2013-05-12 51 -0

Sun 12 May 2013 in 51,-0: 51.6778850, -0.0141189 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Intro

For my first ever geohash attempt, I thought I'd really go for it. The gods were aligned, and the planets were favourable. For my try at a land / no batteries / bicycle / kite / tron / multihash read on... jondclarke

Location

A green space near the River Lee navigation and cycleway in Enfield.

On Google Street View [1], looks like this is a public park called Ramney Marsh, but I can't find any reference to rights of way, etc. in either Ordnance Survey or OpenStreetMap. Oh well, I'll just go for it! I should be able to reach S Ordnance Road, follow the footpath by the channel for 200m, then enter the green space heading WNW then N. Hopefully I'll be able to see the footbridge through the trees, bearing 085, and the junction of paths, bearing 180.

It's also within a few hundred metres (as the crow flies...) of the neighbouring graticule's hashpoint 2013-05-12 51 0. Of course, I'm not a crow, and there are the small problems of a river, a side-channel, several hedges and the M25 motorway in between... As Huinesoron said, "Gotta love that Prime Meridian!"

Participants

• jondclarke
• PainterJaguar
• MrsPaintedJaguar

Plans

jondclarke intends to reach the hashpoint by Sunday 11am. If I head out at 9am via Kings Road and using roads through Walthamstow [2], head N to the nearest bridge to achieve the double at noon, [3], then return from the double using the Lee Navigation cycleway and South of the River Thames [4], I can claim Tron and hopefully be back when my family arrive. That was surprisingly fiddly to plan!

However, it's currently p*ssing down, and tomorrow's plan involves lots of off-road cycling, which will now require lots of mud-based cycling and trudging. Hmm... When will I have another chance?!

OK, organisation, take: cycle route out, map & bearings for 1st hashpoint, route between hashpoints, map & bearings for 2nd hashpoint, cycle route back, hand compass (plus 2nd compass built into bike), waterproof map case, phone for photos, bike computer, food & water, waterproof boots (!), coat, toolkit, remember to record evidence!

Biggest threat to success? Hmm, how far should I take this... Rain could make my print-outs dissolve, so email myself the street names & bearings for the hashpoints. The landowner at the 2nd hashpoint could conceivably be raising raptors and/or guard the field with raptors, but it looks purely arable near a well-used path, so I'll take the risk. I could get fed up cycling, lost, along a muddy path for five hours, but surely that's the point?!

PaintedJaguar intends to catch the 10:51 train from Cambridge to Waltham Cross, and then walk to the hashpoint, arriving at around 12:30 (just missing Jondclarke, but maybe finding some kind of marker that he might leave behind from the earlier expedition?). MrsPaintedJaguar's desire to explore the Lee Valley area, rather than the M25, means that the double hash with the neighbouring graticule probably won't be possible.

jondclarke

OK, felt surprisingly excited and tense setting off - I'd realised last night that the Tron challenge was going to be far more problematic than I'd first expected (although I still hadn't twigged just how tricky... more later). What was the ground around the first hashpoint going to be like? Would I have to jump a ditch (with my bike...)? Would there be an irate landowner hanging around the second hashpoint? Why on earth was this getting to me?

However, it was a lovely sunny day, with a bit of cloud and a cooling light wind - great for a bike ride. Bit of rain yesterday, so I was confident that the ground wouldn't be sodden round the hashpoints. And I was finally underway. Oops, then I remembered to actually attach my bike computer (about one mile in)... Stopped to take a photo to prove my outward route was different to my return route for Tron.

Then I totally smurfed it - I was looking for a street name I wasn't familiar with, cycled my way around Sloane Square, realised I'd missed my turn and without thinking, did a U-turn! Tron achievement struck down and I was just 10 minutes into a 5-hour trip! I hadn't seen that coming at all. I'd built in a margin for error throughout, with my outward route being about two streets north of the River Thames and/or west of the River Lee, so I could simply have taken my wrong turn and found the next left. Oh well, stick that one down as a practice for next time. Still not too downhearted - it's a lovely day, and I'm out nice and early. And an idea grew - could I redeem myself by going for a new ribbon? My route's right through the heart of London. How about inventing a new Tourist Guide ribbon? Surely I'd reach five nationally-known landmarks without deviating from my route?

As I enjoyed the Chelsea back streets, it began dawning on me more fully what the Tron challenge means - with no turning back, I'd need to approach every single junction with caution, knowing there's no second chance and/or trusting to whatever direction I'd picked and then finding a way to make it work. Stopping to answer the call of nature's going to require knowing where a different exit is. No second chance on documenting. And is it more in the spirit of geohashing to minimise damage to the farmer's crop at the second hashpoint to leave the bike outside the field, or cruise right through, mounted at all times? Having failed one part, I was now keen to up my game - would I be able to do the kite geohash whilst mounted on the light cycle? Would there be stairs down from the main road near the second hashpoint? Was I really ready to also try them whilst mounted on my light cycle?!

The ride was fine, better than I'd expected. Sure enough, it was easy to snap up a bunch of landmark photos. I knew my outward route fairly well, and the last third is an unpleasant, boring, straight road through an industrial area. Thankfully, throughout the ride, drivers had respected that I was mounted on a zebra and treated it like a horse - knowing they need to give it room or it will be startled.

And with surprising relief and joy, I saw the green space for my first ever hashpoint. I'd judged the ground correctly - nice firm turf, light scrub, only a little damp after the rain yesterday. Looking good! But for my No Batteries, would I be able to spot the footbridge at bearing 085? Without it, how would I find the hashpoint? Hmm... next time I'll map a bearing to a taller object! But no, sure enough, there's the glint of metal through the trees! And the ground's got brambles, but they are relatively sparse. Yes! I can walk, astride the light cycle, dragging through the brambles, and finally I judge the second landmark (a junction of paths I passed earlier) is due South. I'm there! My first ever geohash - land, no batteries bicycle.

Tron's failed, but now let's see if I really mean it - I pull out my daughter's fluorescent pink angel kite, whilst astride a bike dressed like a zebra in some shrubs. To my relief, and moderate chagrin, no-one wanders by looking confused... Takes me a while to launch the kite, which keeps getting snared on shrubs, whilst astride the bike trying to take a photo with my other hand, but eventually success. Now I'm at least starting to feel I might have earnt a Tron honourable mention...

Change over to the next set of maps & plans, and head for the second hashpoint to see if I can earn the multihash. It's only a few hundred metres away as the crow flies, but between me and it there lie a flood channel, the main River Lee navigation, a side channel, several ditches and, with the need to find bridges, the massive M25 motorway (twice...). Having finally started thinking through the Tron concept, I kept heading north, hoping I'd find a way down to the flood channel on my right. Thankfully, there was a path, and the slope wasn't too bad - I decided not to ride as it was steeper than I'd anticipated and I'd not brought a helmet, but I could walk down, still astride my light cycle. Found the road bridge easily enough, and rode through Waltham - I'd heard of the abbey many times and never seen it. Thank you XKCD & Geohashers - I'd never have seen this otherwise.

Found my way into the housing estate I was looking for, without the anticipated steps down from the main road (hurrah!). Found the footpath and still didn't even need to dismount. So what would the field be like? Clearly the locals use it for dog walking (judging by the incredible quantities of "spoor" I was finding). Finally, finally, I dismount my light cycle - it felt rather inconsiderate to ride through the edge of the farmer's crop when I could walk just beyond the edge instead. Would I spot the tree I was after? Yes, excellent - this is looking good. I could see the tractor's tyre tracks, and with a couple of strides I'd reached an area barely touching the farmer's crop. I lined up my landmarks, and yes, my multihash is in the bag! I can see a way out of the field continuing in the same direction, so return for my light cycle, carry it over the crop to the tractor tracks, get out the kite (still mildly dreading the arrival of an irate, perplexed landowner - "why are you flying a kite whilst riding a bike in the middle of my field?), take my next photos, and head out east then south to the road.

And a fairly uneventful ride back - I didn't stick too closely to my route, but I'd built in such a safety margin there was no risk of breaching Tron because of that. Slightly lost through Gunpowder Park (with earthworks where they used to make, well, you get the idea), and then I'm at the River Lee again - loads of beautiful stretches, lots of happy walkers and cyclists. Gaffed up with Tron one final time - passing a bunch of rowers carrying their boats out, I missed that the path continued along the Lee - I dismounted (only the 2nd time), started crossing a bridge and then turned back. Doh! Smurfed it again... If I'd kept on across the bridge I'd have been able to carry on the route, so turning back was unnecessary. Grr. Couple more Tour Guide photos, given that my route passed the site of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games. A lovely day in central London, with lots of happy tourists (like me...), and I'm home. 45 miles in a pleasingly symmetric 4h44m (so, 10mph).

Happy! Done my first ever geohash, saw an abbey, bagged some moderately silly achievements, and have aims for next time (fewer photos and a shorter report; ensuring I pick a meetup where I'm likely to run into other geohashers; and I really want to get my physicist colleagues to come out and do a "Do Physics" geohash sometime; and of course Pub geohash...).

Would love running into you sometime, User:PaintedJaguar, maybe while I start work on the Minesweeper. Sorry I had to be out and back early - I did at least get back and showered before my family showed up! And your post reminds me - I forgot to leave a sign of my passing. Oops - next time...

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 01 start timestamp.jpg

  Here's my date & timestamp from the TV, as evidence for the multi-hash.

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 02 zebra light cycle.jpg

  My Tron light cycle, dressed today as a zebra. Honourable mention for Beast of Burden?

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 03 no batteries.jpg

  Some of my prep for No Batteries - cycle route out, and the compass built in to my light cycle (plus I had a second hand compass in my backpack).

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 04 proof tron.jpg

  Intended as evidence for my Tron attempt, really just reflects what a lovely cycling day it was until...

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 05 tron fail.jpg

  ...my Tron fail - here's the wrong turn I took and, unthinkingly, did a U-turn. Smurf.

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 06 tour buckingham.jpg

  Tour Guide: Buckingham Palace

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 07 tour nelson.jpg

  Tour Guide: Nelson's Column

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 08 tour savoy.jpg

  Tour Guide: the Savoy hotel

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 09 tour dont know.jpg

  Tour Guide fail... - what the smurf is this? Looks like someone stole a piece of the Guggenheim and dropped it on the Holloway Road [turns out it's the Graduate Centre of London Metropolitan University]

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 10 tour white hart.jpg

  Tour Guide: I'm no football fan, but even I've heard of the White Hart Lane stadium

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 11 rammey.jpg

  Rammey Marsh - looks like the first hashpoint is indeed in perfectly accessible public land. Starting to feel really confident.

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 12 success.jpg

  Success! I'm matched up with the satellite image for my first ever geohash.

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 13 1st landmarks.jpg

  Yes, you see that junction of paths due south, beyond the brambles I've just walked through whilst astride my light cycle? That landmark's my proof I'm in the right place.

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 14 stupid grin.jpg

  Aah, the satisfaction of my first Stupid Grin TM

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 15 attempt tron kite.jpg

  My first attempts at flying a kite whilst sitting on a light cycle whilst surrounded by shrubs and taking a photo aren't very successful

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 16 kite.jpg

  Kite success! Still undecided whether I'm relieved no-one asked me what the smurf I was doing, or chagrined that I didn't get to enjoy their confusion. Of course, the fluorescent pink angel kite attached to a zebra in a shrub may have frightened them off.

• 2013-05-12 51 -0 17 attempt 2nd.jpg

  Readying myself for the attempt on the second hashpoint of the day