Explore the wild... Explore yourself!Final results (with splits) of the event (rescheduled for 04 January 2014) are available. Congratulations to Team Columbia Vidaraid of Catalonia for their smashing performance following their second place at the Adventure Racing World Championships! 
On Saturday morning, 04 January, 45 checkpoints are set in barren, grassy hills... runners, cyclists, and hikers pore over how to find as many as possible and get back under a time limit... and then we gather you all up and tell you to... Get Lost!! in Panoche HillsWilderness Adventure HuntAn 8-hour and 4-hour rogaine. On bike and on foot. A run, hike, or ride unlike any other!
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The Basics, Location,
and Schedule|
The start and finish will be just off Panoche Road, about 6.6 miles from Interstate 5 Exit 368 (the exit is called Panoche Road). Panoche Road is mostly unpaved. Rental car drivers are advised to arrange a carpool from the freeway exit. |
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Event Schedule
Saturday 04 January 2014
08:30 Check-in and packet pickup open, Panoche Road
09:00 Maps are available for route planning, all divisions
09:40 Briefing and instructions
10:00 Start, all divisions, foot and bike
13:30 Food service begins
14:00 Finish, 4-hour divisions
14:30 4-hour teams not finished are disqualified
14:40 Awards, 4-hour divisions
16:58 Sunset
18:00 Finish, 8-hour divisions
18:30 8-hour teams not finished are disqualified
18:40 Awards, 8-hour divisions
19:00 Food service ends
Checkpoint visits will be scored with SPORTident. The use of the SPORTident system will be demonstrated at the pre-start briefing.
This is the map that was used for last year's Get Lost!! in Fort Ord; the map for the inaugural Get Lost!! in Panoche Hills will be similar:
Our Sponsors!!
This event has been made possible by the following businesses and organizations. We are delighted to offer a sampling of their products as prizes for this event. Please patronize their offerings and services, and contribute to their programs:
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The mission of Road ID is twofold: One, to educate outdoor enthusiasts about the importance of wearing ID. Two, to provide these athletes with innovative identification products that they will want to include as part of their gear. The dream of Road ID is to see the day where wearing ID is as common among athletes as wearing a seatbelt is among motorists. |
Zanfel Poison Ivy Wash is the only product clinically shown to remove the plant's toxin, urushiol, anytime after outbreak of the rash. Zanfel also provides relief from itching in 30 seconds. For most mild to moderate cases of poison ivy, one application of Zanfel is adequate for each affected area. |
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o21e—the Official Uniform Provider of Team USA Orienteering—makes a line of clothing for adventure running in Los Angeles, California. |
Scarborough Orienteering, aka Orienteer.com, is a leading vendor of equipment. They carry compasses, SPORTident 1cards, Inov-8™ shoes, and other gear and produce their own line of o21e suits, club uniforms, and gaiters. Orienteer.com also offers map and compass instruction and group outings, including orienteering and team-building training, as corporate offsites. |
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All the Details!
In this section:
1. Event description
Get Lost!! in Panoche Hills is a rogaine. About 45 checkpoints scattered over the northern portion of Tumey Hills and the southeastern portion of Panoche Hills (excluding the Wilderness Study Area and other areas closed to the public) will be circled on a map and marked on the ground by orange and white orienteering markers. Each location will be equipped with a SPORTident station, which creates a record of your visit on a small electronic card each participant will carry.
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.
At each checkpoint visited, every team member must use her/his own SPORTident electronic card to "punch" at the SPORTident station (International Rule B16(a)). To accomplish this by distributing all of a team's SI cards to one person who goes and punches them all is breaking the rules.
You may use your own SPORTident card, or rent one from us at no extra charge.
Each member of every team in the 8-hour bike division will need a SPORTident Model 6 or Model 9 card. These are the only models that possess enough recording capacity for the checkpoints reachable by bike within 8 hours. We are quite sure that all SPORTident devices will work for foot division participants and for 4-hour cyclists; we do not expect anyone in these divisions to be able to collect more than 30 or so checkpoints.
2. Event staff
Administrative Director: Vladimir GusiatnikovCourse Designer: Vladimir GusiatnikovEmergency Medical: Laura TremaineFood Chief: TBA
3. The terrain
The terrain of Panoche Hills Public Lands selected for this event spans 45.9 km² of ridges and canyons; elevations range from 174 m to 756 m. Some of the sides of the canyons are steep and/or impassable.
The entire area is semi-arid and treeless. There is a network of dirt roads and tracks; many of the tracks are recently formed by four-wheel-drive vehicles. Most of the valleys have streams with running water at this time of the year.
The area is popular with hunters and off-roaders. There is no poison oak.
4. Potential hazards
There is a sizeable chance of hypothermia at this time of the year. The chance of heat-related problems is exceedingly small.
Hunting is allowed in the Public Lands during our event. Please wear an orange vest that we will provide.
Panoche Hills are mountain lion habitat. Chances of encountering the reclusive cat are very low. If you do, follow this protocol. If you turn around and run, the cat's mind will more likely identify you as prey.
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 a tiny bit of cellphone coverage by AT&T and Verizon on ridgetops, none at the start/finish. Participants are advised to carry cellphones. If there is an emergency, call 911.
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 will have a licensed EMT on site, and there is a possibility there will be additional medical help. The Public Lands are closest to the city of Firebaugh, but the nearest hospital with an ER is in Los Baños.
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, all participants should carry enough water to sustain them for three hours.
Consuming enough salt will mean the difference between being sluggish and not thinking clearly, and being sharp and enjoying the experience throughout the whole duration of the event. Take salt pills or eat salty food starting at 3 hours into the event at the latest; 200–400 milligrams of sodium ion per hour are advised. Drinking only plain water depletes sodium in your body. Other electrolytes may also help prevent cramps. We suggest carrying electrolyte pills if you plan on participating in one of the 8-hour divisions.
The safety bearing is southeast or northwest to Panoche Road; this will be noted on the competition maps.
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 Administrative Director.
6. The competition map
The map will show elevation contours, some roads and tracks, and streams. It will be at 1:30,000 scale with 12 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.
We will add as many tracks to the map as we discover during the course of placing the checkpoints; this won't include all of them that are out there. If in doubt whether you are on a mapped track, elevation information is your best friend.
The source of all data for this map is USGS. For our next event at Panoche Hills, a possible bid for the 2014 U.S. Rogaine Championships, we expect to create a Get Lost!!-standard map.
Maps will be printed to magnetic north, and will have a UTM grid (no indication of true north).
7. Course specifics
There will be about 45 checkpoints, totaling 1600 points. The optimum distance to get them all will be between 50 and 55 km along straight lines. Climb on this route will be about 7% 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 easy to moderate, while a small number are hard. We will assign values to checkpoints based on their combined navigational and physical difficulty. In other words, don't expect a gimme from a 60-pointer.
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. PLEASE DO NOT LITTER IN THE HILLS OR ON THE TRAILS!!!! If you do, this event may never happen again.
There will be two or three water stations. These locations may or may not 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.
Each checkpoint will be equipped with an orange and white orienteering control marker and a SPORTident electronic station. There will not be sign-in/intention sheets at checkpoints. Water stations, if not at checkpoints, will not have orienteering markers.
To punch at (score) a checkpoint, put the SPORTident card through the opening. If there is no confirmation beep nor a light flash, use a paper punch attached to the control marker to punch your map. If you are unable to find the checkpoint but think you are in the right location, take a picture. All checkpoint locations will have been verified with GPS.
All team members must punch the SPORTident station 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 8-hour bike, the 8-hour foot, the 4-hour bike, and the 4-hour foot. Solo competitors are allowed in the 4-hour division, but not in the 8-hour. The maximum team size is 5 members. A team that has a member born in or after 1999 must also have a member born in 1995 or earlier.
There will be the following gender classes:
- Men;
- Mixed; and
- Women.
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 1993 or later);
- Masters (each team member born in 1973 or earlier); and
- Supervets (each team member born in 1958 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, "8-hour bike Supervet Women" or "4-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 4 or 8 hours! You can finish earlier if you feel like it.)
Upon finishing, teams should proceed to a SPORTident download station. Points will be tallied, and 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 sponsors. Event results, splits, and RouteGadget will be promptly made available online.
10. Weather and recommended clothing
Early January in central California is rainy season. To us, daytime weather is perfect for a long endurance event—if it's not raining, with highs in the upper 50s; if it is, it'll be cooler, possibly in the lower 50s and with somewhat high winds. The chance of rain showers during the event is somewhere around 40%.
Layers are strongly advised. It will warm up after you start. The exposed ridgetops can get a bit miserable in the event of a rain shower, so please be prepared if the close-in forecast shows any chance of rain.
There are no heated or air-conditioned indoor facilities in all of Panoche Hills Public Lands. The nearest ones are at the freeway exit, 10 km away from the start.
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 the 4-hour 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.
- 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 indeed allowed in the bike divisions.
- Any participants or teams seen entering areas marked out-of-bounds 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 Panoche Hills 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 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.
- Each individual must have a SPORTident card.
- Each 8-hour team must have a flashlight.
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 cellphone (AT&T or Verizon), a compass, food/energy snacks, salt tablets, a first aid kit, and a space blanket. For bike division participants, we suggest bike map holders such as this one.
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Event MenuFood will be served at an appropriate temperature according to the schedule.
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Just wanted to say thank you guys for such a fun event. It was a great navigation exercise and an awesome workout. I have also never been at an event with such great food! I don't even eat that well at home!
—Stephanie, Team Racing With Giants
Travel and Accommodations
The directions to the start/finish are here. The closest airports with scheduled passenger service are in Fresno and Modesto. San José and Monterey airports are about two hours away.
Orienteering USA has negotiated discounted rates with its sponsor, Choice Hotels. The closest Choice property is the Quality Inn in Madera, about 1 hour and 10 minutes of driving from the start/finish. At the time of this writing, members of Orienteering USA were offered rates as low as $45.50 per night, plus tax. In order to obtain these rates, you must book through the Choice Hotels site and enter Special Rate ID 00228560 in the "Select Rate" drop-down menu. By making your booking through the Choice Hotels website and referencing the Orienteering USA partnership code, you will be supporting U.S. orienteering and rogaining.
It is possible to camp at the start/finish on Friday night. There are no facilities at the start/finish; the closest ones are at the freeway exit 10 km away.
We recommend Hertz, an Orienteering USA partner, for car rentals. By booking through this link, you will be supporting U.S. orienteering. Our discount code will be displayed on the reservations page.
Entry and Registration
We have a limit of 50 participants,
dictated by the permit. We expect this event to sell out.
We will offer long-sleeve tech shirts with this design to all participants. 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:
4-hour events Individual Team Cal-ARA Team Enter and pay on or before Monday 16 December $59.00 $114.00 $102.60 Enter and pay on or before Monday 30 December $69.00 $134.00 $120.60 Enter and pay on or after Tuesday 31 December $84.00 $164.00 $147.60 8-hour events Individual Team Cal-ARA Team Enter and pay on or before Monday 16 December $79.00 $154.00 $138.60 Enter and pay on or before Monday 30 December $89.00 $174.00 $156.60 Enter and pay on or after Tuesday 31 December $104.00 $204.00 $183.40
Although we publish an individual price for the 8-hour event, everyone who participates in the 8-hour divisions is required to be a member of a team. The individual price serves as the base for individual discounts, and the team price is the maximum a team would pay.
If you are unable to attend the event, our fees are fully transferable to future events. If prices change in the future, we will give you a complimentary entry into a category that most closely approximates your original entry.
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) – $7.00 individual, $14.00 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. Make sure to indicate the team association, individual participant's club membership, and the correct (or at least approximately correct) ages for the team members.
We accept credit
cards online through Google Checkout, and cash, checks, and credit cards on site.
Go register!!
Event-Day Information
1. Safety
A. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
If there is an emergency, call 911 and also notify the Administrative Director. 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; Whistle; Appropriate clothing; SPORTident electronic card (ONE PER PARTICIPANT); a flashlight if doing the 8 hours.
SUGGESTED: Cellphone; Compass; Bike map holder; Food/energy snacks; Salt tablets; First aid kit; Space blanket.
AID: Three water-only stations on the course with plain bottled water.
C. HAZARDS
HYPOTHERMIA: It can get cold, especially at ridgetops. It may rain. Bring several layers of clothing.
HYPONATREMIA: Take salt pills or eat salty food starting at 3 hours into the event at the latest. 200–400 milligrams of sodium ion per hour are advised. Drinking only plain water depletes sodium in your body. Other electrolytes may also help prevent cramps.
HUNTERS: Wear an orange vest that we provide.
MOUNTAIN LIONS: Present. Appear as large as you can, and walk slowly away from the cat or wait for the cat to move on.
D. TIME LIMITS
4-hour event: 2:00 pm
8-hour event: 6:00 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 06:15:00 pm, that is 15 minutes after the 8-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 the download information and all cars/shuttles still missing passengers. If the list is not empty, we will first attempt to reach the participants' cellphones and then their listed emergency contact numbers.
If these attempts are unsuccessful, we will retrieve the missing participants' intention sheets, and use them to narrow down the areas to search. We will then dispatch event staff to query SPORTident stations in this likely area. Past experience shows that these workers are quite likely to discover the missing team(s). If the missing participants are still not found, the stations will be read out to further narrow down the search area.
Full-scale search will commence as soon as this information is generated, and will be directed by the event's Administrative Director or by authorized emergency personnel.
H. CELL PHONE COVERAGE AND COMMUNICATIONS
There is some cellphone coverage for AT&T and Verizon, mostly atop ridges. Cellphone coverage cannot be relied upon.
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.
2. Weather update and directions
It is really dry and will remain so. The dirt road is in a perfect condition. There are all kinds of fast-food places and a small market at the Panoche Road exit (#368) off I-5. The drive from the exit to the parking is 10 minutes.
3. Terrain
It is perfect rogaine terrain! textbook kind. No trees.
(a) Friendly: There are no bad anythings. No poison oak, no cholla, no walled-off canyons. You can go pretty much anywhere in any direction. The ground is soft and the grass is extremely short. Some of the ground cover is dried-up mud, not grass, it will be just a tad slower, but in general you can really hammer in this terrain if your physical fitness allows. I'd expect elite rogaine teams to be running 80% of the time, with the exception of the steepest uphills. There are a few sandy/loose slopes, but you can spot them from quite afar and it's obvious that they are not a good route choice, both on the map and in the terrain.
(b) Technical: How technical? Well. On my second CP, I was 100% confident, checked off all the reentrants, they all matched in both direction and shape, got to the CP, the spur looked just like what I'd thought it should look, maybe not exactly the right shape but I wrote it off on the map. On to the third CP, went about 230 more meters and then bam. The major drainage that opened up didn't look anything like what I had expected. The stuff away in the distance still matched up, but with a shift. Shift? ?? took me a few minutes to convince myself.
Fortunately there were enough large features in the distance to be quite sure. Trodded back to the CP, and then navigated to the correct location... 450 m and one ridge away! an about 20-minute error in competition conditions. I kept on guard for the rest of my placing session.
No trees doesn't mean it's easy! Panoche is just like the more technical orienteering terrains, just scaled up. Use attackpoints to find your attackpoints, as they say, and be very careful going downhill, watch all those splitting ridges.
4. The map
The map is off-the-shelf UGSG. It is good enough; no lidar in Fresno County. My GPS track didn't exactly align, but the relief shapes seem correct, they are just often slightly (10–20 m) off.
The scale will be 1:25,000 and it will be on a 13" × 19" sheet (map case provided). The decision of whether it'll be to magnetic or to grid north hasn't been made yet.
5. Bikes
It's still very hard for me to say whether you should or should not do this one on bike. It depends greatly on your off-trail cycling skills.
The problem isn't that there aren't trails, but that there are, and they aren't on the map. If you are on foot, the trails make very little difference since going on the grass is just about as fast. But if you are on bike, the trails kinda follow the optimum grades. Most of the trails look like cow paths, but very well established ones that I personally wouldn't have trouble riding up or down. If you have not found one of those, you will be most naturally following ridgelines. And ridgelines have varying grades; beginning at the bottom of the canyon, they are steep and you'll be carrying the bike, then as you get higher, they get more rideable. You're still off-trail, on grass or dried mud. As you get away from a ridgeline, it gets gnarlier and one has to have a lot of confidence to ride on the sidehills; I'd be too scared to.
Most of the checkpoints are on ridgelines, but not all. Of the ones I placed, only at one did I think, boy, this one is no fun on a bike.
All of the major drainages/washes/canyons have a trail. Most ridgelines don't have trails, the trails kinda wind around following the path of least resistance. Here's a breakdown of one of fairly typical legs between CPs not far from the start/finish:
- 210 m off-trail slight downhill, grass;
- 615 m very nice trail along a major drainage;
- 170 m steep uphill (45 m climb), carry bike;
- 525 m continue on the ridge, rideable, no trail, all up.
In all, it's very hard for me to imagine how a skilled cyclist would not be able to get more CPs and points with a bike in this place than without. But for a klutz like me (and a much better runner than cyclist), going on foot seems more beneficial in this terrain. If you always wanted to try off-trail riding, this is your chance, and please be safe and don't do anything outside your abilities. The best route on a bike is almost invariably quite different and much longer than the best route on foot.
6. Water
Hopefully there will be a bathroom at the start/finish. There will be one or two water stops (not sure yet whether one of the gates will be open for us to drive in).
7. Hunters
Didn't see any. I could often hear gunfire, but it all seemed like one or two guys target shooting right at the start/finish. My car didn't have bullet holes in it when I got back.
8. Carry a light
Please remember to bring a light if you plan to be out for the full 8 hours. It will get completely dark to the point of not being able to see the map at about 5:30 pm. The checkpoints do not have reflectors.
See you soon,
Vladimir
We maintain a discussion board for all our events on
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latest navigation-sport news, schedules, discussion, and gossip.
Forum for the Panoche Hills rogaine.
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Created:
01 October 2013 |
© 2013
Get Lost!! Running, Racing, Inc. |
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