Race Evaluation
QOC's Night O' in Hemlock Overlook Park: Green
Nadim
| 1. |
Ran too fast Bad map reading Bad distance judgement Hesitated Unused to terrain +03:00 | 0-1 First time running Night-O for me. I had a good headlamp from my cycling gear and a backup LED. I set it at 10w power (medium). A thunderstorm passing before I started had made everything wet and all that more scary. I started at about 8:50pm. Going to #1, I went past the buildings and down the trail--hesitant at most intersections. I backtracked once because of the night time distance effect that Pat Zerfas warned me about--everything seemed much further than I thought. I also wasn't sure of the map scale, thinking it was 1-10,000 instead of 1:15,000. Finding the right trail, I crossed the reentrant where 2 others were punching. | |||||
| 2. |
Confused parallel features Could not relocate +09:00 | 1-2 Passing the two others and following a straight bearing I had to veer around some deadfall. I landed in the wrong reentrant and had trouble figuring what happened. I wandered the steep hillside before dropping down to the trail by Bull Run. I follwed the trail south to the intersection, turned left, and left again at the correct reentrant. | |||||
| 3. | 2-3 Playing it safe, I dropped down the steep reentrant to the trail (scary at night) then turned left. At a bend to the left, I cut right across the stream and up to the control. Turning right at the trail, I left it at the next intersection and followed the reentrant on the right side to the trail. This increased my confidence though was probably not a very quick route. | ||||||
| 4. |
Bad map reading Bad compass work +01:30 | 3-4 Going mostly straight, I went along the left edge of the horseshoe shaped reentrant and climbed well left of the rocks. I saw Pat Zerfas and one other guy coming back as they were trying to relocate. Realizing that I didn't see the rocks but not knowing I was too far left, I hit the next reentrant as a catching feature. Coming back myself, I landed in the right reentrant. | |||||
| 5. |
Bad route choice | 4-5 Going downhill, I eventually hit the trail, turning right and following it to the stream. Turning up toward the control, I saw another guy coming back down after punching. | |||||
| 6. | 5-6 Back down the reentrant and turning left on the trail, I went to a vague bend and launched in on bearing. It worked. I spiked it seeing it well off. | ||||||
| 7. |
Bad compass work +00:20 | 6-7 Wanting to avoid the steep climb along Bull Run, I stayed left. Crossing the stream running and not pausing much along the way until I hit the trail, I turned right. Glad to see others on the trail, I passed some people I didn't know, then saw Dave Onkst coming the other direction. I tried not to blind others but it was awkward trying to run with my head turned to the left. I read the trail bends and knew the intersection would be coming up. I anticipated it to be vague or intermittant but I recognized it w/o a lot of trouble. Attacking, I got a bit left. Looking right, I saw it far off. | |||||
| 8. |
Bad compass work Could not relocate Disturbed by others +10:00 | 7-8 I saw some others nearby as I punched 7 so I set off in a hurry. I tried to go straight to the trail that I had attacked off of but ended up hitting the larger one that I took from #6, and turned right. I ran down it a ways past an intersection and realized things weren't right so I ran back to the intersection. This happened to be the intersection that I attacked #7 from but I was interpreting it as the one east of that. I went back down the trail, thinking I hadn't gone far enough but realized it wasn't right. I came back again and passed a guy going the other way. At the intersection, I started to suspect my error and went down the right trail. Things matched-up at the trail bend and the creek. Almost picking the wrong reentrant, I made the right choice and ran up the dry stream. At a bend, I climbed out and stayed on the left side, eventually hitting the rootstock/woodpile. | |||||
| 9. | 8-9 Across the stream, I climbed the ditch-like reentrant to the other sided and dropped down to the creek where I turned left. I spiked it and again started to feel like I was getting the hang of it. | ||||||
| 10. | 9-10 Going on bearing up to the trail, I turned right and ran to the split. I could see the private property boundary ahead. I left the trail and picked by way through the deadfall to a reentrant and followed it to an reentrant intersection. Climbing out on the right side, I walked the edge, heading west. I saw a dot knoll but couldn't be sure which one it was. Continuing I saw more. I also saw the guy I had seen at #5 though he was attacking from the north and dropped down into the reentrant. Just after we passed, I found it. | ||||||
| 11. |
Bad route choice Bad compass work +03:00 | 10-11 Through the laurel, I hit the stream east of the reentrant intersection. This was confirmed as I crossed and dropped to the next. I followed the creek up staying on the right at first where the footing was bad. I crossed to the left and kept going along the stream. I crossed a trail but thought it was the intermittant one. Not seeing the next which was on the map, I kept going on bearing. I wound-up a little left of the control as I was drawn to the light at the road intersection. Coming back, I hit it. | |||||
| 12. |
Hesitated | 11-12 Back up to the lighted road, I turned left and followed the power line. Knowing it should be on a power line, I was hesitant because I didn't see anything reflect from a distance. It was probably just the angle I was coming from becauase I saw it soon after. | |||||
| F. |
Tired | 12-F I took the trail to the parking lot still a little hesitant because I hadn't looked at the map carefully as I left. I just knew I'd hit the road and did. My light still had more than 1/4 power left. Afterward, Dave Onkst, Heidi Onkst, and Tim Good waited w/me for others to finish. It was well after midnight before we left the park. We had fun eating dinner at the Silver Diner, eventually getting home and in bed by 3am. |
Total Time Lost - 00:26:50