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geolympyx in july this year


bones1

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The current plan is to have an evening event in a pub around 8pm on Monday July 23rd, close to the point where the Geolympix Marathon Trail starts, finishes, and returns (allowing early drop-out if needed). A group walk (not part of the event) is expected to start around 6am, giving people about 14 hours to walk the 26 miles (42Km approx); a bit under 2mph seems about right when there will be 150+ (tbc) caches to find. I know The Lord of the Cachers is working on the route and it should be hidden by early July, allowing a certain amount of playtesting ahead of the big day. More news when we have it!

 

SP - Geolympix team member

Edited by Simply Paul
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No, the Marathon Series caches should be published - if everything goes to plan and my word, there's a lot of planning! - around the first week of July, giving two weeks to check the series 'works' as it should. The only caches planned to go live the weekend of the Geolympix are special FTF Caches being set for any ravenous FTF Hounds coming to the Geolympix. At the moment we're looking at events within the Saturday 22nd to Thursday 27th of July window. It's possible there will be some outside of those dates but we're keen to keep the main focus on the Sunday and Geolympix Mega itself, with the other events arranged to maximise people's time in Oxfordshire. We've a meeting with Oxford City Council this coming Tuesday (ahead of GC3B109 - Countdown to the Geolympix #6 - Oxford Mk2) to talk CITO and GeoDog events (perhaps in Shootover Country Park?) and will be able to offer up those events for publication then. Fingers crossed as it's all gone pretty smoothly to this point :)

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No, the Marathon Series caches should be published - if everything goes to plan and my word, there's a lot of planning! - around the first week of July, giving two weeks to check the series 'works' as it should. The only caches planned to go live the weekend of the Geolympix are special FTF Caches being set for any ravenous FTF Hounds coming to the Geolympix. ...

 

I'll send you a schedule of times that these special caches should be published once you've sent me the full list of coords... :anibad:

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I'll send you a schedule of times that these special caches should be published once you've sent me the full list of coords... :anibad:
Hehehe! We'll have paper info on them all to be handed out at High Noon for those slavering for a FTFix (oh, I like that. Make note for self) but be warned, they're not going to be simple little trads. That would be far too easy! :ph34r:
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The current plan is to have an evening event in a pub around 8pm on Monday July 23rd ...
Paul, considering this is in the school holidays, an earlier start time would be more child/family friendly.
A fair point. I've been basing the time on the estimated 14 hours to walk the 26 miles (assuming a 6am start), but you're right, a 6pm (or earlier) start for food would make more sense for families. And hungry people. So long as there's still a good sized group there to wave and clap and whoop as the series walkers struggle in later on, there's no harm in starting it earlier. Thanks for the feedback.
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The current plan is to have an evening event in a pub around 8pm on Monday July 23rd ...
Paul, considering this is in the school holidays, an earlier start time would be more child/family friendly.
A fair point. I've been basing the time on the estimated 14 hours to walk the 26 miles (assuming a 6am start), but you're right, a 6pm (or earlier) start for food would make more sense for families. And hungry people. So long as there's still a good sized group there to wave and clap and whoop as the series walkers struggle in later on, there's no harm in starting it earlier. Thanks for the feedback.

6pm sounds ideal start time as the children/families of the walkers will be able to eat, socialise and wait for their intrepid folk to return. I'm sure if it's at a pub you'll have other cachers who'll gladly prop up the bar waiting for the slower walkers to return.

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6pm sounds ideal start time as the children/families of the walkers will be able to eat, socialise and wait for their intrepid folk to return. I'm sure if it's at a pub you'll have other cachers who'll gladly prop up the bar waiting for the slower walkers to return.
Cool. Ok, so 6pm pub event start and an 8pm peak time for walking-attendees. We'd then have an optional 6am full walk start and since, in theory at least, five loops of around 5 miles each converge on the pub, there could be a 9am group planning to do around 20 miles, a noon group looking to do about 15 miles, a 2pm group aiming to walk around 10 miles and a 4pm group planning to do just a single 5-ish mile loop... With easy hides and clear clues an average speed of a tad under 2mph for a long series is pretty realistic, from experience. It could be a heck of a day for numbers folks as well as a physical challenge for anyone! We'll try to get some along a (wide) tow path or similar with wheelchair-friendly hides too. Idea: ParaGeolympix caches... Humm...
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Hi all, i am looking for cachers that are able to walk 26 miles to make up a team for the five ring caching circuit in oxford in july, from what ive heard it seems six is a good number for this marathon caching walk. please e-mail me. jeff=bones1.

As the days have gone by and no interest whatsoever for my idea about caching teams,im not looking for anybody now. jeff=bones1.
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Hi all, i am looking for cachers that are able to walk 26 miles to make up a team for the five ring caching circuit in oxford in july, from what ive heard it seems six is a good number for this marathon caching walk. please e-mail me. jeff=bones1.
As the days have gone by and no interest whatsoever for my idea about caching teams,im not looking for anybody now. jeff=bones1.
Once the event is published I'm sure there will be many more people aware of this series Jeff; don't give up hope just yet! We'll publicise the walk/s and make sure you'll get lots of company. If six of you want to split off from the rest of them, that'd be fine too. I've made a note of what you're after and I'm sure one way or another we'll get you in with a suitable crowd, so please, don't worry. You won't be doing it alone!
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I was thinking of doing this marathon and have been doing some sums and perhaps I might have to start before 6am. I was thinking about the time to do one cache, i.e. locate the container, get the log out, sign it, put the log back (some resealable bags are time consuming to close properly), put the cache back, enter the fact that I have found into the GPS (not talking about writing a comment on the find here), selecting the next cache on the GPS. This could take 2 mins so for 150 caches, 300 mins or 5 hours. Now the walking bit (I will not be using a bike, not even sure it would be suitable terrain and I will not be running). I can maintain 3 mph on the GPS between caches if I know the route but with checking direction changes and the distance involved etc it would be down to about 2.5 mph so the 26 and a bit miles would take about 10.5 hours. Thus if I kept going I would finish in about 15.5 hours meaning a finish time for me of about 9.30pm and that is not allowing for some lunch etc. Say 20mins for lunch and two 10 mins stop for a brew in morning and afternoon, I can see my total time being over 16 hours which is getting slightly close to closing time - not good. So, for me the bottom line is to either try to walk quicker or start earlier. Will think on this one.

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C0lin has thought some more. Speed might be decreased if the terrain is muddy and/or hilly or rolling countryside which would be against me keeping 2.5 mph, so an early start seems likely. C0lin makes mental note to prepare sufficient food and drink for the long day and some spare batteries for the GPS as although it will go many hours, 16 hours or so may be pushing it a bit. There is also the psychological fact of the five loops whereby it would be very easy to pack it in with one loop left - willpower is needed. In spite of all the negative thoughts generated by me, I still think it is doable. Oh, and I need to do a bit of training but there is plenty of time to get that in. Back to the thinking.

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I think you have a good point Colin about time spent at each cache. I usually cache by myself, and all it takes is a few caches that require alot of searching along with caches that are time consuming to replace and the time starts to rack up. In this scenario, people would be working as a team, so a small team of cachers would mean that as soon as a find is located, and the 1st person signs the log, they could head forward to the next cache and start the search whilst others are signing the log and replacing the cache.

 

The person who signs the log last and replaces the cache would catch up in time and either sign the log for the next cache or if the next search requires more effort, they could join in the hunt. It would rotate between people on who goes ahead first, or who replaces the cache, but with a few people working together, the walk can progress quicker as the onward march towards the next cache can start before the previous cache can be re-hidden.

 

This would only work with smallish teams, as 3-5 people waiting to sign a log is manageable as the person who is last won't be too far behind and can easily catch up for in time, but having 3-5 people join in a search for a tricky hide would reduce the search time.

 

However if 25 people are waiting to sign a log, by the time the log gets passed round to the last person, the 1st person would already be at the next cache, and there would be too much waiting to make sure those at the back are kept in the loop as to what is happening at the front.

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I'm really interested in some of these calculations, to a lesser extent, it's what I do to try to estimate if I can manage a long series :). The speeds and time taken for signing seem something I could manage, but I know for a fact that I couldn't possibly walk for 15.5 hours :(

 

A few things to think about on the practical level to add to the working out:

Don't forget that that there are likely to be loads of people doing this series, so unless some sort of "golf play" rules are initiated (you know when you're playing slower and another group wants to pass you) there could end up being a bottle neck at any of the tricky ones, meaning 3 or 4 teams all searching for the same cache.

 

If the rules insist that EVERY person who logs the find signs his or her name personally, then you have to wait for 18- 24 people to sign before you can catch your group up. I'm not sure I could run that fast afterwards. I'd hate to think of cachers getting impatient or cross with one another, but could it possibly lead to a little bit of fractiousness?

 

Would it be sensible for some sort of "Group" signing policy to be allowed, such as I have seen very often on normal logs when a group of cachers go out together? Three or 4 people leave their collective mark courtesy of one actual signer, noting in the on-line log that they were signing the paper log as "fredjimbob" or similar.

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Thanks for those thoughts Shiggaddi and C0lin (and Munkeh :P) - mellers too, who posted while I was (slowly) typing.

 

From past long-series experience, for example doing The Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Series in Essex at the back-end of last year, after a breakfast event set up by fellow Geolympix team member metal-bijou: This 14.5 (or more) mile series, with 120ish caches along it (depending on which you do and which you skip and if you go off-piste a bit) took a group of us about 7.5 hours. The reasons we were so fast were i) It's hard getting lost following a canal ii) Each cache is in a holder, making it easy to know if it's missing or not; just find the holder iii) The holders were in obvious spots iv) There were no (well, few) stiles to cross and v) We used the 'finder stays behind to log everyone (under a joint name to save log-space and time), rehides the cache and catches the group up' method. It worked well.

On the down-side, it was i) Muddy in places ii) We were doing it on the shortest day, meaning we were caching in the dark for a couple of hours or more and iii) We 'left no man behind' which meant our speed dropped a bit towards the end and we added extra rests some people didn't need, to keep the group together. A multi-ring system will allow people to quit in the way this linear series doesn't. Which might be a two-edged sword... Still, 20 miles is no fail in my eyes. Same for 15, or 10, or 5!

 

One loop of the Geolympix Marathon series may also be along the canal, or perhaps river, giving a reasonably flat and simple route, for that ring anyway. We also hope to use a cache-and-holder system where appropriate to make maintenance simple and spotting missing caches (so to speak) easy. Clear clues make for QEFs if that's what you want (you don't *have* to decode the clue, after all!) and we'd like to add a few unusual caches into the trail to make sure it never gets monotonous, even for a brave lone cacher doing it. Nothing to slow you down too much; just stuff with added spice. While we can't guarantee a mud-free route, July is as good a time as any for a dry spell to make sure the trail is gloopless. I'd also suggest making a note only of the caches you DNF rather than the ones you find, to speed the process up. Selecting the next numeric-coded cache while you're already walking takes a few seconds (which add up over a long series) off each stop too.

 

Starting earlier than 6am would be fine of course; you'd probably get caught-up after a while, helping you to pace yourself, and if you're overtaken by a group, that's not too terrible either. Some cachers may consider doing it at a run but this is a marathon in the distance sense alone; there will be no prizes for speed, being the first to complete the series on the day of the meet or being FTF earlier!

 

The bottom line is, it won't be easy. But where would the challenge be if it was going to be easy? :D

 

C0lin meantions bikes. For fans of cycle trails, Sustrans have confirmed they're happy for us to hide a Geolympix series along one of their routes, and this should be appearing in the next few weeks. If it proves popular we'll keep it going as a part of The Geolympix Legacy too :)

Edited by Simply Paul
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However if 25 people are waiting to sign a log, by the time the log gets passed round to the last person, the 1st person would already be at the next cache, and there would be too much waiting to make sure those at the back are kept in the loop as to what is happening at the front.

 

Also you would run the risk of the last cacher having no idea where the cache was hidden.

When ever I have been caching in a group, we have had the "rule" that the person who actualy finds the cache, rehides it.

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My comments on this thread were geared to a lone cacher. Actually it was really me thinking and typing out loud. I am sure that there will be other ideas nearer the time to keep time at and in between caches to a minimum. If the general area of the cache loops are made known, I might even do a recce to see what the terrain is like. Even a look at Google Earth would be useful.

 

One point which could be useful is that if the cache series are being numbered, could the number be placed first, i.e. No 1 Geolympix marathon, No 2 etc. If the number is put at the end, it is more awkward to find the next cache on the GPS as mine at least truncates the cache title. Trying to find the next cache in the GPS would then be more time consuming.

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One point which could be useful is that if the cache series are being numbered, could the number be placed first, i.e. No 1 Geolympix marathon, No 2 etc.
A big yes to this. The format will probably be "GMS001 - Cache Name" - GMS for Geolympix Marathon Series. Something like that anyway. We hope to have a route mapped out before too long. Finding the right, interesting, varied area within easy reach of Oxford is a challenge, as you can imagine. Terrain notes from setting recces should also be added to the cache pages and a .doc file from the Geolympix website, designed to be printed and taken with you to speed things up.
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One point which could be useful is that if the cache series are being numbered, could the number be placed first, i.e. No 1 Geolympix marathon, No 2 etc.
A big yes to this. The format will probably be "GMS001 - Cache Name" - GMS for Geolympix Marathon Series. Something like that anyway. We hope to have a route mapped out before too long. Finding the right, interesting, varied area within easy reach of Oxford is a challenge, as you can imagine. Terrain notes from setting recces should also be added to the cache pages and a .doc file from the Geolympix website, designed to be printed and taken with you to speed things up.

 

Thanks Paul. All that would be helpful.

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After a minor hold-up, Lord of the Cachers (Andy to his friends) is out researching locations this weekend, after I've finished studying the 26.2 (42.2Km) mile trail on Magic Maps to make sure there are no sneaky SSSIs and SAMS along the proposed route. If it proves good, it is a little way outside of Oxford, but is on a public transport route. We could have selected somewhere closer, but this is a very special area with a surprising lack of caches, which we hope to resolve :)

I don't want to be too specific, but it would be quite a ride and a really nasty, night-time ride back after a very long walk - the bus or a lift from a friendly cacher may be the better option.

Edited by Simply Paul
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uhm, what are SSSIs and SAMS?

 

Site of Special Scientific Interest

Scheduled Ancient MonumentS

 

They're areas where placing caches is often difficult/impossible because of restrictions placed on such areas, which is sometimes unfortunate as by their very nature they are often places that are worth visiting.

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