Like the 4WRC in North Canterbury 2000, the weather confounded the soothsayers by being cool, misty, and occasionally raining. Again like the 4WRC, this weather was a benefit to the 202 registered teams, compared to the normal of around 30 degrees. The terrain was rolling spur and gullies covered mostly in forest; a mix of fir and alder, and for the most part provided a clean and soft understory allowing easy travel. The altitude ranged from 300 to 900 metres.
Getting to the rogaine site was the usual travellers nightmare. Firstly the pilot's strike forced us to advance our bookings. Then we arrived at Frankfurt and took delivery of a car, to find that our hotel was only 8 kms away but across the two largest AutoBahns in Germany. Our confusion increased as we tried to drive East across Germany using a 1:1,000,000 map. We wound up virtually where we started after the first hour. Things improved; we bought a 1:200,000 map of Germany and found our way to the prebooked hotel at Tachov in the Czech Republic.. A great hotel. My mattress was all of 1 cm thick. When the shower was on, water oozed out of the wall onto the floor. The roll of toilet paper was not replaced for 3 days; neither were the towels. Viv Prince and Bruce Meder got locked into the entire first floor and had to climb out a window and down a lightning rod to get assistance. However we all enjoyed our stay there.
We were given only two hours to plan our course. Normally we try to choose open space for the dark hours, but a glance at the long growth, nettles, and swamp in the open area as we drove to the hash house convinced us that this time, the open space should be avoided as much as possible. The A3 map was easily readable, at 1:50,000 with 10 metre contours. A north-south open area through the middle split the forest into a larger Western section and a smaller Eastern section, with the main concentration of points evenly distributed in the four quadrants, but away from the hash-house. The South-East corner looked particularly attractive, with the greatest concentration of points. We had decided to allow 3.5 kms/hr for the daylight hours and 2.5 kms/hr for the 8 hours of darkness, giving a 75 km course. We plotted a course using one of the 3 good outward paths from the Hash-house and heading to the SE corner. No matter how we juggled it, we wound up in the open or flat areas at night, and with no good return to the HH.
Reluctantly we abandoned the SE corner and chose instead to go South through one of the good outwards paths, do a few S-bends in the SW corner to clean up the points there, and then proceed clockwise round the map through the NW and NE corners, returning through a fruitful path from the East. It worked out at 76 kms in a straight line, with options at the end to cut points off if required.
1:00 pm. We're off. People in all directions - a good course. In my haste, I forgot my walking stick. Our first checkpoint is on a saddle, with several route choices to get there. We arrive to find no flag or punch; just intention sheets which we fill out. Off to the second. Due South till we hit a road. However we find several. Which one is "the" road? We make an intelligent guess which is wrong, and wind up heading down an overgrown and very swampy stream. Lost already!!
Soon we see other idiots of repute and we don't feel so bad. By the time we find a lake and a road and relocate we have lost an hour for only 20 points! On the good side, we now know what a "road" on the map really means. Our pace quickens as we find that many tracks and gentle, open bush make for fast time. After 3 hours we are averaging 4 km/hr and are ahead of schedule. The glimpse of many teams dressed like liquid lightning and travelling at the same speed puts us in our place - this is runner's country, not hillbilly hills.
By nightfall we are almost an hour ahead of schedule, but we decide to stick to our plan and avoid extra checkpoints until the end, partly because we think our route is efficient and partly because we know the cost of a minor mistake on the second day when time is running out. Our 1 hour advantage wanes and waxes as the night progresses. We visit ancient forts and old Iron-Curtain watchtowers on the German border, we find bogs which cover your knees, and we meet and lose several other teams.
However as planned, the tracks and roads where we expected to be at night kept us navigating well, and we entered dawn feeling good and 1/4 hour ahead of schedule. The rain during the night had been soft, with little wind, and had kept our feet cool. Bill had developed a blister from the stony roads, and I had badly bruised the top of my foot the previous day, but we were able to maintain our pace. By now, the checkpoints in the "open" country have vast tracks ploughed through the grass, which aids both our navigation and our pace. Shortly we are in the trees again, hunting out old ruined fortresses of amazing intricacy, and ancient graveyards in the bush. AN hour to go and 4 km from home. Take the road? or risk the more direct "open" country which takes in another checkpoint? We glimpse the mowed paddock at the bush-edge and decide to be bold.
Our boldness pays off. We walk through cool, wet, grazed pasture along a high open ridge, in clear weather now, following other's tracks to home. It seems a deserved way to end a good rogaine, and apart from the mandatory patch of fight, we have a clear walk to the finish with 12 minutes to spare.
The NZ contingent did us proud. Greg Barbour (NZ) and David Rowlands (Aust), although MV category, won the event with 4140 points. Ted Van Geldermalsen(NZ) and Derek Morris(Aust) were 6th overall with 3440 points. We won the SXV class and came second in the XV class with 2960 points to get 22nd overall, while Viv Prince and Bruce Meder won Bronze in the XV category and 33rd overall. Dave Laurie and Andy Buchanan got 2510 points and 53rd overall place, giving them 8th place in M Vets class. Michael Wood and Tony Gazley got 2430 points for 3rd MSV, 12th MV, and 63rd overall. Annie Sanderson and Nick Collins got 1930 points and were 12th. XV and 98th overall. Michael Crawford and Sally Lattimore got 1600 points and placed 29th in mixed open and 129th overall. The Czech rogainers filled many of the higher places and it is good to see such strength developing in Europe. It seems to us that the quality of competition is improving all the time. We all enjoyed the event are grateful to the organisers for the effort and skill they put into the planning.
This page written by Peter Squires and installed 25 Aug 02