| Leg |
Attackpoint |
Route Choice |
| 1 |
The carpark |
Hop over the shrubs into the S end of the carpark vs staying on the seal |
| 2 |
Path going off the road to the left |
Lots of today's bike legs didn't have choice but they DID require you to know how far you had come. Up onto the grass and look in the culvert. |
| 3 |
No Need. |
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| 4 |
East end of the bridge |
Well you've caught a glimpse of the footbridge and had it described in the briefing. But did you ride down the ramp or carry down the steps? |
| 5 |
The road bend to the south or the road end to the north |
The slow part of the leg is across the grass, its about the same either way, so the southern way is faster - though control is hidden from your approach. |
| 6 |
Patch of open land with trees and X's - perhaps guess that this is a playground. |
Keep the grass riding to a minimum, get onto stopbank path straight away. You can approach the playground from either side. There's a slight advantage to use the road, less rolling resistance on seal compared to gravel and negligible extra distance. Not much in it though. |
| 7 |
The rail bridge |
Onto the stopbank path straight away vs using the road and joining it later. I'd use the road, but not much in it. |
| 8 |
Bridge over the stream (this is Dry Creek believe it or not) |
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| 9 |
It all looks the same on the riverbank, important to identify significant features. The left-right bend (by the X) would tell me I'm getting close. The X is dodgy by itself, as some of them are not that big. |
If you have identified the bend then its the next gap in the bushes. |
| 10 |
Hard. You need to know the orienteering colours - white with yellow dots is in between passable forest and open land - scattered trees or young trees that don't feel closed in. So the end of the green unfriendly "forest" and the start of the young willows. Be prepared to think "there's a colour change, it must look different on the ground some-how". |
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| 11 |
Second track down to the river. (You could also count off the blobs of trees on the highway side of the track.) |
Did you notice the bright yellow strip that leads straight there? It's an option but being grass its not as fast as back to the main track. Subsidiary choice: take the second track to the riverbed edge and follow the indistinct track, or stay on the main track and cross the young willows later. The latter less reliable. |
| 12 |
A long leg is quite risky, you tend to lose track of how far. The big blob of trees on the R is what I would choose |
You still need to turn off the track, and I'm sorry the boulder (concrete block) at the start of the watercourse was obscured by the overlap line. This tells you precisely where to turn off, once you're close. |
| 13 |
The large group of boulders (black triangles) |
A question of just where you turn off the track. It's actually not bad to turn off as the track bends away from the river, you save some climbing at the expense of grass riding. PS the fence across the track (actually a gate) is a handy backstop. |
| 14 |
An AP is important as there are lots of fingers of open land on the right. Choose the tree on the LEFT of the track (near the number "14") |
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| 15 |
The trees on the left bend away. There's a backstop - the track junction. |
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| 16 |
Road end |
Out onto the street vs stay on the river trail. The paved route would be worth the extra distance but the trail is more fun:-)) |
| 17 |
Along here its all about how far you've come. First one easy after the bridge (the road junction could be called the AP) |
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| 18 |
Loooong leg so count off significant features. TWO roads on the right; then ONE road at a small angle on the left; then its the next stream coming out of the hills. |
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| 19 |
The large road junction |
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| 20 |
The second road junction (the one that bends backwards) |
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| 21 |
The wide open area on the right, extending to the highway |
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