Race Report continued

Where was I... Just got to the last stage, orineteering. Back in the pre-race meeting the organizer said that only three of the 12 orienteering check points were required and the ones South of the road are harder. Not sure of how to stategize this I asked the person who just handed me the map what the extra check points are each worth. The answer came back that they are just a tie breaker. If two teams come in with the same time the one with the most checkpoints wins. Looking at the map of roughly 2 square miles with a lake in the middle and pondering the chances of a tie at the finish line, getting the 3 closest check points seemed wise... At the time. And off we go. Halfway around the lake then double back a third the way around the lake the other way. While fetching check points in the woods on what is now a beautiful fall morning you have the opportunity to consider a few things. For instance, who would be dumb enough to get all the check points. A sinking feeling sets in that something is not right. Upon our return to the orienteering base camp we discussed this point further with race officials who, clarified that no matter what time a team finishes with the one with the most check points wins. It was striking to me how similar and yet precisely opposite this explanation was from the first. Armed with more wisdom and dashed hopes we set back out with a new plan. To hell with times, get more check points. We made good time getting through rest of the "easy" ones North of the road but got stumped on the second to last one when we ran into a swap. With 10 cp's under our belt and a swap between us and the next two we called it good and headed back to the orienteering base camp, again. Upon our arrival the official informed us that we were disqualified. It was 3:07 and we had to be back at the start/finish line (a short bike ride away) within 6 hours of our start. Ie; Two minutes ago. I believe I accurately quoted little Ralphie as the hub cap full of lug nuts flew from his hands...

Disappointed we pedaled across the start/finish line with an official time of 6 hours 15 minutes and 34 seconds.

A little post mortem on the orienteering map showed that we traveled about 11.6 km in our haphazard route. An efficient route planned by knowledgeable racer intending to get all the check points is less than 7 km. In my quest to nerd it up a bit I calculated that our 2:43 in orienteering should have been 1:38 which was good enough to win men’s and be 3rd or 4th overall. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Better luck next time.