Explore the wild... Explore yourself!
Preliminary results.
On Saturday morning, 03 March,
30 checkpoints are set in gently rolling foothills... runners, cyclists, and hikers
pore over how to get them all and get back under a time limit... and then we gather you all
up and tell you to...
Get Lost!! in Fort Ord
Wild Adventure Hunt
A 4 hour and 2 hour
rogaine. On bike and on foot. A trail run or ride unlike any other!
The Basics, Location, and Schedule
Go solo, or gather a team of 2 to 5 explorers. We'll give you two or
four hours to complete a course that no team can possibly finish. Prioritize and plan
a good route to maximize your point scoring. Or just plan to have a grand adventure!
You'll be using a custom-made map with accurate elevation contours and trails. Find up to
30 or so checkpoints; a compass can be useful.
Rogaining on
Wikipedia
Press coverage of our most recent rogaine!
Get Lost!! in Fort Ord is conducted under a special
recreation use permit on lands administered by the United States Government, Bureau of Land Management.
Fort Ord Public Lands consist of some of the last undeveloped natural
wildlands on the Monterey Peninsula of California. Fort Ord was a military base and
training area until 1994. Prior to being open to the public, the area went through an
extensive munitions cleanup—but there is still some unexploded ordnance.
Because of this possibility, and because the Lands contain environmentally
sensitive areas, we have been asked by the Bureau of Land Management to stay exclusively
on trails that are signed open. Each and every checkpoint will be on a trail, and
the course will be set in such a way that there will not be a temptation to shortcut. The
course will offer a plethora of route choices!
The start and finish will be at Fort Ord Public
Lands Day Site. This area is in the interior of the Lands, and roads leading
to it are not open to public driving, except during special events. Access is
from the intersection of Eighth Avenue and Gigling Road in Seaside.
To get there from most places north, take Highway 1 to Exit 406,
Lightfighter Drive. Take a right on General Jim Moore Boulevard, and shortly
a left on Gigling Road. Proceed to the intersection with Eighth Avenue;
the route will be signposted from this intersection. Take a right on Eighth
Ave. and then a left on Parker Flats Road. Parker Flats will end at
Eucalyptus Road; take a left onto Eucalyptus, which will become Jack's Road
after Barloy Canyon Road. The Day Site is on Jack's Road. All of this route
is paved, and the total distance from the Highway 1 exit is
7.8 miles (12.6 kilometers). Allow 25 minutes from the
highway exit.
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View Larger Map
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Event Schedule
Saturday 03 March 2012
08:30 Check-in and packet pickup open, Fort Ord Day Site
09:00 Maps are available for route planning, all divisions
09:40 Briefing and instructions
10:00 Start, all divisions, foot and bike
11:45 Food service begins
12:00 Finish, 2 hour divisions
12:30 2 hour teams not finished are disqualified
12:40 Awards, 2 hour divisions
14:00 Finish, 4 hour divisions
14:30 4 hour teams not finished are disqualified
14:40 Awards, 4 hour divisions
15:00 Food service ends
18:04 Sunset
We plan to use cellphone scoring,
originally developed for our Street Scramble urban
adventures, to record your checkpoint visits. Each team must have at least one cellphone
(a smartphone is not required). Complete details about the scoring method will be posted in the event-day notes.
This is a sample rogaine map that was used at our
2011 Henry Coe event:
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All the Details!
In this section:
1. Event description
Get Lost!! in Fort Ord is a rogaine. About 30 checkpoints scattered over the
entire Fort Ord Public Lands will be circled on a map and marked on the ground by
orange and white orienteering markers. Each location will have a scannable barcode and
a letter code. You will record checkpoint visits by either scanning the
barcode with your smartphone, or sending us a text message with the letter
code (a simple cell phone will work with this option).
Each checkpoint has a point value, which is equal to the checkpoint number rounded
down to the tens. For example, Checkpoint 68 would be worth 60 points. The
objective is to score as many points as you can within the time limit by visiting
checkpoints along your planned route. There are point penalties
for returning late. Maps are issued well before the start, so that teams have time to
plan their route.
We will announce the list of apps that will work with our barcodes, and
instructions on how to use these apps on your phone (and how to use a phone without
an app), in the event-day notes.
2. Event staff
Administrative Director: Vladimir Gusiatnikov
Course Designer: Dennis Wilkinson
Cartographer: Vladimir Gusiatnikov
Safety Coordinator: Alex Finch
Communications Chief: TBA
Emergency Medical: West Coast EMS
Food Chief: Lani Schreibstein
3. The terrain
The terrain of Fort Ord Public Lands is 28.6 square kilometers of gently
rolling foothills. The total trail mileage is 86 miles (138 km), and the
types of trails include wide paved roads, fireroads, and twisty, technical singletrack.
All trails are open to bike use (and to foot use). About half of the area is
forested, the rest is grassland and chaparral.
A significant portion of the open hillsides in the southern part of the area harbors
an endangered species, Smith's blue butterfly.
4. Potential hazards
The main hazard is unexploded ordnance. Although BLM staff are very
confident there is none on the official trails, findings of it are regularly reported
off trail. Do not enter trails that are posted closed. Do not approach anything on the
ground that looks manmade, and follow the rest of this guide.
Poison oak is present. This plant produces an oil which
may cause a delayed skin irritation reaction. Know what it looks like, avoid contact, and treat exposed skin areas with
a product such as . By staying on trail, you won't encounter continuous, extended areas of
poison oak, but there is plenty of it along trail edges, mostly below knee height.
Rattlesnakes may be present if it's warm. They aren't aggressive, but
don't want to be bothered.
There is a small chance of hypothermia at this time
of the year. The chance of heat-related problems is exceedingly small.
5. Participant safety
Participants will be responsible for their own safety while taking part. Of course,
event staff will try to help you if we learn that you are seriously injured or
otherwise need assistance, but there is a good chance you would be waiting a long time
for help, and we don't have the level of staffing or expertise necessary to quickly
and expertly handle many emergency situations that might arise, so your best bet is to
be very careful not to get injured. If you are not comfortable assuming the risks
involved in prolonged exertion while traveling through rugged terrain under various
and possibly unexpected conditions, then you should not take part in the event.
Each person will be required to sign a liability waiver when registering online or
upon checking in for the event. A parent or guardian must sign for a minor.
The organizers are not in a position to review each participant's preparedness to
participate and will not do so. However, if it comes to the organizers' attention that
a person or a team is poorly prepared for the event, the organizers may deny entry to
that person or team in the interest of the safety of all the participants and staff of
the event.
The team aspect of the event is perhaps the best safety instrument. Team members
must stay together within unaided voice distance, and must
approach checkpoints at the same time. Not staying together will yield
disqualification. If you would like additional reassurance, team up with a friend.
There is cell phone coverage by AT&T and Verizon, quite reliable on ridgetops,
less so at the start/finish/parking. Participants are required to carry cell phones in
order to be able to score checkpoint visits. If there is an emergency, call 911
and also notify the organizers. At least one of our cell phones will be reachable; this
number will be on the front of the competition map.
If a team has indicated an emergency, it is the duty of all other teams who
are nearby and hear the distress signal to help the team or participant in
distress.
We are required to have a licensed EMT on site, and there is a possibility there
will be additional medical help. The emergency responder station is at the edge of the
event area, and the Public Lands are close to the city of Monterey which has advanced
medical facilities.
Each team will be required to fill out an intention sheet, which is a copy of the
competition map, with their intended route. The actual route taken does not have to
exactly match the intended route. Intention sheets are due at the briefing
15 minutes before the start.
We will provide water on the course. However, to be on the safe
side, individuals and teams who participate in the 4 hour event should carry
enough water to sustain them for three hours.
The safety bearing is east to California Highway 68 and
Reservation Road; this will be noted on the competition maps. If you are using the
safety bearing, please do still stay on open trails!
We have a safety, emergency/accident response,
communications, and search/rescue plan you may peruse. Information on this webpage
supercedes the Safety Plan, where contradictory. If you have any questions about
information in this section, please contact our Safety
Coordinator.
6. The competition map
The map will be 1:25,000 with 10 m contours.
We will offer high-legibility printing. The whole area will be on a single map sheet.
We do not feel that waterproof paper is needed for this event. We will provide plastic
map cases of appropriate thickness.
Trail widths and their suitability for riding will be shown according to the specifications of the International Orienteering Federation for
mountain-bike maps. You will be able to estimate in advance how fast a given trail
is using information on the map. Of course, this is largely irrelevant for foot
participants and teams, but makes a large difference for bikers.
The source of elevation data for this map is Monterey County lidar survey. The USGS processed this data into a digital
elevation model, from which we derived elevation contours. Trail configuration is
from GPS data.
The symbols we use on this map are largely the same as those we used on last year's Henry Coe map. Maps will be printed to
magnetic north, and will have a UTM grid (no indication of true
north).
A. CONTOURS: The contours are the most reliable and
consistent component of the map. The quality of the contour base is uniform throughout
the map, and the absolute accuracy is better than ±10 m lateral, ±2 m
vertical. The contours are unaltered by field survey, which could only make them
worse.
B. TRAILS: All trails are from GPS data; a number of cycling
enthusiasts rode the Fort Ord trails and made their tracks available for download.
We assigned trail grades using high-resolution aerial photos and survey in the terrain
by the course designer. Closed trails are shown on your maps, and have purple X's
(which mean DO NOT ENTER) across them.
C. VEGETATION: Passability will not be shown. Open vs. forest
may or may not be shown. If the open areas are indeed shown, their boundaries will be
from high-resolution aerial photos.
D. STREAMS: The streams are from USGS 7.5' quad data.
E. ROCK AND FENCES: Neither are shown. There are some cliffs
that you can see from trails, but not many in this terrain.
7. Course specifics
There will be about 30 checkpoints, totaling 1000 points. The optimum
distance to get them all will be between 65 and 70 km along the actual
trails. Climb on this route will be below 3% of the distance traveled. We hope
that nobody is able to get all checkpoints, but if really strong mountain bike riders
show up this may not be true.
The number of points awarded for visiting a checkpoint is the first digit of the
checkpoint's code, times 10; for example, Checkpoint 68 is worth
60 points. The penalty for being late is 10 points per minute, or fraction
thereof. Teams finishing more than 30 minutes after the deadline will be
disqualified and will get a score of 0.
Most locations are technically very easy; this event puts emphasis on careful route
planning, including into account the relative speed along various trails, and on
endurance, rather than on navigational prowess. We will assign values to checkpoints
so as to maximize the planning challenge.
Other than the start/finish, there will not be aid stations on the course, manned
or unmanned. There will, however, be unmanned water-only stations (below).
The start/finish will feature an ample supply of energy gels by . PLEASE DO
NOT LITTER ON THE TRAILS!!!! If you do, this event may never happen
again.
There will be two or three water stations. These locations will be at
checkpoints. Plain bottled water will be offered, in individual bottles or in
jugs.
There will be a trash bag at each water station. You are allowed to dispose of
your trash into these bags, but not elsewhere on the course other than the
start/finish. There will not be any other drinks, food, or supplements at the water
stations.
All checkpoint locations will have been verified with GPS.
All team members must approach each checkpoint within 60 seconds (first to
last) in order to claim credit for the checkpoint.
8. Classes and categories
There will be four event divisions, the 4 hour bike, the
4 hour foot, the 2 hour bike, and the 2 hour foot. Solo competitors and
teams are allowed in each of these divisions. The maximum team size is 5 members.
A team that has a member born after 1998 must also have a member born in 1994 or
earlier.
There will be the following gender classes:
A mixed team is one that has members of both genders.
There will be the following age categories:
- Open;
- Juniors (each team member born in 1992 or later);
- Masters (each team member born in 1972 or earlier); and
- Supervets (each team member born in 1957 or earlier).
Every team is eligible for awards in the Open category. Some teams may fall into
multiple age categories. In this case the team is eligible for awards in all
categories in which they meet the criteria.
Logical combinations of the above classifications will constitute awardable
categories, for example, "4 hour bike Supervet Women" or
"2 hour foot Junior Mixed". Categories with few teams will not
be consolidated for the purposes of awards.
9. Scoring, results, and awards
All teammates must stay within unaided voice distance and all must approach a
checkpoint in order to claim credit, within 60 seconds (first to last). If one team
member is unable to continue, the whole team must report to the start/finish. A new
team may be formed and it may then go on the course, but it will be unable to claim
credit for checkpoints already visited.
The number of points awarded for visiting a checkpoint is the first digit of the
checkpoint's code, times 10; for example, Checkpoint 68 is worth
60 points. The penalty for being late is 10 points per minute, or fraction
thereof. Teams finishing more than 30 minutes after the deadline will be
disqualified and will get a score of 0.
Teams will be ranked within their division, age, and gender categories according to their total score. Among teams with
identical scores, the earliest finishing team will be ranked highest. Teams that are
disqualified or do not finish do not get a place.
(Every team that finishes within 30 minutes of
the time limit, and does not break certain rules, gets a score.
You don't have to stay out for the full 2 or 4 hours! You can finish earlier
if you feel like it.)
Upon finishing, team scores will be available near-instantly. Each team will receive
a copy of their score sheet that will contain checkpoint-by-checkpoint split times, the
total straight-line distance traveled, and the approximate climb.
Top teams in all divisions, classes will get prizes from our . Event results, splits, and RouteGadget will be
promptly made available online.
10. Weather and recommended clothing
"Late winter" in coastal California can assume a range of shapes.
Sustained rain is possible, as is sustained sunshine. It cannot be too cold; the
recorded lows in Monterey area never dropped below freezing. And it will most certainly
not be in the 80s (above +27 °C). The average high is +16 °C
(60 °F) and the average low, +7 °C (45 °F). Layers are
strongly advised—you don't want your awesome adventure cut short because of being
underprepared.
The Day Site has a shelter, and we will have tents erected, but there are no heated
indoor facilities.
11. The rules
Although they don't explicitly cover bikes, Orienteering USA
Rules for Rogaine Competition and the International Rogaining Federation Rules of Rogaining will be in
effect, supplemented by this information. When there is a conflict between the two
sets of Rules, U.S. Rules take precedence.
Here are a few rules highlights:
- Team members must stay together (within unaided verbal contact) the whole time
they are on the course (Orienteering USA Rule 5.5).
- All team members must go to each checkpoint visited by the team (IRF
Rule B16).
- All participants are required to respond to a distress signal and to assist a
participant who is injured and needs assistance (Orienteering USA
Rule 10.2).
- All participants are responsible for their own safety while they participate,
and participants should make themselves aware of the hazards associated with the
weather, rugged terrain, health risks of extreme exertion, equipment malfunction,
and remoteness from emergency assistance.
- Except in case of emergency, all participants must check in with event staff
before leaving the area; in case of emergency, an evacuated participant or her/his
team members should notify event staff of the situation as soon as possible after
attending to the emergency.
- Points will be deducted from the scores of late returning teams, and teams
finishing more than 30 minutes late will receive a score of zero
(Orienteering USA Rule 9.1).
- A team may be disqualified for infringing these rules
(Orienteering USA Rule 8.1).
- Solo participants are allowed in all divisions (exception to
Orienteering USA Rule 3.1 and IRF
Rule B1).
- GPS devices and altimeters (such as GPS tracking watches) may be
carried on the course (to allow tracking analysis afterward) but not used for
navigation by teams. If carried, any such devices that have a display must be
presented to race officals to be sealed (after tracking is activated, if desired)
before the start. Without going into the details of the sealing method, we can say
that participants with GPS watches and altimeters should plan to carry them, not
wear them. This is an exception to Orienteering USA Rule 5.2
and IRF Rule B7.
Most cellphones nowdays have GPS on them. We will rely on your honor not to use
it to aid your navigation. Remember, the challenge of this event is not as much in
precise navigation as it is in careful route choice that optimizes your
score.
- It will not be allowed to have equipment caches arranged for you on the course.
Carry all you may need, including spare inner tubes. (Orienteering USA
Rule 5.8 and IRF Rule B13.) You are also not
allowed to discard trash or unwanted equipment, except into trash bags at the water stations.
- Off-trail travel is not allowed. Any participants or teams
seen traveling off trail, or entering closed trails, will be disqualified.
- Please observe trail etiquette. Cyclists, yield to foot
travelers; both, yield to equestrians. Friendly, respectful interaction with other
trail users is key to our future ability to use Fort Ord Public Lands.
The required equipment is (we may modify this list up to one week before the
event):
- Each team must have bottles or other containers able to carry at least
0.5 liters of water per team member.
- Each team must carry at least one cellphone (AT&T or Verizon).
- Each participant must carry a whistle for signaling in case of emergency
(three short blasts).
- Each individual should have clothing appropriate to the weather, accounting
for the possibility of injury or exhaustion.
We will check this equipment before the start. Teams who do not possess it will
not be allowed to start.
12. Suggested equipment
Each team should have a compass, food/energy snacks, a first aid kit, and a space
blanket. Salt tablets are advised for 4 hour division participants. For bike
division participants, we suggest bike map holders such as this one.
Travel and Accommodations
The directions to the start/finish are here. Monterey has an airport, and excellent public-transit
connections with the Bay Area and Southern California.
Orienteering USA has negotiated discounted rates with its sponsor, Motel 6.
The closest Motel 6 properties are in Marina and in Monterey proper. At the time
of this writing, members of Orienteering USA were offered rates as low as $44.99 per
night, plus tax. In order to get these rates, you must book through the Motel 6/Orienteering USA partnership program. By making
your booking through this website, you will be supporting U.S. orienteering and
rogaining.
Entry and Registration
We have a soft limit of about
100 participants, dictated primarily by the size of the parking at Fort Ord Public
Lands Day Site. If you pack your car with fellow adventurers, we can accept more.
We will offer tech shirts with this design to the first 50 individuals and
teams who enter. All food during and after the event is included in the registration
price.
Pre-registration is open. Team members may enter together
(be entered by the same person), or separately. If you would like to go with a team,
but don't know your teammates' names yet, you can enter yourself and other members can
join the team at a later time.
As with all events by Get Lost!!, fees for teams are capped. Three, four, or
five people enter at the team price; each team member gets a map. The price for a team
is determined when the last member joins it; additions after the deadline will increase
the team fee. The fees are:
2 hour events |
Individual |
Team
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Cal-ARA Team
|
Enter and pay on or before Monday 06 February
|
$39.00 |
$74.00 |
$66.60 |
Enter and pay on or before Monday 27 February
|
$49.00 |
$94.00 |
$84.60 |
Enter and pay on or after Tuesday 28 February
|
$64.00 |
$124.00 |
$111.60 |
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4 hour events |
Individual |
Team
|
Cal-ARA Team
|
Enter and pay on or before Monday 06 February
|
$59.00 |
$114.00 |
$102.60 |
Enter and pay on or before Monday 27 February
|
$69.00 |
$134.00 |
$120.60 |
Enter and pay on or after Tuesday 28 February
|
$84.00 |
$164.00 |
$147.60 |
Discounts!!
On top of these prices, we offer the following discounts:
Bay Area OC member
registering her/himself
|
– |
$5.00 |
|
Orienteering USA
member registering her/himself
|
– |
$5.00 |
|
No shirt(s)
|
– |
$5.00 individual, |
$10.00 team |
Family/junior (at least one participant age 20 or under)
|
– |
$10.00 per team |
|
The BAOC and Orenteering USA discounts only apply to
individuals, not teams. For example, a registration for two people who are both BAOC
members will cost less than the team price. A three-person team is always best off taking
the team deal.
These discounts are taken and combined automatically by the registration system.
Go register!!
Event-Day Information
1. Safety
A. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
If there is an emergency, call 911 and also notify the Safety Coordinator.
Contact info is on the front of your map.
B. REQUIRED AND SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT
REQUIRED: Bottles or other containers able to carry at least 0.5 liters
of water per team member; Cellphone (AT&T or Verizon); Whistle; Appropriate
clothing.
SUGGESTED: Compass; Bike map holder; Salt tablets; Food/energy snacks; First
aid kit; Space blanket.
AID: Two water-only stations on the course with plain bottled water.
C. HAZARDS
UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE: DO NOT APPROACH OR TOUCH ANYTHING THAT LOOKS MANMADE.
Stay on trails. Do not enter trails that are posted closed, and do not enter trails that
are marked as forbidden routes on your map.
POISON OAK: Learn to identify it if you're sensitive, and treat with afterwards.
RATTLESNAKES: Do not approach.
HYPOTHERMIA: It can get cold. It may rain. Bring several layers of
clothing.
D. TIME LIMITS
2 hour event: 12:00 noon
4 hour event: 2:00 pm
E. INTENTION SHEET
Each team and individual participant must mark their intended route on a copy of the
competition map. This so-called intention sheet will be collected at the briefing
15 minutes before the start. Teams and participants who do not provide an intention
sheet will not be allowed to start. It is not critical that the team follow this plan,
however the intention sheet will give us a good idea where to look for a team should it
become missing.
F. TEAMMATES STAY TOGETHER
All teammates must stay within unaided voice distance and must punch at checkpoints
together in order to claim credit. Not staying together will yield disqualification.
G. SEARCH PROCEDURES
At 02:45:00 pm, that is 15 minutes after the 4 hour time limit, we will
generate a list of teams and individuals who have not reported back from the course. We
will take into account information provided by the scoring system, and all cars/shuttles
still missing passengers. We may do so earlier for the 2 hour event. If the list is
not empty, we will first attempt to reach the participants' cell phones and then their
listed emergency contact numbers.
If these attempts are unsuccessful, the cellphone scoring system will determine the
last checkpoint visited by the missing participant(s). We will then retrieve the missing
participants' intention sheets, and use them to narrow down the area to search. We will
then dispatch event staff to this area. Past experience shows that these workers are quite
likely to discover the missing team(s).
If the missing participants are still not found, full-scale search will commence. The
search will be directed by the event's Safety Coordinator or by authorized emergency
personnel.
H. CELL PHONE COVERAGE AND COMMUNICATIONS
Cellphone coverage is acceptable for AT&T and Verizon throughout the entire event
area, except in several low-lying areas.
I. MEDICAL PERSONNEL
There will be a dedicated EMT stationed at the start/finish who will operate a medical
aid tent. The EMT can reach an injured person on the course if necessary.
J. SPEED LIMIT
The speed limit on Fort Ord Public Lands is 25 mph.
K. STAY ON TRAILS AND RESPECT OTHER USERS
Any participant or team seen traveling off trail, entering closed/forbidden trails, or
taking shortcuts will be disqualified. Please observe trail etiquette. Cyclists, yield to
foot travelers; both, yield to equestrians. Friendly, respectful interaction with other
trail users is key to our future ability to use Fort Ord Public Lands.
2. Filming
We are super excited to announce that the PBS series This American
Land will be filming the event as part of their coverage of Fort Ord's transformation
from a military reservation to a very possible National Monument. Please wear your best
adventure clothes!
3. Map, terrain, and course notes
For most extensive map notes, please refer to the map section. Here's the summary, with updates:
- Different from previously advertised, the map will be printed at
1:25,000.
- The elevation contours are exquisitely accurate. There are no index contours nor
spot heights shown.
- The trails are exquisitely accurate, with speed grades for bikes shown according to
the international standard. However, we did not show all of the closed
or all of the unofficial trails; this can get slightly confusing once you are out
there. Trails at Fort Ord do not have names; they have numbers (roads have names).
Official trails usually have a post in the terrain with the trail number at both ends
and at most trail junctions. These numbers are not on your map, since this would make
navigation all too easy. You can study the official BLM map beforehand, but you cannot use it for course
planning on site nor take it with you on the course (International Rule B7.)
- Vegetation is not shown; the whole map is white, with the exception of light purple
color around the periphery. This purple color signifies areas that are not open to the
public—either private or lands that have not been duly demilitarized.
- Ponds and some creeks are shown.
- Most areas outside Public Lands proper, such as Laguna Seca Raceway and the
neighborhoods off Highway 68, are not shown in detail, since they are fenced off
and/or there is no reason for the participants to be in these areas.
And here are terrain and course notes from the Course Designer (and a reigning North
American rogaining champion) Dennis Wilkinson:
- There are very slow deep sandy sections on many trails. These sandy sections are in
flat areas, so they present no real danger on downhills (there is some soft ground to
watch for on some hills, though). These sections are not shown in detail—only
the average speed grade for the given trail is shown.
- The two most remote areas—the far south, and the northwest—each have
something to offer. The south is very pretty, is good for bikers who want less
technical riding, and is less sandy than everywhere else. The northwest has a lot of
challenging singletrack for strong bikers, and the most interesting nav.
- There is one area well inside a trail loop that has some cliffs. This area is
marked out-of-bounds on your map. Please exercise extreme caution in this area and
make absolutely sure you are on the official trail.
We haven't measured the course yet, but we stand by the original estimate of close to
40 miles (64 km) along trails. We may update this page with a better estimate,
or give this estimate at the prerace briefing.
4. Cellphone scoring
Cellphone scoring will be offered for this event. There are two possible ways to
score. Attached to each checkpoint flag is a label with the checkpoint number, a letter
code, and a QR code. To score with
QR codes, you need an app for QR recognition that can send out text messages; one
such free app is offered by i-nigma. You should download and install it on your phone before
the event—data coverage at the start/finish is spotty, but voice and texts seem
to go through well. When at checkpoint, simply scan the code with your phone; you will
receive a confirmation message as shown below. Prior to start, you will need to
register your phone by scanning a QR code that comes in your registration
package.
A smartphone is not required to score with letter codes, and here's a short
tutorial for scoring with simple text messages. The confirmation message looks the same
for those scoring with texts and with QR codes, but otherwise QR users don't need
to use any of the commands explained in the tutorial—scan and go on your way!
Our receiving phone number is
+1 503 567 8924. (It spells out LOST X24. Hope you
aren't.)
Start with registering your team's cell phone number. You can send us answers from
more than one cell phone. We don't pull the phone number information from your
registration, so this step must be done for at least one phone. From this phone, send
us a text message that says T followed by
your team number. You will find out your team number at check-in, or if you would like
to complete this step early, email us and we'll let you know your team number. For
example, if your team number is 142, text
T 142
You will receive a short confirmatory message. It may take a few seconds for the
system to issue a confirmation to each of your commands and answers, sometimes up to
about half a minute, more if your phone moves in and out of coverage.
After you have registered your team
number, you're clear to head out on the course! And here's how you score checkpoints:
Just send us the checkpoint number and the letter code, in this order or code first,
with or without a space; the answer (as all commands) is case-insensitive. For example,
if the letter code at Checkpoint 35 is P, text
35 P
—or—
35P
—or—
p35
For each answer, you get a short confirmatory message.
You can find out how many
checkpoints you have visited, and how many points they are worth, by texting S?.
The full command set is
R? S? T/T? U
We already went over most of those. The remaining commands
are: R? tells you how long your team has
been on the course; T? replies with your
team number on record; and U is used to
unsubsribe the phone number.
The system is currently on Eastern time. We may or may not
be able to fix that before the event. Finally, if you encounter an error message,
please let us know after the event.
Please do not send praise, comments, blame, bug reports, missing
checkpoint notes, or status updates to this number—they are all quite welcome,
but use +1 971 998 0321 instead. They will all be read
and acted upon.
5. Pen-and-paper scoring
If technology fails, write down each letter code on your map. If you also write the
time at which you visited this checkpoint, we will be able to add your split times to the
event data for post-race analysis and RouteGadget.
We maintain a discussion board for all our events on
Attackpoint. Popular among map and adventure-sports athletes in the U.S.,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries, the site is the one to go to for the
latest navigation-sport news, schedules, discussion, and gossip.
Forum for
the Fort Ord rogaine.
In addition, we hang out on MTBR:
Message thread for the Fort Ord rogaine.
And here's our Facebook page:
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