“Corona” training courses in Big Basin

Table of contents

Big Basin Redwoods State Park

Dates: June 4, 2020 to ??
Location: Boulder Creek, CA
Course Setter:
Type: Training; Two training courses for practice/exercise during the shutdown

Photo gallery image (click to enlarge)


February 28, 2021 Update

These courses are considered to be "closed".

September 3rd Update

Big Basin Redwoods State Park is closed due to the 2020 fire. There has been major damage in the park​—​it will be closed for a long time.

General Notes


Big Basin is partly open! (After a period of total closure.)

Thanks to everyone who submitted the survey!!! The survey results are clear:

Thus, the second, longer and gentler, “East” technical course is now available in Big Basin. That's in addition to the short and steep “North” course announced earlier. Both courses are on a new high-quality map.

The following items are available here (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tv490cdOBNhXNpXP6Adzs9FtonuHjj93). (On that website, double-click on items to open them.)

Please note that you need to print your own map(s). Unfortunately, I cannot print maps for you, sorry.

If you go to the courses, please read the notes, and please register.

Course Details

Here are the course specs:

     Name     Length      Climb     Controls
     North    1.8 km   200 m (11%)     11  
     East     3.1 km   185 m (6%)      10

Be sure to read the Course Setter's Notes (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bEuGcrNhnEq5yI7pAZEl6MQvehD4YYTNolvt13J4hLA/edit) for more information.

“North” Course

The Start and Finish are at a large pull-out on the eastern side of SR 236 (aka Big Basin Way) near the upper junction with North Escape Rd. It is 2.4 miles north (uphill) from the park headquarter and 5.8 miles south (downhill) from the upper junction of SR 236 and SR 9 (at these coordinates: 37.1954,-122.2107). Parking is free.

“East” Course

Park in a small (2–3 cars) turnout on the western side of China Grade 130 m south from the upper SR 236 – China Grade crossing, which is 1.1 miles east (uphill) from the “North” course start location. The coordinates are 37.1949,-122.1942. Parking is free.

See the Course Setter's Notes (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bEuGcrNhnEq5yI7pAZEl6MQvehD4YYTNolvt13J4hLA/edit) for directions from parking to the Start and Finish.

Enjoy!


(June 4, 2020 [“North” Course] and June 6, 2020 [“East” Course])


Note Cal-O-Fest Embargo

For all visiting Big Basin, please remember that the west half of the map (west and north of SR 236, aka Big Basin Way) is embargoed for next year’s Cal-O-Fest (https://www.cal-o-fest.com). See here (http://www.cal-o-fest.com/#!/stage_02) for details of that event. A map of the embargo area is here (https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1cJ5Zjj3zIXUwg9n6jPXqNTHB38BgNwSH&ll=37.18828988603689%2C-122.21914609203375&z=14). (That webpage shows the embargo areas for all the Cal-O-Fest events.)

Misha’s training course is on the eastern half of the Big Basin map, which is not part of the embargo. It's a great opportunity for training!

Regards,
Tapio Karras
(June 4, 2020)


East Course Is On RouteGadget

The Big Basin East “Corona” training course is now on RouteGadget. Visit RouteGadget for an introduction, or go directly here (http://baoc.org/gadget/cgi/reitti.cgi) to draw your route. (To see other RouteGadget events worldwide, visit this website (http://www.routegadget.net).)

Since there was no E-punch, I set up the event using the “no results” mode, which requires a bit more effort to enter your route.

Drawing Your Route Manually

You need to enter your name (please include your time after your name), total time, and optionally any cumulative splits that you might have taken. Both splits and total time need to be in MMMSS format. For example, 0:57 is entered as “57”, 5 min 43 sec as “543”, and 1:12:32 as “7232”. That's easy.

Uploading Your GPS Track

You need to enter only your name (please include your time after your name)​—​total time and splits are not required as with manual entry. (RouteGadget automatically adds “GPS” ahead of your name.)

Since there are no E-punch splits, it's very challenging for RouteGadget to fit GPS tracks to the course automatically, especially as our maps are not georeferenced. Thus, you will need to adjust your track manually more than usual.

When you upload your GPS track, there are three blue adjustment points that you can move to adjust your track. There are typically points at the start and finish of the track, and a third one somewhere in the middle of the track.

The trick is to add more blue adjustment points by right-clicking the track anywhere you would like to add a new point. I typically add a blue dot at every control location on my track, as those are easy to identify because of the notable direction change. Then I drag the blue dots to the corresponding control locations on the course. Note that you can remove a blue dot by right-clicking on it.

Happy Routes,

(June 16, 2020)