2024-09-14 53 7

Location

On a corn field near Wolfstange.

Participants

Beardygrade

Plans

Since the distance between my home and the geohash was shown as slightly more than 18 km I planned to go there by bike and gave myself about 90 minutes, considering the road layout was not exactly the same as the proverbial crow's flight path. I also set out for a Tron achievement, planning to go a different route on the way home.

Expedition

Starting at roughly 14:30, I didnt make it in time to the geohash but arrived at 16:30. This was due to some bad ad hoc routing decisions and to my refusal to backtrack when I became aware of them, because I didn't want to sacrifice the Tron achievement. The first leg of the journey was dominated by using and enjoying a quite novel cycle highway. Shortly after, there were construction sites for a new 380 kV high voltage line.

Because there was no convenient road leading in the precise direction of the geohash, I started zig-zagging on ever smaller and more gravelly roads, losing time and obviously my sense of orientation. Short of entering Oldenburg again, I was able to correct the course and subsequently crossed the coastal canal. The next few kilometers were along the canal, then I had to go southward and entered the county Cloppenburg. After crossing the small river Lahe I was able to approach the geohash which was located roughly 5 m into a corn field. I had to dismount in order to cross a blackberry barrier and a ditch to enter the field. In order to maintain the Tron achievement, I left the field crossing another ditch and carefully approached my bike from the front. I had to backtrack for some 50 m but luckily the road has a grassy zone in the middle so it is save to claim I used opposite lanes.

I then added some more kilometers in order to avoid crossing my path and on a road crossing I met a very nice guy who climbed a roadside apple tree and gave me a delicious apple. After some more zig-zagging I could cross the coastal canal again. In Oldenburg I approached my house from the opposite end of the road.

Tracklog

There are gaps in the track when my phone couldn't get a satellite fix. In the direct vicinity of the geohash I had to use the same path in both directions but I painstakingly avoided crossing my own path.