Orienteering at Briones Regional Park, March 2001
==============================================

Ski orienteering the week before had whet my appetite for more and after
spending Sat on the couch in the sun reading "Still Life with Woodpecker"--
the packet of Camels lent me as "reference material" ("Don't open them and
don't separate them from the book") were useful as such though I never did
find the woman and lion the book claimed were on the camel--I was keen to 
join Adrian at a standard orienteering event at Briones Regional Park, just
over the hills from Berkeley. My orienteering gaiters came out of my outdoor
clothing drawer for the first time since I came here and bright and early
on Sunday we were off. Settling on the second longest course--Red,
5.2k and 367m climb--I donned my gaiters, taped my laces ("This looks far
too much like professional orienteering for me" quoth A) and we set off for
the start, bearing microchip embedded plastic "fingers" instead of control
cards. "Are you ready?" asked the starter. Handing me a pre-marked map in
response to my "yes" she said "You can go now." Um, what, no countdown?
Inserting my plastic finger in the start control--beep!--I was off and 
racing! Slipping and sliding as I contoured the steep hill between 1 and 2
I was missing both my o-shoes and sheep tracks; 2 and 3 punched I set off
on the long route choice leg--which way round the hill?--to 4. Taking the
left side I dropped down into the valley, up a broad open ridge--planning
ahead as the steep hill slowed me to a walk--crested out then followed another
ridge down, dropping in on the control from above to avoid more contouring.
On, on, on through re-entrants at 5, 6 and 7 then a long easy leg from 7 to
8. A failure to read the map carefully had me trying to cross the stream on
the way at a steep banked section, here's no good, nor here, okay, across
the way we came earlier. A welcome drink at 8 then on again, breathing hard.
More time lost at 9--I saw the control but didn't go straight to it,
thinking it wasn't mine--then 10, 11, 12, beep! beep! beep! A gate stood
between me and the finish; running towards it I judged I could slip between the
horizontal railings and barely slowing down thrust my left leg through. "I'm
going to get stuck!" came a brief moment of panic as my chest and head 
followed, then I was through and clear. Beep! sang the finish control and I 
was done, 59:55. Phew! I still know how to do this! Initially in the lead I 
was soon beaten down to 2nd, finally 4th out of 24, 1 second behind 3rd, 8 
seconds ahead of 5th, 6 minutes behind 1st, and with the fastest time on the 
long leg to 4. And I was back in Berkeley in time to spend the afternoon 
cleaning my room, impressing my housemates no end!

Picture: a fierce rabbit discovering a cat guiltily munching carrots by the
light of the full moon. By B. Kliban.