At high noon, we were off! Phatty and Harps were running. Apparently that stopped about 8 hours into the race.
The majority of us were speed-hiking. If you squint, you'll see Team GHOSLO.
The Wadd Squad were Team GHOSLO.
Barb and I were (what else?) Team Barbs.
A park biologist outlined the various ways in which we might meet our death during the event. We listened intently and made mental notes on how to improve our odds:
1) Mountain lions – Make yourself look big. Do not run away from.
2) Buffalo – Get behind a tree and be prepared to climb. Do not run away from. You *will* step in their rather impressive poop, which is all over the place. (This pic was taken about 1 meter from the front door of our cabin.)
3) Elk – See “Buffalo”. Except for the impressive poop part.
4) Rattlesnakes – Avoid stepping on. They'll be on rocky, south-facing slopes. If bitten, sit still and remain (?!) calm. Phone for help.
5) Wild Turkey Hunters – Avoid gobbling and don't wear royal blue clothing. Do not run away from.
6) Poison Ivy – Won’t kill you so doesn't really belong on this list. No point running away from.
A common theme in these risks was the avoidance of running, which fit perfectly with our race plan.
Barb and I took our maps to the lodge and succeeded at blending our different rogaine planning strategies.
We both would navigate but I assumed (correctly, it turned out) that Barb was more skilled, so I asked her to take on the role of primary navigator with final say on route choice after we’d both had our input. Since I’ve done more training on foot recently, I took over ‘Bent’s usual role of carrying team gear and the tow rope.
Back at the Hash House, everyone was doing their final pre-race preparations. Phatty was pumped about their race plan.
At high noon, we were off! Phatty and Harps were running. Apparently that stopped about 8 hours into the race.
The majority of us were speed-hiking. If you squint, you'll see Team GHOSLO.
Orienteering (Rogaine) 12:00:00 [3] **
shoes: Salomon XA Pro GTX 2nd pair -
Report to come.
Friday May 7, 2010 #
Note
Dakota Rogaining Champs travel day. Harps and I flew to Denver where we entertained ourselves by searching all the airport shops for a watch to replace his race-illegal Suunto altimeter unit. I was hoping he’d find a pink Barbie wristwatch at one of the toy stores but he picked up this huge and undeniably fashionable timepiece at a convenience store for just $15. Water-resistant, even!
Leaving Harps to experience the full excitement of Denver International Airport during his 7-hour stopover, I located my teammate Barb Bryant and her collection of electronic devices, and we flew to Rapid City, South Dakota.
Enroute to Custer State Park, we made the obligatory tourist stop at Mount Rushmore where we paid $10 to see Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt (Teddy). The Wadd Squad cleverly avoided the fee and took their photos from a nearby roadside. If not for our need to purchase tacky souvenirs from the official gift shop for our husbands, we could have done that too. I tried to imagine a Canadian equivalent – Trudeau, Chretien and Harper (Stephen, not Forbes) carved onto The Chief at Squamish. Nope, it just couldn’t happen here.
Given our plan to spend tomorrow night outdoors in wet clothing, the frigid blowing snow was a little disconcerting. I hope I brought enough layers. GHOSlow said that today was a record low temperature for the area.
This is our first race together and Barb had tried to convince me that she’s not very fast. Turns out that‘s not true at all! ;-)
We were excessively polite and apologetic, and got off with a verbal warning. Didn’t even have to cry. After our brush with the law, we had a very scenic drive to the historic State Game Lodge, where we'd decided to take a pass on the free group campsite to enjoy a pre-race night of comfort and fine dining. (Fyi, if you look *really* closely at this pic, you might notice some big faces in the mountain in the distance.)
Custer State Park is a home where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play. We saw an impressive collection of wildlife on our way to the State Game Lodge. The race promises to be exciting – maybe a bit scary too, due to the mountain lion factor. The scariest animals we saw today were the bison – absolutely massive. I did my part by ordering buffalo stroganoff for dinner but I'm afraid most of them are still out there.
After a bit of gear consolidation with Barb, we turned out our lights early, which was perfect because I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. I suspect that last-minute sleep deprivation training for a 24-hour race is not as beneficial as one might think.
Leaving Harps to experience the full excitement of Denver International Airport during his 7-hour stopover, I located my teammate Barb Bryant and her collection of electronic devices, and we flew to Rapid City, South Dakota.
Enroute to Custer State Park, we made the obligatory tourist stop at Mount Rushmore where we paid $10 to see Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt (Teddy). The Wadd Squad cleverly avoided the fee and took their photos from a nearby roadside. If not for our need to purchase tacky souvenirs from the official gift shop for our husbands, we could have done that too. I tried to imagine a Canadian equivalent – Trudeau, Chretien and Harper (Stephen, not Forbes) carved onto The Chief at Squamish. Nope, it just couldn’t happen here.
Given our plan to spend tomorrow night outdoors in wet clothing, the frigid blowing snow was a little disconcerting. I hope I brought enough layers. GHOSlow said that today was a record low temperature for the area.
This is our first race together and Barb had tried to convince me that she’s not very fast. Turns out that‘s not true at all! ;-)
We were excessively polite and apologetic, and got off with a verbal warning. Didn’t even have to cry. After our brush with the law, we had a very scenic drive to the historic State Game Lodge, where we'd decided to take a pass on the free group campsite to enjoy a pre-race night of comfort and fine dining. (Fyi, if you look *really* closely at this pic, you might notice some big faces in the mountain in the distance.)
Custer State Park is a home where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play. We saw an impressive collection of wildlife on our way to the State Game Lodge. The race promises to be exciting – maybe a bit scary too, due to the mountain lion factor. The scariest animals we saw today were the bison – absolutely massive. I did my part by ordering buffalo stroganoff for dinner but I'm afraid most of them are still out there.
After a bit of gear consolidation with Barb, we turned out our lights early, which was perfect because I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. I suspect that last-minute sleep deprivation training for a 24-hour race is not as beneficial as one might think.
Thursday May 6, 2010 #
Note
I'm going to carry a SPOT GPS tracker for the Dakota Rogaine. Barb and I will be out there from 2 p.m on Saturday till 2 p.m. on Sunday, Eastern Standard Time. These things aren't that reliable but you never know. You can check it out here:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots...
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots...
8 AM
Note
Packing for the Dakota Rogaining Champs in the Black Hills of South Dakota. They're expecting an inch of snow this morning with weekend temps expected to be -2C to +8C and rain moving in and out of the forecast. Looks like my coldest 24-hr rogaine ever; it'll take awhile to choose the right layers.
I've been reading about how healthy the mountain lion population is, and I'm wondering about the right layers to wear for *that*. The website points out there is little danger because the cats are nocturnal and spend their time off-trail in less-populated areas of the park - completely different from us rogainers.
Looking forward to racing on Team Barbs with Barb Bryant and cheering for fellow GHO members Team GHOSlow. I'm expecting some serious podium action from Harps and Phatty!
I've been reading about how healthy the mountain lion population is, and I'm wondering about the right layers to wear for *that*. The website points out there is little danger because the cats are nocturnal and spend their time off-trail in less-populated areas of the park - completely different from us rogainers.
Looking forward to racing on Team Barbs with Barb Bryant and cheering for fellow GHO members Team GHOSlow. I'm expecting some serious podium action from Harps and Phatty!
9 AM
Wednesday May 5, 2010 #
Running (Road & Trail) 1:03:29 [3] 10.6 km (5:59 / km) +31m 5:54 / km
I'll be in South Dakota for Mother's Day so I ran to the post office to Express Post Mom's card to ensure it arrives on time. There were severe wind gusts as I was leaving, so I took a circuitous route involving a mix of country roads and trails that avoided the worst "falling tree" areas - the old deciduous forests and the fire-damaged pines. It was HOT. The moment I got back, the sky darkened and we were hit with torrential rain. More to come, apparently.
Running has felt great lately. (Sorry to be a broken record but this is really unusual for me.) I was glad to feel no residual effects from the heavy weekend. Even so, that will be it for running until after the rogaine.
Running has felt great lately. (Sorry to be a broken record but this is really unusual for me.) I was glad to feel no residual effects from the heavy weekend. Even so, that will be it for running until after the rogaine.
Note
April Report Card on New Year's resolutions... Some good grades, some bad. The highest marks come from losing over 17 lb since Jan. 1. Although 20 lb would be a nice round number, I'm thinking this might be just about enough. Time to focus on building muscle - which means more strength workouts. I got a C on that in April. I did minimal (but at least some) work on speed intervals and music practice. My training hours were drifting a little below target in March but are back up after April and will get a big boost from the rogaine. I'm trying to work toward too many different goals at once and I don't think May or early June will be good to focus on anything, given all our racing and other plans. But strength will be priority #1 after that.
Note
Last but not least, I just have to say "wow!!" about Compass-Point - a large online orienteering shop based in the U.K. I lost one of my Brunton 1SJet compasses in January thanks to Phatty's negligent orienteering course design which required me to run through snow. I had a spare 1SJet but I'm so addicted to its fast-settling needle that I've been terrified of losing it. I ordered one in North America in January but it still hasn't arrived. Finally last week I gave up and ordered two of them from the U.K. They arrived today, one week after I ordered them. Even with postage, the cost per compass was $78 Can. I'm pretty sure I paid $100 each for the other two. Nice.
Tuesday May 4, 2010 #
Note
Wilderness Traverse is now on Facebook. Check it out and click "Like" near the top of the page to receive future communications. Please help us out and "Suggest" this page to your FB friends. Thanks!
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Monday May 3, 2010 #
Note
(rest day)
Felt surprisingly good after a physically tough weekend. Woot!