Jump to content

Canadian Travel Bug race?

white_owl

By white_owl
in Canada

Followers 4

Recommended Posts

WCoaster

+WCoaster

Posted
Posted

In the spirit of the race I would say that Westerners may have a slight advantage at the start and Easterners in the finish and everyone else at their point in the race. (Canadians only of course) I think the real neat thing though, for the competitive types is the furious emailing that could go on across the country as we try to make aliances. Remember also that out TB racers are probably going to be in the hands of non-racers alot more than racers. In fact we are designing the rules to make sure this happens.

 

Good Luck Everyone

 

Lets start posting who is oging to enter.

 

Sign up here

 

You can steer all you want, but it is all for not if your not moving forward!

Link to comment
Scouterkevin Chil & Kids

+Scouterkevin Chil & Kids

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by white_owl:

 

It comes down to a simple matter of math. Take this scenario for example using the city co-ordinates provided by Garmin.

 

A bug released in Vancouver has to travel 4441 km to reach Halifax.

 

If I release a bug here in North Bay and require it to hit the 2 coasts, it has to travel to Vancouver (3244 km), return to North Bay (3244 km) then on to Halifax (1250 km) for a total travel distance of 7738 km. This increases its distance by 3297 km almost doubling the distance of travel of the bug realeased in Vancouver. This puts anyone in central Canada at a huge disadvantage over anyone living on either coast.

 

To be fair, all bugs have to be realesed from the same point. This could be anywhere in Canada as long as all bugs have the same distance to travel.

 

I hope this answers your question.

 

White Owl

 

Ok, that makes sense. So do they all start off in one cache, someone comes along and chooses one of the 25-50 that are there and then moves it on? Just trying to understand how the start will work.

Link to comment
WCoaster

+WCoaster

Posted
Posted

I will pick up all the TB's on the tracking page as they arrive to me. Please make sure you do not log your new TB in a cache before you send it to me as this will create logged miles once I retrieve it. I will then drop them all at the cache and cache page at the start of the race.

 

If we get a large entry, say more than 10 I will be preparing an event cache and will distribute the TB's to all in attendance. If there are only a few enterants I will create a traditional cache and let them be taken as the cache is logged.

 

We have a very active caching community out here and if there are less than 10 logs on a new cache in two days I would be very surprised. Especialy a cache with a twist like this one will have.

 

Thanks

 

Sign up here

 

You can steer all you want, but it is all for not if your not moving forward!

 

[This message was edited by WCoaster on May 08, 2003 at 03:02 PM.]

Link to comment
boreal jeff & sons

boreal jeff & sons

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by Scouterkevin & Family:

Can someone explaine the reasoning behind all of them starting at the same point? Will that not just leave a pile of them in one spot? Will that not give the people in that area a serious advantage by allowing them to help theirs moving and leave the "mailed ones" sitting at the starting line?

 

I would suggest a shotgun start where anyone can place theirs on that day (anywhere in Canada) and bugs are only activated on that day. I would also recomend a virtual finish line where you are done after having been logged into caches in 7 different provinces. My thinking behind this is again, people on the East Cost would have the advantage of orchestrating the final leg of their bug.

 

I would have a problem with this because the caches around here don't see as many visitors as in other areas. My Travel Bug could end up sitting for a week or two and not moving. I wouldn't have a chance to win.

 

As far as orchestrating the beginning or final leg, that could happen anywhere along the path from West to East. If a Travel Bug were to end up here, I could put in a Geocache that doesn't see many visitors.

 

A Shotgun start might be a good idea for a longer duration race where the goal was the most kilometers or caches visited.

 

Every hour spent geocaching is added to the end of your life

Link to comment
pprefont

pprefont

Posted
Posted

Well, my TB Canadian Chinook

 

icon_wink.gif

 

I was just reading over the race rules, though, and it raised a couple questions.

 

First: Rule 3 d). When placing another racers TB you may only place it in a cache that comes up in nearby cache search on the Geocaching.com website. The search must be limited to a 50-mile radius.

 

Now I have to ask is this a large enough allowable search radius? Just looking at the Canada cache map I can see that there may be a problem with this once the bugs hit the Saskatchewan/Manitobia/Eastern Ontario areas on the map as the bugs move eastward. It also sure cuts down on the likelyhood that any will move through the territories. I think this limit may need to be bumped up...

 

Second: the race will be deemed completed on October 31, 2003 . I think this may be too short a race duration as well. If I take the length of the Trans-Canada highway as a rough estimate of the travel distance required (at ~4800 mi/7700 km) and divide it by the 50 mile travel radius you would expect the bugs to need about 96 cache stops to make it across the country. Given that there are only 109 days between July 4 & Oct 31 the bugs would need to move almost every day to be successful. Somehow, I just don't think that will be happening...

 

I hope this doesn't come across as being nit-picky, I'm just looking ahead at potential issues. Thanks in advance to the organizers...

 

[This message was edited by pprefont on May 11, 2003 at 05:01 PM.]

Link to comment
WCoaster

+WCoaster

Posted
Posted

I think you make a good point about the 50 mile radius in remote areas. I have only geo'd in my area, 1000 plus in a hundred miles. I will check with the comittee but I will propose that if nearest cache is more than 50 miles away then I guess nearest cache would be acceptable. This could put TB in worse spot or even backwards but hey that is what TBing is all about.

 

As to the length of time for the race, the rule only speaks to racers palcing other racers TB's. I think the majority of TB handlers will be non-racers, so there is no telling how far someone else will go to help out a cacher in need. As for other racers I think you would be lucky to get across the street. Antartica maybe, next cache in your direction... hardly.

 

We have discussed race duration a fair bit and will stick with the October date and see what happens.

 

If there are not too many more entries soon I may consider moving the start date up though.

 

Thanks

WCoaster

 

You can steer all you want, but it is all for not if your not moving forward!

Link to comment
Eric K

+Eric K

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by WCoaster:

I think you make a good point about the 50 mile radius in remote areas. I have only geo'd in my area, 1000 plus in a hundred miles. I will check with the comittee but I will propose that if nearest cache is more than 50 miles away then I guess nearest cache would be acceptable. This could put TB in worse spot or even backwards but hey that is what TBing is all about.

 

As to the length of time for the race, the rule only speaks to racers palcing other racers TB's. I think the majority of TB handlers will be non-racers, so there is no telling how far someone else will go to help out a cacher in need. As for other racers I think you would be lucky to get across the street. Antartica maybe, next cache in your direction... hardly.

 

We have discussed race duration a fair bit and will stick with the October date and see what happens.

 

If there are not too many more entries soon I may consider moving the start date up though.

 

Thanks

WCoaster

 

You can steer all you want, but it is all for not if your not moving forward!

 

Hopefully you won't start to soon. I am waiting for my TB's to come in from Groundspeak and then I have to mail them to you. I should get them by the end of this week at the latest.

 

Get your trackable USA geocoins at http://www.usageocoins.com

Link to comment
mitzydog

+mitzydog

Posted
Posted

Sounds like great fun, will be putting together the winning entry icon_wink.gif and mailing soon. Am also forwarding a link to a few of my aquaintances to see if they will be interested. Will also volunteer for any grunt jobs that need to be done. Keep me posted....... icon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gif

Link to comment
SylvrStorm

+SylvrStorm

Posted
Posted

Hey mitzydog, you might wanna watch the photo of Hyper Mite. I personally can't make it out, but someone with better vision or fancy imaging software might be able to figure out your TB's ID number. Might be a good idea to flip the bug tag over and redo the photo.

 

SylvrStorm

 

*** Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry, and they laugh at you. ***

Link to comment
CamperGuy

+CamperGuy

Posted
Posted

Hey SylverStorm

 

New to travel bugging.. What can happen if the ID number is shown?

 

CamperGuy

 

quote:
Originally posted by SylvrStorm:

Hey mitzydog, you might wanna watch the photo of Hyper Mite. I personally can't make it out, but someone with better vision or fancy imaging software might be able to figure out your TB's ID number. Might be a good idea to flip the bug tag over and redo the photo.

 

SylvrStorm

 

*** Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry, and they laugh at you. ***

Link to comment
SylvrStorm

+SylvrStorm

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by CamperGuy:

 

New to travel bugging.. What can happen if the ID number is shown?

 

CamperGuy

CamperGuy,

 

The ID number is what you need to log the bug on the website. No ID number, no log. Conversely, if you have the ID number without having the actual bug, you could log false entries. That could obviously wreak havoc on keeping track of your bug. Of course, anyone can log false entries for cache finds, but it's easier for a cache owner to verify by looking at the physical log book. Travel bugs don't have that kind of double check for the owner, so TPTB decided to use a semi-secret code number. It's not perfect, but it helps.

 

So the TB guidelines strongly recommend that the ID number should not be shown in any pictures or included in any log entries.

 

SylvrStorm

 

*** Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry, and they laugh at you. ***

Link to comment
WCoaster

+WCoaster

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by Eric K:

Rules question:

 

4). Finish:

a). The first TB to log 8 of the 13 provinces and territories of its choice will be the winner.

 

Does this mean there is no "finish line" cache? It's just the first bug to log in 8 provinces?

 

Yes that is what we came up with since we had no takers on the other side of the country and we wanted to get te rules set up quickly so that everyone would know what the goal was. We thought it would be a more interesting race and should help to get the race completed before winter sets in.

 

You can steer all you want, but it is all for not if your not moving forward!

Link to comment
The Big Kid

The Big Kid

Posted
Posted

Working on talking some of the cachers I know in Halifax to set up a cache, if anything comes out of my harassment, I or they will post something here. I will be out there in June, and could probably set up a cache and get my brother- in -law(not a cacher-yet) to watch it.

 

More to follow.

Link to comment
WCoaster

+WCoaster

Posted
Posted

TO: Eric K

I don't think it would be too hard to find the winner. Just email the cache owner to verify the log book, which we will be doing randomly for all TB's anyway.

 

TO: The Big Kid

Sounds good. It would be nice to have a finishing cache, although there may not be time this year to get a TB to a specific point. Keep us posted.

 

Thanks

 

Sign up here

 

You can steer all you want, but it is all for not if your not moving forward!

Link to comment
Cache Test Dummy

+Cache Test Dummy

Posted
Posted

If you feel that having a "finish line" cache would streamline the race, I can provide something along these lines in Moncton, NB. I suppose it would also be nice to have someone return, or re-release the bugs once the race is done (which I could also do). If this is a direction the group wants to go, I can be reached through the email on my profile page.

Cheers...

 

illegitimus nil carborundum

Link to comment
CamperGuy

+CamperGuy

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by SylvrStorm:

So the TB guidelines strongly recommend that the ID number should not be shown in any pictures or included in any log entries.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Now... let's see just how well Huey can do... [grin]

 

CamperGuy

Link to comment
The Splorin' Willises

The Splorin' Willises

Posted
Posted

WOW! I just read about this race for the first time and am very impressed. Great idea. I wish I had a bug handy!

 

Question: Would it not be a good idea to disqualify any racer from moving another racer's travel bug? I understand the 50 mile radius thing is to stop it from being moved backwards, but what's to stop somebody holding on to somebody elses bug for ages? Not very sportsmanlike, but I'm sure it could happen in the name of winning.

 

I really am writing to say that I'm a Halifax cacher as well, and could get involved with a finish line, should one be implemented. Maybe a few of us here could even collaborate?

 

Good luck to all the bugs!

Link to comment
CC2C TB Race

CC2C TB Race

Posted
Posted

Yes I knew that was going to be a bit of a pain for everyone watching the cache page. I asked geocaching if there was a way they could drop all the TB's in the cache page for me, but they were not able to do this.

 

So I had to post a note for every TB as I dropped them one at a time in the cache page. Sorry for the inconvenience but it is all done now.

 

Thanks

Link to comment
white_owl

white_owl

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It's time to announce the prizes for the Canadian Travel Bug Race.

 

On behalf of the Race committee, I would like to thank the generosity of our sponsors.

(All prices are quoted in Canadian currency as of June 19, 2003)

 

Groundspeak http://www.Groundspeak.com/

2 hats and 2 Micro Cache containers (Value: $41.34)

 

GPS Central http://www.gpscentral.ca/

$250.00 in gift certificates

 

GPS City http://www.gpscity.com/canada

1 t-shirt, 5 Pocket Kits and 5 GeoPatches (Value: $117.70)

 

Geocaching Hiking Sticks & Staffs http://geo-hikingstick.com/

1 custom made hiking stick (Value: $55.00)

 

Bumble Buttons http://bumblebuttons.com/index.asp

12 custom made buttons (Value: $13.36)

 

USA Geocoins http://www.usageocoins.com/

1 US GeoCoin (Value: $6.66)

 

The sponsors are also paying for the shipping.

 

As our way of saying thank you to our sponsors, please take a few minutes to visit their sites.

 

And now ... The Prizes

 

1st place

$125.00 gift certificate from GPS Central

Hiking stick from Geocaching Hiking Sticks & Staffs

T-shirt from GPS City

 

Total prize package value: $197.95

 

2nd place

$75.00 gift certificate from GPS Central

Hat and Micro cache container from Groundspeak

Buttons from Bumble Buttons

 

Total prize package value: $129.70

 

3rd place

$75.00 gift certificate from GPS Central

Hat and Micro cache container from Groundspeak

US GeoCoin

 

Total prize package value: $98.00

 

Additionally, there will be 5 random draws amongst the non-winners consisting of

1 Pocket Kit and 1 GeoPatch from GPS City

 

Total prize package value: $19.95

 

Should a winner be from outside Canada, the recipient is responsible for all taxes, duties, etc. levied by your government.

 

Good luck to all.

Link to comment
SylvrStorm

+SylvrStorm

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by white_owl:

It's time to announce the prizes for the Canadian Travel Bug Race.

 

Holy Geoloot Batman! I never imagined there would be such substantial prizes. BIG THANKS to all the sponsors. It's too bad we didn't know about this earlier - might have generated a lot more entries. Still might now, but we're running out of time.

 

My own entry isn't in yet, because it's taking a while to assemble, but it'll certainly be there before the race starts.

 

I just hope the value of the prizes isn't counterproductive, causing hard feelings if bugs go missing and such. Still, I think it's great to have the prizes donated, and those race organizers who achieved this level of sponsorship are to be highly commended. Thanks!

 

May the best (cough/mine/cough) bug win!

 

SylvrStorm

 

*** Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry, and they laugh at you. ***

Link to comment
jackbear

jackbear

Posted
Posted

Great prizes...shout out to the sponsors, and the organizers for doing the legwork to make that hoppen. Well, I had no expectations for my bug to do well in this race, but with those great prizes, maybe I'll hope a little harder. I don't think it will cause ill will amungst racers. Think of it like roulette, you have put your bug on a number, and who knows where the little ball is going to fall. Good luck to everyone, can't wait to get it underway.

 

Grrrrrrrrr...

jackbear

Link to comment
SylvrStorm

+SylvrStorm

Posted
Posted

Rules clarification request:

 

I'm getting ready for the race (working on tags to attach to my entry), and I'm wondering if the race organizers can answer a question for me.

 

On the rules page, rule 3 © & (d) seem to only apply to cachers who are participating in the race, with violation resulting in that person's entry being disqualified, but no impact on the other racer, whose bug they moved illegally. Right? Which also means that, for instance, a cacher who is not involved in the race could move a bug through multiple successive caches, or over 50 miles.

 

This makes sense to me, as the racer whose bug is being moved has no control over these actions, but I just wanted to confirm that my interpretation is correct.

 

Thanks,

SylvrStorm

 

*** Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry, and they laugh at you. ***

Link to comment
WCoaster

+WCoaster

Posted
Posted
Originally posted by SylvrStorm:

Rules clarification request:

 

On the http://members.shaw.ca/jcoutu1/rules.html, rule 3 © & (d) seem to only apply to cachers who are participating in the race, with violation resulting in that person's entry being disqualified, but no impact on the other racer, whose bug they moved illegally. Right? Which also means that, for instance, a cacher who is not involved in the race could move a bug through multiple successive caches, or over 50 miles.

 

You are correct on your interpritation of the rule.

 

You can steer all you want, but it is all for not if your not moving forward!

Link to comment
WCoaster

+WCoaster

Posted
Posted

Wow am I ever impressed with White Owls work to get an amazing prize package together for us.

 

Great Work!!!

 

I would also like to thank all our sponsors for their generosity and hope that all Geocachers support those who support the sport!

 

Just for the record

I am gunning for that walking stick!

 

Godd Luck To All

 

WCoaster

 

You can steer all you want, but it is all for not if your not moving forward!

Link to comment
junglehair

+junglehair

Posted
Posted

Just a comment on the race page. The stats show each of the travelbugs as having visited BC already, when the rules state that the starting cache is NOT an eligible log for British Columbia.

 

Looking forward to the start date.

 

-Junglehair

 

There are 10 kinds of people in this world - those who understand binary and those who don't.

Link to comment
boreal jeff & sons

boreal jeff & sons

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by junglehair:

Just a comment on the http://members.shaw.ca/jcoutu1/. The stats show each of the travelbugs as having visited BC already, when the rules state that the starting cache is NOT an eligible log for British Columbia.

 

Looking forward to the start date.

 

-Junglehair

 

Your right, the event cache does not count as a BC cache. I'll have to change that. Thanks.

 

Late that same hour, "Okay fixed".

 

Every hour spent geocaching is added to the end of your life

 

[This message was edited by boreal jeff on July 01, 2003 at 07:10 PM.]

Link to comment
white_owl

white_owl

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I am pleased to announce that two new prizes have been offered.

 

Canadian Geocoins http://www.geocoins.ca have offered 5 coins. These will be awarded to the travel bug that has travel the greatest overall distance as of the end of the race (October 31,2003).

 

Also, Geocaching Hiking sticks http://geo-hikingstick.com/ has offered two gift certificates of $30.00 each USD towards the purchase of any hiking stick. These will be added to the 2nd and 3rd place prize packages.

 

Again, we would like to thank the generousity of these, and all, sponsors.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyone can go to a Tupperware party but it takes a special skill to hunt plastic containers in the wild.

Link to comment
junglehair

+junglehair

Posted
Posted

Well, just days after the Canadian Travel Bug race started, it appears that we have a winner in the 2003 Travelbug Cannonball Run race (USA). Actually, we have a tie. Tilly Tortoise and Toby the Tortoise were entered by two separate geocachers (Team GUI - Tilly; and Team GeoDillo - Toby). They met at the starting line in New York and travelled the entire race together. They even had offspring along the way (Tammy and Timmy Tortoise) who are now trying to catch up to their parents. This afternoon, one day short of four months on the road, they were logged into the final cache in California!

 

-Junglehair

 

I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
Followers 4
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...