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BAOC COOL #5

Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline

Date: (Sun.) Jan. 9, 2011
Location: San Leandro, CA
Event Director: - 925.872.3935
Course Setter: Jay Hann
Type: Junior; Fun urban park

Please note that fees and time limits apply, unless otherwise mentioned below. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.


More information will be available later, but in the meantime ...

I'm planning to have 35 controls for Course 4 at Oyster Bay. This means that the SICard-5 and SICard-8 will not be able to be used. SICard-6 or SICard-9 is required. We plan to have a box of SICard-6 available for rental. This requirement is for Course 4 only. Those students who have a season pass and plan to run Varsity will get the rental included in their season pass.

How do you tell if you have an SICard-6? Their numbers are in the range 500,000 to 999,999 inclusive.

Note: An SICard-6 is likely to be a requirement for BAOC COOL Varsity runners starting in Fall 2012. I plan to have an upgrade-exchange program for those who have SICard-8 sticks as part of a 2012-2013 season pass.

Here are the preliminary course statistics:

   Course      Length    Climb   Controls
   Course 1    1.6 km     23 m      18
   Course 2    2.6 km     35 m      13
   Course 3    3.2 km     58 m      14
   Course 4    4.3 km     65 m      35

I tried to use the area north of the tree grove a bit this year, as next year it will likely be under a small hill of dirt, so this is our last chance to use these particular twisty trailed dog runs.

There were almost 200,000 cubic yards of dirt added last summer, so the large hill is longer, but I don't have any controls there since it is so boring.

Like last year, I'll be breaking a lot of rules, mainly for Course 4, the Varsity and Winter Series course. Among the broken rules are:

So, full disclosure (smile).

My goal here is to reduce distance and time to make our COOL students better Orienteers. This is similar to the way folks in Brazil play futsol to make better soccer players.

The SE end of that row of tree/bushes has started to be removed, and by this summer they will all have been cut down in preparation of another man-made hill.

The only section of real forest (20 meters long) has also been cut down. I have made map changes to my best ability.

The good news is that Jim Fish has agreed to vet the courses, so hopefully I won't misplace controls like I did with two of the controls last year.


Driving Directions

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

There's a map here that shows the location of the event.

Public Transit

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

Google walking directions from 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