As per the agreement I get to write up this one in my capacity as best QO finisher of the day ( although ‘best finisher’ is rather arbitrary- a better description would be ‘ least worst’)
Day#2 was the only long format of the week ( although in my first year as M60 I’m finding my age class courses are getting ever shorter- this event was only 4.3km and 100m - long? really?)
A different venue from day#1 with better drainage allowed easier parking and preparation for the the mile long walk up to the top of the hill to the start. The weather today was slightly better with only short showers throughout the day.
After a half hour warm up getting up to the start and short wait the start headed off along a short path which promptly ended in thick vegetation requiring compass work to my first two short legs both in or around two of the huge doline depressions which are everywhere here in the Karst terrain. There then followed a good mix of long and shorter legs in the correct tradition of long course planning where accurate compass work was required in the fairly featureless terrain- fortunately for me at least, with no errors greater than a couple of minor overshoots. The planning then changed ( for all courses) near the end where we entered an area of multiple very deep major depressions protected by perimeter and interconnecting drystone walls - obviously there were a great many controls in this area, more akin to a medium format, where concentration was essential to avoid mispunches. I managed to negotiate these last few controls with no more than a couple of minor mistakes then a brief sprint to the finish- 66 mins ( for 4.3km??!!) and a midway position in the M60 field.
The rocky terrain underfoot ( which is mostly not actually shown on the map for clarity purposes ) makes the going hard work for those of us of a certain age, and none of us actually excelled in the challenging conditions. Tomorrow, and for all three remaining days, reverts back to medium format events which are inevitably faster and technically challenging
My M60 map for interest:
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Results: OrienteeringOnline.net
My day did not go so well - perhaps due to added pressure of a good result the day before but I was very hesitant on the terrain. I only made a few big errors, but I was very slow on the long legs and struggled on the last section (despite it being more like the type of terrain I prefer). 38 out of 51 on this race, dropping me to 26th overall.
In the evening we all headed out to the local village restaurant - very homely and welcoming with food cooked to order using local ingredients. There may have been wine and grappa, so we will see how day 3 goes…
Photo taken by Mike - Adele’s non-orienteering husband who is also with us on the trip.
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