Suburban Sprint and Sausal Canyon Maze-O
Date: (Fri.) Aug. 4, 2006
Location: Oakland, CA
Event Director: 
- 510.681.6181
Course Setter: Rex Winterbottom
Type: C; USOF Sprint and Score-O
Related Information
Urban Festival of Orienteering (http://whatitiz.biz/baoc/20060804_06_ufo/flyer.html) Course Setter's Notes
NOTE: Preregistration is REQUIRED for the August 6th Urban Festival Of Orienteering (http://whatitiz.biz/baoc/20060804_06_ufo/flyer.html) event at Joaquin Miller Park, and can be arranged during this event.
Let the fun begin Friday night with two different courses to choose from, each with different challenges.
The USOF Sprint will run you through exquisitely manicured neighborhoods along curvy streets and perhaps through some staircases if you find them amenable to your route choice. Street signs will be the control markers, and you must mark the correct number with your pencil on your answer sheet! There will be 8 controls over about 3 km. (The Sprint earns points for Peter Gagarin's USOF Sprint series (http://petergagarin.org), not USOF ranking points.)
The "Maze-O" is simply a Score-O with more route planning than usual: Sausal Canyon is a dramatic drop between two large mountain spurs along Park Blvd. Leimert is the only street that crosses it, utilizing a tall bridge! Up and down, the canyon is rimmed with trails. A year-round creek flows in the bottom, and just this week I was able to run along the creek without getting wet, using it as a trail — although in some parts I had to hopscotch over some stepping stones to do it. Vegetation is thick, poison oak is present, but you can do the whole event on trails and avoid it. Some of you may want to go cross-country up and down the canyon if you see the opportunity — just make sure the vegetation and steepness aren't too nasty. Seven controls will be placed. You may go for all 7, or merely 4, and I would expect the winning time for getting all 7 to be about 30 minutes.
After your courses, stick around for potluck action. I will provide a few things, but definitely bring stuff to share if you can. BAOC will provide the plates, cups, napkins, etc. Local DJs will spin favorable, fun tunes at a low volume, and we may have a screening of Gymkata at 8:30 for anyone interested. Definitely bring chairs, since I do not have enough seats for a large group, and I expect we will spill over across the street into an island park with a huge patch of grass where you can spread out on a blanket or set down your chair to enjoy your food and drink.
The meeting area is my flat at 4648 Park Blvd (http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=4648+park+blvd.&csz=oakland%2C+ca). Registration and starts are 5:00 to 7:00, courses close at 8:00.
We need volunteers for starts, finishes, results, and control pickup.
See the Course Setter's Notes for more information.
- Rex Winterbottom, E.D.
Driving Directions
From Highway 580 coming from the West (San Francisco), take the Park Blvd. exit. If you're coming from the East (San Leandro/Hayward) on 580, take the 14th Ave. exit, turn right, and head up the hill to Park Blvd., where you turn right. If coming from the 580 side of Park, travel about a mile until you see a Chevron station. The second street corner after the Chevron is Dolores, and 4648 Park Blvd (http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=4648+park+blvd.&csz=oakland%2C+ca) is at the corner.
From Highway 13 take the Park Blvd. exit. If you are coming from the East (San Leandro/Hayward) you need to make 2 immediate lefts to get onto Park Blvd. If coming from the West on Highway 13, simply bear right and merge onto Park Blvd — do not go straight or turn left! Coming down Park Blvd. from 13, after you pass the light at Leimert, the next left turn you can make onto a street (not a median U-turn) is Dolores, and 4648 Park Blvd (http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=4648+park+blvd.&csz=oakland%2C+ca) is on the corner.
Park along Park Blvd. or the alley that parallels it quite easily!
Public Transit
AC Transit V (http://transit.511.org/schedules/detail.asp?cid=AD&rte=12606&dir=E&day=1&dayid=3598) from San Francisco, AC Transit 15 (http://transit.511.org/schedules/detail.asp?cid=AC&rte=6166&dir=E&day=1&dayid=3631) from Oakland — stop just past the Chevron station!