Photo gallery image (click to enlarge)

Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline

Event #2 of 6 in the BAOC 2019 Summer Series

Date: (Sun.) Jun. 16, 2019
Location: San Leandro, CA
Event Director: - 510.407.1876
Course Setter: Daniel Å ebo
Type: C; This event will be part of the 2019 Summer Series with a Beginner and an Advanced course; Beginners are welcome—the courses will be "easier" than usual because of the nature of the park

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


This event will be the second of six events in the 2019 Summer Series. However, we want to emphasize that everyone is welcome to come out and do one (or both) of the courses, regardless of whether or not you attended the previous Summer Series event, or plan to attend later events.

Beginners new to orienteering are encouraged to attend​—​the navigational difficulty is significantly eased by the nature of the park, so anyone should be able to complete the Beginner course. Water and fences will keep you from wandering too far.

Oyster Bay was once landfill, and is now evolving into a park that will eventually include disc golf and a bike-skills area. Construction has presented some challenges, including changes in contours, but we hope the views of the bay and shorebirds make it worth your while. And you can always watch the jets landing at nearby Oakland Airport. Snacks will be provided.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the park that is always changing!

Schedule

The standard BAOC event schedule will be followed:

  9:00 AM – Registration opens
  9:30 AM – Beginners' clinic instruction begins (free)
10:00 AM – Starts open
10:30 AM – Beginners' clinic instruction ends
11:59 AM – Registration closes
12:30 PM – Starts close
  2:00 PM – Courses close, checkpoint control pick-up begins

You can register and start on courses anytime between the open and close times above. Thus, for example, you do not need to be "punctual" at 9:00 (but you can if you want).

Beginners' clinics are short, repeating sessions that introduce the sport of orienteering, and provide enough instruction to be able to complete the beginner course.

Everyone must check in at the Finish by 2:00 PM, and report to the E-punch table, so we can have everyone accounted for and start checkpoint pick-up on time so those volunteers can get home.

Registration and Costs

At registration, all juniors must be accompanied by parents or legal guardians, or bring with them a waiver signed by their parent or legal guardian (the registration form is available here (PDF/90KB)).

The following fees apply at this event:

  $3 for juniors on the Beginner course
$10 for adults on the Beginner course
  $5 for juniors on the Advanced course  
$15 for adult members on the Advanced course
$20 for adult non-members on the Advanced course
  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  
  $5 for an electronic fingerstick rental (optional, but each team will need one to complete the course)
$15 for the lowest-cost individual one-year BAOC membership (optional)  

Notes:

  • At the event, we are able to accept payment only by cash or check​—​no credit cards or electronic payments.
  • There is no charge for a second (or more) course.

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ. All the prices are also shown on the standard entry form (PDF/90KB), 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.)

What to Bring

Comfortable outdoors attire and walking shoes are fine for those who will walk their course.

Running attire and running shoes are fine. However, the grass can be high in some areas, and there are a lot of stickers, so gaiters, long socks, or long pants may come in handy for the Advanced course.

A compass is not necessary, but can be helpful. We have compasses available for a $1 rental fee.

We time the courses with the SPORTident system, so a SPORTident fingerstick is required for each team​—​they rent for $5. (Use of the "E-punch" system is easy. You can learn how at the event, or read about it here.)

Venue Facilities

Water is available at a fountain as you enter the park, and we will have some available at the picnic area.

There is a restroom near the picnic area, and some portapotties scattered over the park near the construction areas.

Bring your lunch and have a picnic. There are grills available if you want to BBQ.

Courses

Whether you want to take a stroll or keep up your rankings in the Summer Series, our Course Setter Daniel Å ebo has these courses for you to choose from:

   Course      Length   Climb  Controls  Navigation
   Beginner    2.7 km    35 m     16     Easy (mostly on trails)  
   Advanced    5.6 km    65 m     27     Difficult (detailed, off-trail)

Beginners should be aware that the lengths shown are the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. Your actual distance will be somewhat longer. To estimate how far you might actually go, mentally change "km" to "mi" (e.g., for a "2.7 km" course, you might travel up to 2.7 miles).

The Beginner course is similar to the standard White and Yellow courses in its difficulty. Controls are always visible from trails, and are often placed on trails. The course can be completed by following trails, and jumping off of them sometimes for extremely short occasions to punch a control.

The Advanced course, as the name implies, is intended to be a bit harder, both navigationally and physically. All of the controls are off-trail, and good map reading will often be required once in the control circle to center in on the correct thicket, knoll, or specified control feature. This course is most similar to a hybrid between the usual Orange and Brown courses. It will be close to an Orange course in length, but some of the controls are more technically difficult than those on an Orange course. However, there is a vast trail network in this park, so getting completely lost off trail will (hopefully) not be a problem. Most of the time, the hardest thing is to read the vegetation on the Advanced course, and zero in on controls on such features.

The Advanced course will be the Summer Series ranking course.

Important note for the Advanced runners: There will be a map flip at some control in the course. You will simply flip your map over, and the second map will be on the other side inside your map case. One map will show all the controls from the Start to a certain control, and the second map will show that "certain control" and all the controls from there to the Finish. This is because the interesting parts of the park are relatively small, even more so now because of certain terrain changes, so some controls and control lines would be extremely hard to read if they were all on one map.

Be sure to read the Course Setter's Notes for more information.

Request for Volunteers

As usual, this event requires volunteers. In particular, we could really use some help with these spots:

Beginners' Clinics: 9:30–10:30
Starts: 9:45–10:45 or 10:45–11:45
Control pick-up: 2:00–3:00

Just an hour of your time could improve the quality of the event. Contact if you can help, or if you have any questions.

2019 Summer Series

This is the second event of the BAOC 2019 Summer Series. The Series consists of six events, each of which has a "ranking course" for the overall Summer Series results. At this event, points will be awarded to all the individuals (but not groups or teams) who complete the Advanced course.

Details of the Summer Series scoring system are available here. (Note that we need your birth year if you want to be scored properly.)

Driving Directions

If you can carpool, from home or from the San Leandro BART station, that would be a great help with the limited parking near the park.

From north or south I-880 (Nimitz Hwy), exit at Marina Blvd West (#33B). Go right/west on Marina Blvd about 1.3 miles, to just before the main road bends left, to a short right-turn lane at Neptune Dr. Turn right/north onto Neptune Dr, and go 0.6 miles to the end. Park on the street.

Registration will be held at the first picnic area as you go up the hill, just past the restroom.

The approximate coordinates of the event are 37.7095,-122.1925. There's a map here that shows the location of the event. (You'll need to drag the map to center the event, and zoom in, to see the surrounding details.)

Public Transit

Public transportation is poor in this area. Your best bet is BART to the San Leandro station, then walk (run?) or bicycle 2.7 miles, or hire a taxi cab. Better yet, maybe people can carpool...

Google walking/bicycling directions from the San Leandro BART Station:

  1. Head southeast on San Leandro Blvd toward Parrott St – About 5 mins, go 0.2 mi
  2. Turn right at Williams St – About 39 mins, go 2.0 mi
  3. Turn right at Neptune Dr – About 9 mins, go 0.5 mi – Total 2.7 mi
  4. Registration will be held at the first picnic area as you go up the hill, just past the restroom.