[ARDF] 2-day event in North Carolina June 18-19...

[Matthew Robbins]

The weekend before Field Day, several of us from Cincinnati drove to
Raleigh, NC for a 2-day ARDF event.  The setter for both days was
Nadia Scharlau, and she set some tough courses.

Saturday was 2m.  Bob Frey, Dick Arnett, and I showed up at Umherst
Park around 9am.  We met Charles Scharlau, who was also competing, and
we made our way to the start.  The start was at a bridge near the
lowest part of the map, and the most obvious route from the start was
to take a gravel road uphill for 1.1km.

Our start order was Charles, Bob, Dick, and then me.  I forgot to
mention that Bob wasn't feeling well.  He was coughing a lot, and I
was sure I was going to get it too.  The 1.1km was uphill all the way.
 I ran a few steps, but I was feeling really run down, and the whole
day was pretty much a hard walk.

At the far end of the map (with the finish in the middle), I had to
get 2 and 4, then come back toward the finish to get 1.  After I got
4, I had to backtrack to get 2, then 1.  On the way to 2, I passed Bob
and Dick going to 4.  I thought, "If they got 2 and 1 already, then
they've got a really easy route to the finish."  The finish was on top
of a hill with a trail going to it from the north, so I assumed that
would be the way to the finish.  Only when I was out near 4 did I see
a really easy route to the finish (that still meant climbing the
hill).  If Bob and Dick saw that route, they've got me, I thought. 
I've screwed up the order.

After I got the first 4 Ts, in this order, 3542, I went to where I
thought 1 was, an area just outside the finish circle with a trail
heading toward the finish.  When 1 came on, something was wrong.  It
was *way* too weak.  I ran at it, but it didn't get any stronger.  I
followed it for a couple cycles, then I decided to divert around a big
reentrant.  Probably six cycles after I started, I got 1.  It would
have been best to get it either first or second, rather than last.  I
had a weak bearing coming out of 3 (my first T) that I should have
verified wasn't on that spur, but I didn't.

I was pretty disappointed with my performance at this point.  I was
hoping someone else screwed up the order, but I wasn't going to count
on it.  Nadia had advised us to be careful with the big reentrants,
but standing at one, I wasn't about to do the distance going around. 
It was maybe 700m cross-country, or 1.3 minimum going around.  I was
tired, but I wasn't that tired.  Plus, the map had 3m contours.  How
bad could it be?

I aimed for some likely easy descents and climbs, and found them way
easier than I'm used to.  Our Ohio terrain has been described as
having death ravines.  I've seen death ravines.  These were no death
ravines.  So going straight was the right choice.  (And to be
clear---Umstead Park does have some death ravines.  Just not between 1
and the finish.)

When I got to the finish, I saw Nadia first, then Charles.  10 or
fifteen minutes later, Dick showed up.

Okay.  The surprise of the day was that everyone got the order wrong. 
Everyone got 1 last (except Bob who was feeling really bad and went to
the car after getting four Ts).  The best thing for me was that
everyone else came to the finish after getting four Ts, then went back
out to get 1 (except Bob).  I'm pretty sure that means I had a little
more direct route.

The straightline distance was 6+km.  My route was 10.8km or so, almost
all walking.  It was a bad day for me fitness-wise, because I just
couldn't run.  Every time I tried, I just got more tired.

We're not really sure who won.  It was either me or Charles.  My time
was 2:50 or so.  If Charles got back more than 15 minutes before me,
he won.  Dick was next, then Bob.  I've got to say here that Bob was
looking really bad.  If I felt as bad as he looked, I wouldn't have
gotten four Ts---I've have quit a lot sooner.

2 quick side stories:

1.  Charles warned us about the ticks.  He said at the worst times of
the year (later in the summer), he's come out of the woods with 30
dead ticks in his shoes.  My O' clothes have a lot of residual
permethrin from previous sprayings, but I went a little light on the
DEET on my skin on Saturday.  I had one adult tick and one possible
nymph-stage.  We're not for sure, but we think when Bob got back, he
sat down in the passenger seat of the car, and some ticks jumped off
him.  When Dick sat down there (having changed out of his O' clothes
first), it was like a feeding frenzy.  He was picking off ticks right
and left.  The next day, on the way back, I sat there and pulled one
off my leg after 30 minutes or so.  I think we got all of them out of
the car that way.

2.  On Saturday evening, we took Nadia and Charles to dinner at a
barbeque restaurant, both to repay their pizza party Friday, and to
thank Nadia especially for setting the courses.  It was a good sign
that when we walked in, there was a plaque saying this place was voted
best barbeque in the town.  I've posted about Barbeque before, and
I've publicly worried about Carolina-style BBQ, with the vinegar
"sauce".  Well---It's great.  It really not a sauce as much as it is a
spicy vinegar you put on the plain meat.  I've been craving it for
about a week now.  Thursday or Friday I'm going to City BBQ in Dayton
for their Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich.  Let's see how the imitation
holds up to the real stuff.

3.  Okay three stories.  I found out that there is a Rudy's BBQ in
Albuquerque.  Actually 2 Rudy's.  So unless someone from Albuquerque
directs us to a better place, Rudy's is on my list of places to eat at
the US Champs.  I need a t-shirt that with a Yagi on it that says,
"I'm looking for BBQ in ABQ".  Or something.

Now back to the story.

Sunday 80m.  Remember that this is June 19, Father's day.  Some people
back home have noticed our conspicuous absence.  So we need to get
home.  Nadia offered to shorten the course a bit at dinner, and we
accepted.  Instead of just over 6km, it was 5km or so, and there was
much less diverting around reentrants than Day 1.

We started Charles, me, Bob?, then Dick?  We cheated and took initial
bearings.  My first T was 5, and when it came on the first time after
I started, it was apparent my initial bearing was wrong.  I got it
off-cycle at 18 minutes.  I felt so much better than Day 1.  I ran
about as much as I walked on Day 2.  On Day 1, I could go anaerobic by
walking, but not on day two (except up hills).  I pushed pretty hard
to get in a good location for 2, but after my bad bearing for 5, I was
being careful.  I stayed on the trail to a good spot, then aimed off
into the woods.  After a few minutes, before my bearing would take me
down a hill, I stopped and saw Charles.  When 2 came on, we ran it
down and got it on-cycle.  I beat him to it by a second, but then he
was gone.

The next T was 1, and I overran it a little (missed it left), but got
it off-cycle about a minute after it went off.

4 was next, and I didn't trust the crossing on my map, so I favored my
close-in bearing.  There was lots of deadfall, and Charles' controller
IDs at the beginning of the minute, which means they give you no
warning they're going off, and I missed taking a bearing in the last
10 seconds of the transmission.  I lost 5 minutes on that.

The last one was 3, and I almost screwed it up.  Nadia put it in a
100m triangle formed by the start and finish circles, but I didn't
draw them on my map.  Luckily, my bearings and some good decisions got
me really close to it, and I got it just after it went off.

I ran pretty hard to the finish.  I'm not doing enough exercise, but
it was a good run in.

Results: Charles, me, Dick, Bob.  Bob was still recovering on Sunday,
but he was obviously pushing pretty hard.

It was a great weekend. The park was a lot more open than our Ohio
woods this time of year.  The ticks were a little scary, but we
treated our clothes with Permethrin on Saturday night, and used a ton
of DEET on our skin on Sunday, and it really helped.  I had one tick
on Sunday, but it might have been in the car already.

So...A really big thanks to Nadia and Charles for hosting the event. 
It was great practice in a really nice park.  With the exception of
shortening the course a little on Sunday, Nadia really set two
challenging courses.  Four competitors (of 4) getting fooled by number
1 on 2m has got to be proof of diabolical course-setting abilities.

We've offered to Nadia and Charles, and now to you as well:  If you're
coming through Cincinnati for some reason, or if you want to plan a
Cincinnati ARDF trip, let us know, and we'll work something out. 
We're as busy as anyone, but we'll try to accommodate you.  Let us
know.

Matthew
AA9YH
Cincinnati, Ohio