Photo gallery image (click to enlarge)

Bedwell Bayfront Park

Event #6 of 6 in the BAOC 2018 Summer Series

Date: (Sun.) Aug. 26, 2018
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Event Director: - 650.281.5280
Course Setter: Theo Verhoeven
Type: C; Details TBD; this event will be the last in the BAOC 2018 Summer Series

Please note that fees and time limits apply. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.


This is the sixth and final event in the BAOC 2018 Summer Series. Come out for your last chance to move up in the standings. Plus it’s the last club event until Calero on September 30, so get your orienteering fix in now. There are multiple fun courses to choose from as described below.

Theo Verhoeven has designed some fun and challenging courses for everyone from advanced beginners through long-time participants. For true beginners, we will take advantage of the park's permanent courses to offer a very-low-cost introduction to orienteering.

Bedwell Bayfront Park (http://www.menlopark.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/Bedwell-Bayfront-Park-6) started out as a landfill, but today it is so much more! Clusters of trees and shrubs, carefully placed boulders, and a maze of trails cover it now. The Bay breezes keep this place cool when the summer heat scorches the hills. Come join us in exploring it!

Venue Facilities

There is no park entrance fee. Registration will be located near the first paved parking lot, by the restrooms. Park there, in the lot farther to the north, or alongside the access road well off the pavement. Try to use the unpaved areas efficiently; don’t use more space than necessary.

There are decent restrooms, outdoor sinks, and one drinking fountain.

Please keep in mind that we are sharing the park with the general public.

Schedule

  9:00 AM – Registration opens; you can register anytime until noon
  9:30 AM – Beginner’s clinic instruction (free)
10:00 AM – Starts open; you can start on courses anytime until 12:30
 2:00 PM – Courses close, checkpoint pick-up begins

Beginner’s clinics are short, repeating sessions that provide an introduction to orienteering and enough instruction to be able to complete a Beginner course. The sessions will begin at 9:30 continue until about 10:30 (depending on demand).

Please note that everyone must return to the Finish by 2:00 PM, and check in at E-punch, even if you don't complete your course, so we can have everyone accounted for and start checkpoint pick-up on time so those volunteers can get home.

Costs

This event has a non-standard fee structure, as follows (juniors are age 8 through 20; under 8 is free):

  $5 for juniors (all courses except the Permanent course)
$12 for adult members (all courses except the Permanent course)
$18 for adult non-members (all courses except the Permanent course)
  $1 per person for the Permanent course (cost of map printing)
  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  
  $5 for an electronic fingerstick rental (optional, but each team will need one for all courses except the Permanent course)
$15 for the lowest-cost individual one-year BAOC membership (optional)  

For extra people on a team (i.e., completing the course together, other than the Permanent course), add $7 per adult or $3 per junior.

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ. All the prices are also shown on the standard entry form (PDF/100KB), which you can print and fill out in advance to save some time at the event. (You will need one entry form for each group of people going on a course together.) Please note that the form has a second page for signatures of group members.

Courses

Since Bayfront is much easier to navigate than most of our venues, we have erased all trails and roads from the "advanced" maps (Long, Short, and Fog-O courses). You will need to use bearings, contours, vegetation, and smaller features for guidance. Also note that since there are controls in common between the Long (Summer Series) course and other courses, you must do the Long course first if you want your result to count toward the Summer Series standings.

Summer Series Course

Participants who complete the Long course (5.1 km) will have their scores included in the Summer Series rankings.

Alternative Courses

There will be two shorter versions of the Long course, one with no trails shown on the map and one with the trails shown. Plus we will have a challenging, but relatively short, Fog-O course. In addition, beginners, especially first-timers, can choose to try the Yellow permanent course (referred to on this page as the Permanent course).

Fog-O

The Long, Short, and Orange courses reuse the same controls (though in different orders). So for those who would like to run a second course, we have added a short, fun Fog-O course. You get a mostly-blank map, with only small "windows" that show the actual map around the Start, Finish, and controls. You have to navigate from one control to the vicinity of the next using mostly your compass (and, if you like, counting your steps). Trails have also been removed, but the map window around the control might show more features that should help you locate the control. It is only 2 km, so why not give it a try?

Beginner Options

This event does not include our normal full range of seven courses, including two beginner-level courses. However, we do have two attractive options for beginners:

  1. This park has three permanent orienteering courses, designed by a BAOC member when he was an Eagle Scout. We will use one of these as the introductory beginner course. No E-punch, but you get the orienteering experience for only the cost of the map.
  2. The Orange course: It’s slightly longer and harder than our usual beginner courses, but very safe in this small, open park. Beginners and intermediate runners are encouraged to try out the Orange course. This is a small park and it is impossible to get lost. Controls are off trail, but you should be able to locate them easily if you use the map to keep track of where you are on the trail.

Course Summary

Here are the details of the courses:

                                                      Water
    Course     Distance   Climb  Controls  Map        Stops
    Permanent   2.0 km     50 m      8     Trails       0   
    Fog-O       2.0 km     50 m      7     No Trails    0
    Orange      2.9 km     65 m     15     Trails       1
    Short       3.0 km     75 m     16     No Trails    1
    Long        5.1 km    100 m     25     No Trails    2

Note that the course Distance is simply the sum of the straight-line distances between controls. Your actual distance will be somewhat longer, and will depend on your route choices (and any errors you make). At this park it is often fairly easy to actually go in a straight line if you’re comfortable being off-trail.

Climb is an estimate of the cumulative "up" that would be encountered on the optimum route, with no regard for any "down" along the way. As with course distance, the actual climb you encounter will depend on your route choices (and errors).

As described above, to make the courses more challenging, all trails and roads have been removed from the Long, Short, & Fog-O maps. Only the Orange and Permanent courses use a regular map with all the trails and roads shown.

Map Notes

The map is still very good, but vegetation constantly changes, so don’t rely on just one feature while navigating from control to control.

  1. Boulders and knolls are often smaller than what would usually be mapped. Some might be hidden from view by tall grass.
  2. The map uses 3 knoll symbols: “Brown O” for a normal knoll; “Gray O” for a small mound of gravel, and a “Brown Triangle” for a small man-made mound covered with a lid and often with a post with streamer next to it. The brown triangle is indicated on the clue sheet with both the “Knoll/” and “Man Made/×” clues. The other two types of knolls are not used as controls.
  3. The “cairn” symbol is used on the map to denote the park’s sequence of rock sculptures. These are not used as control features.
  4. Trees are indicated on the map with “Brown ×” for a standing dead tree or rootstock, “Green T” for a fallen tree, and “Green O” for a lone tree or small copse. However, be aware that this might not always be accurate anymore. Some fallen trees are almost fully eroded, some dead standing trees have fallen, and some once-living trees are now dead. When used as a control, the “Ruined Tree” clue with “at end of/T” location is used for a fallen tree. Otherwise the “Ruined Tree” clue with “which side of tree” location is used for a standing dead tree.
  5. Most of the park is mowed, but not everywhere. The tall-vegetation map markings might not always represent current conditions.

Park Hazards

The good news: You can’t get lost. There is no poison oak. There is very little climb. The park is very runnable.

Most of the park is mowed, but there are still some areas with taller grass. So, leg coverings and sturdy shoes are advised. And be aware that there are numerous holes hidden under the grass. Exercise caution!

There is little shade, so wear a hat and use sunscreen.

The park is likely to be fairly busy. Please be considerate of other park users.

2018 Summer Series

This is the final event of the BAOC 2018 Summer Series. The Series consists of six events, each of which has a "ranking course" for the overall Summer Series results. At this event, the Long course will be that ranking course.

Since Bayfront is not a particularly challenging place within which to navigate, we have erased all trails and roads from the advanced maps. You will need to use bearings, contours, vegetation, and smaller features for guidance. Also note that since there are controls in common with the other courses, you must do the Long course first if you want your result to count toward the Summer Series standings.

To be clear, points for the Summer Series will be awarded only to people who complete the Long course.

Also note that to be eligible for the Summer Series cumulative awards, you must be a BAOC member in good standing as of this event.

Request for Volunteers

We’ll need people for several tasks. No experience is necessary.

All the tasks are easy. Helping with set up or tear down, at the Start, or with control pickup, is particularly suitable for somebody with no previous experience.

Thanks!
Steve Haas, Event Director

Driving Directions

The approximate coordinates are 37.4909,-122.1773.

From the Peninsula, North, and South, take Highway 101 to the exit for Marsh Rd/CA-84E (#406). Head east on Marsh Rd (toward Dumbarton Bridge or the Bay). Stay to the left so you can drive straight ahead into the park at the traffic signal where Marsh turns right onto Bayfront Expressway.

From the East Bay, cross the Dumbarton Bridge (Hwy 84). Go to the fifth traffic light after the bridge and turn right into the park.

There's a map here that shows the location of the event. To use that map, drag it to center the Peninsula in the panel, then use the "+" button to zoom in. Repeat dragging and zooming to get the desired area shown. You can click on the Satellite button to see an aerial view.