2011-03-03 53 10

Thu 3 Mar 2011 in 53,10: 53.4989864, 10.1556156 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

On a field between Boberg and Lohbrügge.
The hash might be unaccessible. I had a closer look and it might be possible that there are some fences denying access to the actual hash point. I'll try to get as close as possible to this hash, if there are fences.

Participants

Bierhefe

Plans

Bierhefe

I plan to reach this hash at around 4pm. By the looks of it I will have to reach this hash alone again, as my girlfriend won't be home before 5 pm. :(

Expedition

This has to be (one of) THE BIGGEST FAIL(s) in geohashing history. Good news: I made it back home. Bad news: Everything else.

Okay, let's start at the beginning. "Good planning is everything!", too bad I am really bad at "planning". I had to inflate the tires of my bike first, because this should be my second bicycle hash, then I had to pack the usual stuff (gloves, head band, GPS...). It already was 4pm when I finally started my expedition. Just when I started cycling I realized I didn't pack batteries this time. Ah well, the batteries aren't going to die on me today.
I am in good spirits, because the way TO the hash point is downhill almost all the way (well, what we call "downhill" in northern germany anway). I even can catch up with the bus. Things are going pretty well so far.
I'm getting closer to the hash and my GPS suddendly says: "Batteries low", dammit! Good thing there's a Penny Market right across the street. Turns out that buying batteries takes a little longer than I thought. There are two customers in front of me who are REALLY slow with packing and paying. But I needed this break from cycling, so I'm still in good spirits. I make a small detour to see if my note from my previous expidition is still there, but as I thought, it isn't. I was thinking about trying to get the Tron Achievement, but it is a lot harder to find a path to this field than I thought. Ah well, I'll just take the path I originally planned to take. Maybe I can just edit this small detour out of the tracklog if I fulfill the criteria for the achievement in every other aspect.

Since I saw there's a geocache nearby I go to find that first. After a succesfull log I have to walk about 1.2km across the field, and here's where the fail starts.
I thought about just leaving my bike here and walk across the field, but since I still had hopes to get the Tron Achievement I took my bike with me. FAIL!
You might think since it's so cold, the ground is frozen and hard like hell, right? FAIL!
It's one of the muddiest fields I have even been on and I have to jump over quite a few irrigation ditches (strangely enough, the water inside those ditches actually IS frozen). Sometimes the front tire of my bike is blocked because of all the mud that gets stuck between the brake shoes. But I advance towards the hash point...

About 10 minutes later:
Why do I still have to walk over 800 meters? And why is this damn field so ****ing muddy?

Another 10 minutes:
Oh man, another irrigation ditch... oh wait, there's a small crossing, so I don't have to jump over it this time... oh man, I'll never get those shoes clean again! They weigh about 1kg EACH now because of all the mud that got stuck to it.

10 minutes later...
I'm getting close now. But this damn front tire is so stuck now that I have to hold it up to drag the bike along.

5 minutes later...
Oh what's that I can see there in the distance is that....????

3 minutes later

• insert some nasty swear words here*
  

YES, THIS IS A F-ING FENCE! Only 150 meters to go, my clothes are covered in mud, I have to drag my f-ing bike over this sh***y field and NOW there's A FENCE?? This can't be true...

2 minutes later
I'm thinking about jumping over that damn fence to get to the hash point. There are no "No Trespassing" signs here (who would plant those on a field anyway?), but since a fence usually means "This is private property, keep out!" I decide not to do it. All this hassle for a lousy "Coordinations not reached"? FML, seriously.
How do I get off this field now? There's no way I can make it all the way back. I try the northern direction first, since it looks like there's a small path. I don't want to carry the bike, since I am not entirely sure. I decid to leave it here and come back to get it if there's a path.
Turns out I was wrong, no path here. Good thing I didn't take my bike with me. Now the southern direction. Quite a long way, but what else can I do?
Since I can't push my bike anymore I have no choice but to carry it. It's about 800 meters, but it's the longest 800 meters I ever walked.
I come closer to a cycle track, but I also see another obstacle... another ditch, it seems. I think: "I just jump over this f-ing ditch."

Great idea, only problem is: This isn't a simple ditch, this is a stream! I cannot jump over it, even if I wouldn't carry a bike with me.
Now I have two choices: Either I jump over a few fences after all and reach the path quite quickly. Or I turn in the other direction, but then I have to walk really long to finally get off this field.
Okay, right now I don't care about private property, I try the shorter path. With the last bit of my strength I kind of hurl my bike over those barbed wire electrical fences. I don't care about getting dirty anymore, since I am already covered in mud. I just want to reach solid ground. After ten minutes (or was it only 5? Felt like an hour...) I finally reach the cycle path, I am free again!

I clean the worst of the mud that got stuck on the front tire with a stick, so I can at least cycle again. The rest will fall off while cycling. All I want to do now is to go back home...

Back home I get rid of my muddy clothes, I discover some cuts and bruises on my right leg. I really don't know how they got there.
10 minutes after I got back home I sit comfortly in my chair, with a hot mug of freshly made cappuchino. After that I take a quick shower (and I discover some strange marks on my right shoulder. Propably because I had to carry my bike the whole time) and I think: "Hey, the day wasn't that bad after all."

PS: The scenery I saw on the field was really nice. The sun was setting and created a very nice atmosphere. Too bad the batteries of my camera where empty as well... "Good planning is everything!"

The day after this adventure: I learn that the bruises on my leg are the result of a Velociraptor attack! They move so fast I didn't even realize I had been attacked while trying to walk over the field.

Tracklog

http://waka.bplaced.net/geohash/2011-03-03_53_10.gpx or everytrail - I only edited out the visit to the Penny Markt, since the coordinates where jumping there.

Photos

• 

  You can see the hash point in the distance... somewhere on this field

• 

  One of the many irrigation ditches I had to jump over.

• 

  Coordinates not reached!

• 

  I went through all this and got nothing?

• 

  At least the scenery was nice... (you can see a post of the fence in the foreground)

• 

  The other direction. This is the way I came from.

• 

  I have been attacked by a raptor and didn't even realize it.

Achievements

Bierhefe earned the No trespassing consolation prize by almost reaching the (53, 10) geohash on 2011-03-03.

I just feel I earned this gratious ribbon today...

Bierhefe earned the I walked all this way and all I got was this lousy consolation ribbon? by fighting his way over a muddy field for over 1km just to find out there was a fence blocking his path 150m away from the actual hash point. (53, 10) geohash on 2011-03-03.

Bierhefe earned the Velociraptor Geohash Achievement by reaching the (53, 10) geohash for 2011-03-03 with highly visible raptor claw marks.