Chauffeur/cache Buddy

[+OzGuff]

I am planning a run through a bunch of caches in the Hertfordshire area on Sunday March 28th. It looks like I can be in Rickmansworth by about 7:30am and want to cache as long as possible, at least until the last train back to London. FYI--I have 43 listed on my "hope to get to" list; how many I actually find/get to depends on how quickly I get from cache to cache and how hard they prove to be to find.

 

I was thinking about renting a car myself, but with driving on the wrong side of the road and a complete lack of knowledge of local geography think having someone with me that knows something about the local area would be a good thing.

 

I am willing to pay for gas/petrol, meals and other expenses as needed. We will have to talk about speeding tickets. If anyone is interested either reply here or e-mail to ozguff@mchsi.com. Check my profile out--I am not a homicidal killer. I will be in London on business from March 27th to April 3rd. The 28th is the only complete day for me to cache. I cleaned out most of central London last time I was in town and plan on trying to find those I missed during the week.

 

Thanks!

[Deego]

It does not say your not a killer on your profile page :D

 

43 in a day are you trying to wind Seasider up good luck in your quest. but its a bit far for me.

 

Brian

[+OzGuff]

I hope the fact that I have found a couple hundred caches points to me being a relatively stable human being (as far as geocachers CAN be stable).

 

With regard to winding Seasider up, I said that I had 43 caches on my list--doesn't mean I will actually get that many! (Of the 43 on my list 17 are hides by The Hornet--I wonder what his daily rate is?) (As a guide!)

[+MarcB]

He's one of the best- currently second in the country at the moment!

MarcB

[+NickandAliandEliza]

Errrrrr........must read posts properly before putting message on..........

Edited February 28, 2004 by Nick & Ali (nicktinknick)

[+Seasider]

FYI--I have 43 listed on my "hope to get to" list; how many I actually find/get to depends on how quickly I get from cache to cache and how hard they prove to be to find.

 

An ambitious man, I like it!

 

It's a pity that Pyoung1s isn't based in that part of the world or you'd have a definite caching partner - although you'd have to start a few hours earlier than 7.30am!!

 

Cheers!

 

Seasider

 

P.S. We are not numbers men!!

[+OzGuff]

It's a pity that Pyoung1s isn't based in that part of the world or you'd have a definite caching partner - although you'd have to start a few hours earlier than 7.30am!!

The 7:30am start time was based on the 90 minute travel time from my hotel (in the Rotherhithe area) to Rickmansworth. I suppose if I arrive in Hertfordshire the night before I could be ready to go on an evening of night-caching. Now how to entice Pyoung1s to the area...

[+OzGuff]

So here are my plans: I arrive at Gatwick approx 8:30am on March 27 and will rent a car for 2 days. Drive to my accommodations in Rotherhithe and take public transportation to clean up as many central London caches as I can. (This would have been much easier had perthos not let loose a population explosion of new micros!)

 

Return to accommodations, sleep until the early hours of March 28, then drive to Rickmansworth to start my attack on Hertfordshire. My goal is to return the car to Gatwick by about 11pm so that I can catch a train back in to town.

 

Any idea how long it will take me to drive from Rotherhithe to Rickmansworth early on a Sunday morning? Any idea how long it will take me to drive from Watford to Gatwick late on a Sunday evening?

 

Since I have now arranged for transportation on my Hert excursion if anyone would like to accompany me send me an e-mail. I will send anyone interested my plan of attack and would welcome a navigator.

 

Looking forward to another great week of caching in the UK!

[+OzGuff]

The Hornet was unable to accompany me on my caching marathon due to the high number of his caches I plan to do. Coincidentally, Lactodorum was also unavailable...

 

Anyway, I have changed my plans slightly: I am starting at Where 4 Corners Meet (hope to be there by 7:00am), will be travelling basically W and WSW to Hornet's Hide 15 (26 caches planned), then back E and NE to Welwyn Woodlands (17 caches planned), and then S to Two Utilities Perhaps (2 more planned). I figure I have 15 hours of caching time before I have to head back to Gatwick with the rental.

 

I am still open to a companion (or two)--the car is rented, petrol will be covered, so send an e-mail if interested. (Or just be Where 4 Corners Meet by 7am March 28th...) I hope to bump into some cachers during my day!

 

OzGuff

[+Peztone]

Rotherhithe to Rickmansworth at that time of the day an easy 45 mins.. Watford to Gatwick on a Sunday evening is hobsons choice, I'd give it 2 hours just in case you run into Sunday drivers. It's 1 hour dead if all goes well..

 

You realise your day is doomed right? starting at the evil "where 4 corners meet" will take you until at least lunchtime..

 

(Said the bitter DNF'er...)

 

 

-S.

[NeilFord]

I am still open to a companion (or two)--the car is rented, petrol will be covered, so send an e-mail if interested. (Or just be Where 4 Corners Meet by 7am March 28th...) I hope to bump into some cachers during my day!

 

OzGuff

15 hours sounds like a bit much for a newbie (I don't even have my GPSr yet!), otherwise I'd consider joining you. I've lived in and around Hertfordshire for a large chunk of my life (though I'm now resident in West Sussex), so know the area fairly well.

 

My one advantage as a freelancer is I can take the following day off :-)

 

Ummm..... I need to think about this a little more. Do you have contact details whilst you're in the UK?

 

- Neil.

[+OzGuff]

You realise your day is doomed right? starting at the evil "where 4 corners meet" will take you until at least lunchtime..

 

(Said the bitter DNF'er...)

When I am on a marathon caching day I don't spend a great deal of time looking for a cache--if it doesn't appear in 10-15 minutes then I move on to the next cache. (This is also why I mainly stay away from multi-caches on those days--they tend to take more time.) If you divide 15 hours by my 45 potential caches it leaves 20 minutes per cache -- which includes travel time from cache to cache. This means I am either pretty good or doomed to not find all 45. The latter is more likely true. I usually look for up to 15 minutes and then read the hint. If it isn't obvious after reading the hint--next!

 

However, I just read the logs for the Where Four Corners Meet cache and did add Hornet's coordinates to my PDA -- just in case. (I also know how to tell a horse's age...) (I also did not see your DNF--do you log under another alias or do you not log DNFs?)

[+OzGuff]

Ummm..... I need to think about this a little more. Do you have contact details whilst you're in the UK?

E-mail sent via your profile.

[+Peztone]

(I also did not see your DNF--do you log under another alias or do you not log DNFs?)

 

By jingo you're right, I didn't log that one, no idea why, if you look at my stats you an see I usually do log DNF's (I'm not proud!)

 

20 mins per cache plus travelling? I can't wait to see how many you manage.. I'd love to come along, but I'm working the other end of the country on Saturday & doubt I'd make the early start..

 

Good luck anyway!

 

-S.

[NeilFord]

Ummm..... I need to think about this a little more. Do you have contact details whilst you're in the UK?

E-mail sent via your profile.

Got it! Will reply.

 

- Neil.

[+OzGuff]

It looks like NeilFord and I will be traveling the Hertfordshire area come Sunday March 28th. This is my second on-line caching partner (the first being for Tube Torcher -- a 5/5 cache in my area soon to be featured in Today's Cacher).

 

That first on-line experience was a ton of fun--a great day! I am sure that Sunday will be the same. However, for my wife and children's sake, if I don't start logging caches by Monday night (assume I arrive back at my hotel late Sunday, go straight to bed, wake up and attend my meetings Monday, get back to hotel Monday night to log Sunday's finds), someone please alert the authorities!

 

My wife harassed me the last time I found a caching partner on-line, constantly letting me know that he was probably a homicidal maniac. In case Neil is s homicidal maniac I will ask him to let me find a few caches before despatching me. If anyone finds my PDA, please enter my logs posthumously.

 

I/We plan on having a great day! And thanks go out to Neil for volunteering!!

[+Seasider]

Game on!!

 

Good luck to you both, especially NeilFord on his first marathon mission!

 

Not sure about the 20 minutes per cache including driving - you have obviously never driven in England before, Ozguff!!

 

Me & The Prince of Darkness, Pyoung1s are already planning to get the record back in Hampshire in the summer so you'd better give us a good target to aim at!!

 

Cheers!

 

Seasider

[NeilFord]

I'm doing the driving which will give us an advantage, though I no longer have the A3 Turbo nor the Subaru Impreza :-)

 

I'm looking forward to the challenge.

 

- Neil.

[Deego]

Good luck Neilford and OzGuff Your going to need it. Look forward to reading the logs and looking at the photos (not that you will have time for photos) :)

[+OzGuff]

I would just like to point out that I am not trying to set any records; I merely used the same bunch of caches Seasider did back in December and added a few new ones that have since appeared. The 45 caches I have info on are a goal--if we only make 20 or 30, so be it. (If, however, we do break Seasider's 40....)

 

I want to reiterate that I am not a numbers person. (Neil might be though!)

[+OzGuff]

I seem to remember a thread about UK records (see here) where Seasider suggested separate records for the central London and rest of the UK. Since the 40 found by Seasider were in central London what is the record for the rest of the UK? Does the number 33 sound right? Or is it the 25 Seasider did in the Watford area?

 

Thanks for reading!

[+Seasider]

I would just like to point out that I am not trying to set any records...The 45 caches I have info on are a goal--if we only make 20 or 30, so be it. (If, however, we do break Seasider's 40....)

 

I want to reiterate that I am not a numbers person...

 

Cheers!

 

Seasider

[+Seasider]

I seem to remember a thread about UK records (see here) where Seasider suggested separate records for the central London and rest of the UK. Since the 40 found  by Seasider were in central London what is the record for the rest of the UK? Does the number 33 sound right? Or is it the 25 Seasider did in the Watford area?

 

Thanks for reading!

The figure you are trying to beat is 25!

 

If you are following in my footsteps then 20mins a cache seems about right for about 2/3 of them and not much longer for the others.

 

Right, sweepstake time!

 

How many do you think Ozguff & NeilFord will do on Sunday?!

 

I'll go for 27 in daylight by 8pm (BST starts this weekend) and maybe another 3 after - which gives a grand total of 30!!

 

Roll on Sunday!!

 

Cheers!

 

Seasider

[+OzGuff]

Thanks for reminding me about the clock turning ahead thing! I hope Neil remembers this too!! Since the US and UK are in the same hemisphere I assume you will be turning your clocks an hour ahead/forward. When does this officially occur? Over here it is 2am Sunday, but we are changing our clocks the following weekend.

 

As for my sweepstakes entry -- put me down for 37!

[+Bill D (wwh)]

OzGuff wrote:

 

Since the US and UK are in the same hemisphere I assume you will be turning your clocks an hour ahead/forward. When does this officially occur?

 

UK clocks go one hour forward at 01:00 GMT on Sunday 28th March.

[NeilFord]

My sweepstakes entry is 26 (can you tell I'm not a numbers man either?) ;-)

 

I suspect we'll do better than that, but seeing as I'm a complete newbie (though I do now have a GPSr!) anything could happen.

 

I will be wielding a digital camera, so there should be a pictorial report of the days activities. We will also have laptop and GPRS capability, so we may even be able to submit a progress report over lunch.

 

- Neil.

[Deego]

I will go for 30

[Rangers of Ithilien]

my guess is ummm, 33 I think!

[+Bill D (wwh)]

My guess is 27. Fifteen hours, of which two go on lunch and that leaves thirteen. Half an hour per cache gives 26, and one for luck.

[+Stuey]

.... over lunch.

You'll be lucky

[NeilFord]

.... over lunch.

You'll be lucky

There is a proposition of lunch with another cacher, though it could well impact our numbers.

 

I'll just have to get Graeme to submit reports from the passenger seat between caches! :-)

 

- Neil.

[+OzGuff]

I have just suggested to The Hornet that if we are making good time through the morning we may call him to have him deliver lunch to us on the run. He hasn't responded yet to my suggestion...

 

I suppose if I truly wasn't a numbers man then stopping for a quick lunch wouldn't bother me, but I have 37 in the sweepstakes and we aren't going to reach that number sitting down to eat a curry pie and quaff a Guinness!

[Deego]

Yes stop and enjoy the English country side (Just make sure you get 30 ) , Cant belive that your going caching for one day and will be higher than me in CoTM table for the MONTH and I live here, Maybe I should ban you . I better get out and get some done tomorrow. I had planed a 11 mile walk with 3 caches and a trigpoint, Think that will have to wait. ;)

[NeilFord]

Cant belive that your going caching for one day and will be higher than me in CoTM table for the MONTH and I live here, Maybe I should ban you .

I am of course a UK resident, so if Graeme allows me to log the cahces as well, I'll be a valid entrant :-)

 

Scary to think I'll could go from muggle to record holder in under two weeks!

 

- Neil.

[+Simply Paul]

"Muggle to recordholder in two weeks." Ah, in the states they'd call that 'The American Dream'. The same could be said of "Idiot to President in two weeks". A little bit of politics there...

 

Put me down for 29 found. Good luck guys! On the subject of food and drink, 7up tastes better than coke when it's warm and flat, and dinner is for wimps! (However, a sandwich, packet of crisps and a bar of chocolate while in transit might not be a bad idea. You need to keep those starch and blood-sugar levels up)

 

SP

[+OzGuff]

Neil:

 

If either of us finds a cache we are both logging it! And we aren't going for a record -- just as many as possible.

 

Cheers!

[NeilFord]

But if we do break the record, it'll be something we can dine of for a little while :-)

 

But as I've said before, I'm not a numbers person. Sunday is abou having a fun time and learning from an experienced cacher.

 

Have a safe journey over.

 

- Neil.

[Deego]

Cant belive that your going caching for one day and will be higher than me in CoTM table for the MONTH and I live here, Maybe I should ban you ;) .

I am of course a UK resident, so if Graeme allows me to log the cahces as well, I'll be a valid entrant :-)

 

Scary to think I'll could go from muggle to record holder in under two weeks!

 

- Neil.

Neil its a good way to start. Just enjoy it . Of couse you should log them sign the log book and log them ALL.

 

You are more than welcome to enter CoTM, As is Ozguff (who has entered before and came 3rd in feb :D)

Edited March 26, 2004 by Deego

[+OzGuff]

So I arrived at the Indianapolis airport Friday afternoon in plenty of time to catch my flight to New York (and then on to Gatwick). The wait in the line gets longer, and then longer, and longer still. People are grumbling, tensions rise. An announcement is made that our plane will be late. (So late that I will miss my connection in New York!) Bummer.

 

When I get to the front of the line (after 100 minutes of waiting) I am told that I might have to wait 24 hours -- which would have meant I miss my Sunday caching appointment! That will not do!! After much searching they finally discover that if I fly to Chicago, stay overnight there, I can take a 6am flight (via Washington DC) that will get me into Heathrow at 9:45pm Saturday night. Book it!

 

Instead of flying over the Atlantic wih 4 hours to go until arriving in London I am sitting in a hotel room with 6 hours until I leave. The real bummer is that I completely lost 12 hours of caching time in central London! Shrug!

 

Still looking forward to the day in Hertfordshire with Neil!!!

[+DomHeknows]

Good luck guys - Hope the weather stays reasonably nice for you - its much nicer when you cache in the dry. My sweepstake entry says 21 and 1 speeding ticket :-) Looking forward to seeing the photo's.

[+Peztone]

Hmm.. first day of BST, that means they have an extra hour of sunlight today, I hope that doesn't skew the sweepstake

 

Wonder where they are now...

[+mongoose39uk]

Anybody any idea how many they got.

 

Good challenge.

[+Stuey]

It's not midnight yet . Caching doesn't have to stop at sunset

[+House Of Boo]

We know that they have done at least four caches, as the four we visited today in Herts had their names in the log book

 

We also picked up a TB which had been left by them.

 

I wonder how they are getting on!!

 

House of Boo

[+OzGuff]

Let me first reiterate that I am not a record/numbers man! (And I think Neil would echo my sentiment.) My intention today was to go out and have a good time -- if the day went well our numbers would be reasonably high.

 

Neil picked me up at about 6:40am which put us 40 minutes behind schedule -- had I been a numbers man it might have bothered me. As it was we had an enjoyable drive to Potters Bar getting to know each other. Our first cache -- Where Four Corners Meet -- was found (by Neil) at 7:40am. Twenty minutes later we found #2 (The Barrel Makers Ramble) and were starting to think that the day would go well. It was a little brisk out this morning but it felt good!

 

Number three (The Rabbit Ramble -- great hide) was found at 8:31am, four (The Bramble Ramble -- via the tip) at 9:10am, five (North of London TB Hotel) at 10:01am, six (On The Edge) at 10:04am, and seven (Chestnut View) at 10:34am. We considered going for Rare Bit Burrow next but the last few logs had all been DNFs and Finger's last log had us scratching our collective heads.

 

Coal Post #41 became our 8th find (10:49am), followed by our first unfound though unsearched for cache. Fast-Carp had many fisherman loitering AND folks performing woodland management. We felt that two middle-aged men traipsing off into the woods might have aroused some suspicion, so rather than endanger the cache we turned back for the car.

 

HighPoint at 11:50am was our 9th -- we hardly needed to stop the car for this one. Had more of the caches today been this quick we would definitely set a mark to be reckoned with. We followed this up with our tenth (Hornet's Hide #13) at 12:19pm which proved elusive but was eventually found. (We passed many groups of orienteer-ers on this cache.) While walking to this cache we were called by The Hornet asking if would like to meet he and Lost In Space at a local watering hole. As we were headed to his Fox's Burrow next we arranged to meet them at The Old Fox. (Neil and I aren't sure for which of them the pub was named...)

 

We found Hornet's #7 (our 11th) at 12:58pm and arrived at the pub soon after. It was very enjoyable chatting with these two non-numbers men and, except for an inadvertant slam on The Hornet's caches, Neil and I had a great time chatting! The only down-side was the loss of prime caching time. After an hour chatting and drinking we zipped out to find a few more caches.

 

Our first post-pub find was MI-5 Reservation at 2:21pm (# 12) and was an enjoyable stroll along a very busy road. Reserved Voyeur became # 13 at 2:48pm and truly showed us what "muddy" meant!! (Lost In Space had not been too impressed by the small amount of mud that had built up on our boots and trousers, but we more than made up for that during this one!)

 

Number 14 (3:23pm) on the day was our first micro, HM #2. When we got out of the car for this one I looked the area over and said, "That is where the cache is; let me get it from here." Neil said we had to go in through the gate, which we did, only to discover that the cache was in fact exactly where I had predicted. Kids today! Number 15 (3:42pm) was HM #1 and we were both very impressed with the gardens. Hornet's Hide #8 was # 16 for us (at 4:18pm) and was one of our longest walks, especially since we then walked directly to Hornet's Hide #11 for our 17th find (at 4:51pm). The batteries on my GPSr failed at this point and, since my spares were back in the car, I was glad to see that FIL had dropped some batteries into this cache in September 2002 and they were still there -- and still worked!

 

The Rickmansworth area netted us finds 18, 19 and 20 (at 5:56pm, 6:19pm, and 6:32pm, respectively). It also introduced Neil to the world of truly evil micro caches! Our itinerary really took a knock here as we decided to go for a few more finds to equal Seasider's find count from last December and call it a night relatively early. I have only had 4 hours sleep in the last three days, and Neil had a two hour drive back home once we found our last cache.

 

Our last few caches were still quite fun, though it included our only true DNF! Hornet's Hide #15 is almost definitely missing. (I know that every cacher worth his/her salt always claims the cache is missing, but this cache is missing! ) Hornet's Hide #9 at 7:36pm was # 21, Hornet's Hide #3 at 7:59am was #22, HM # 3 at 8:19pm was #23, Hornet's Hide #14 at 8:51pm was #24, and HM #4 at 9:07pm was #25. (Our last five finds all qualify as night-caches; my new headlight-lamp came in handy!) We could have zipped up to the Hidden sword virtual to make it 26 but thought 25 was better.

 

Neil and I had a great day! I can say that I have made a friend, and that we will keep in contact! It always amazes me that the cachers I meet are almost always great people! It was even good to meet The Hornet! (I'm still trying to arrange an Event Cache for the drinks at the pub!)

 

Thanks go out to philgn, The Hornet, Finger, sparafucile, SteveB67, and perthos for placing the caches we found today! Some great and awesome caches! The good news is that I had researched so many caches and we left so many caches unfound that we are ready to go on another day soon! And we are now smarter marathon cachers!

 

This was a day about having fun! Had we wanted to break a "record" we would have found one more or we wouldn't have stopped (so long) to chat with The Hornet and Lost In Space.

 

I need to stop typing; I still have to log the finds and TBs! I will be uploading photos from the day but not until I return to the US.

 

So who won the sweepstakes? (Neil really wanted us to find one more, but I think he had 26...)

 

Cheers!

Edited March 29, 2004 by OzGuff

[+Simply Paul]

I, for one, am impressed! Not only with the caching, but with the quality of the records taken of where and when and how, what why and when! Congratulations on an awesome days caching guys. It makes me feel I should be a more committed cacher myself. Not that I'm saying you two should be committed

 

I might have a little experiment in the summer. June 21st is the longest day of the year, and I'm in the mood to try a dawn-til-dusk-til-I-drop day out I think.

 

Anyway, well done again chaps

 

SP

[NeilFord]

I just want to add that I had an absolutely amazing day. Spent a whole load of hours in the company of a very fun person and discovered bits of the Hertfordshire countryside I didn't know exisited (and I lived in Herts for 10 years).

 

Oh... and I learnt a LOT about geocaching in a very small amount of time.

 

To anyone else who want to try something similar, I say "give it a go", but maybe when there are a few more hours daylight :-)

 

A fuller report will follow in due course. Instead of sleeping today, I have to go see a client (who called me yesterday mid-cache!), so I need to get moving.

 

Later.

 

- Neil.

[+The Hornet]

Our last few caches were still quite fun, though it included our only true DNF! Hornet's Hide #15 is almost definitely missing. (I know that every cacher worth his/her salt always claims the cache is missing, but this cache is missing! )

Well it was fun to meet these two guys for a drink and a chat at luchtime. Glad you both had a good time and found many of my caches.

 

I was concerned to read that my "HH15 - Weathertop" was missing so I went over there this morning. Guess what? It's still there, hidden well but definitely there

 

I guess you'll have to come back and have another go

[+Seasider]

Looks like you guys enjoyed your grand day out!!

 

And I see you bumped into dad & grandad along the way!! ;)

 

I really enjoy a marathon session so it's great to see others enjoying it too.

 

So (not that we are numbers men ) it is a threeway tie now for most in a day outside London - 25.

 

Winner of the sweepstake is Bill D with 27!

 

Right, time for you to get stuck into the remaining London caches!

 

Cheers!

 

Seasider

[+OzGuff]

This question is more for Seasider:

 

Do locationless caches found during the day count toward any records equalled/broken?

 

And I will try to clean up the rest of central London's caches but only in 3-4 hour spurts. I won't have an extended timeblock for the rest f the week. (My delayed flight robbed me of that -- I had been planning on caching in central London last Saturday on the assumption that I arrived at 8:30am.) Oh well. As a non-numbers man I remain unfazed!

Edited March 29, 2004 by OzGuff