2009-05-21 40 -3

Thu 21 May 2009 in 40,-3: 40.4042194, -3.6254432 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Participants

• relet

Plans

Yes! We got plans! What else could I do, given that I had left the GPS at home? So, I had to identify todays location from the satellite imagery provided by the big G (and its roaming cars) and the big M, and draw my own map highlighting the main features.

What could be identified from the photos was an embankment next to a two-way cycling path at Calle de Brujas on the one side, and the highway on the other. The exact spot lay between the fourth tree, counting from the bike path symbol, and a tree on the other side of the embankment, pretty much exactly on the shadow of -possibly- a fence designed to keep the pedestrians from walking their dogs on the highway. Further, there was a lamppost and a group of bushes on the highway side, the latter on the other side of the entry lane. So I was pretty confident to find the place.

I have the firm belief that the Great Random Number Generator of geohashing is pleased to see extravagant and unique expeditions. And if you do these regularly enough, it will reward you by providing you with nice, accessible hashes when you need them most. Blessed be the RNG, who gave me this nice hash, not far from a metro station, when the most I could spare was an hour of early rising before my subsequent all day meeting.

Expedition

So, I got up at 7am. That's about the time when the people of Madrid go to sleep, and just as well the time when some of them have to rise for work. They have a wonderful metro system - I never had to wait for more than two minutes for the next train, even if I just missed the previous one. I took the metro to "Pavones", and walked from there. It was a residential neighbourhood, with schools and health centers. I managed to identify the highway, and concluded that the small road before that would have to be my "Calle de Brujas".

Street signs, on the other hand, are not hugely popular in Madrid. They are usually attached in a corner of the first building in the street, which must not necessarily be visible from the intersection. But the two-way cycling path was prominent enough. The street sign I eventually found could hardly compete with that.

On my way along the road, I discovered a cute traffic training ground for children (The lights are indeed half my size) and a dog training ground. Everybody has been catered for. Eventually I reached the cycling path logo next to the tree I was looking for. I sat down on a bench, waiting for a few people to pass, and maybe for User:Herchu, whom I alerted of activity in his graticule. I tried to look very German and identifiable as a hasher, despite not having a GPS device in my hands.

Eventually, a nearby gully reminded me of the meeting I was supposed to attend later on. Guess where. Since no one made any apparent GPSsy movements, I took a quieter moment to walk up the embankment. I found the fence, and a square shaft also identifiable from the aerial pictures, and took the panorama picture shown above. All described features are easily identifiable, and the trees have grown quite a bit since the plane has passed. They appear a bit larger in the pictures taken by the car already though.

I left my card, in case Herchu would like to drop by later on. And here is me celebrating inwardly to fulfill the requirements for the geohashing day ribbon. Sorry, that's the best I could come up in this one hour trip. :P

Tracklog

Nope. No batteries. And no GPS to be powered either.

Ribbons

relet earned the 2009 Geohashing Day achievement by grinning at every stranger on his way to todays hash point in the (40, -3) graticule on May 21st 2009.

Gallery

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  plans!

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  draw my own map

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  the small road before that

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  two-way cycling path

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  street sign

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  traffic training ground for children

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  the cycling path logo

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  nearby gully

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  the fence, and a square shaft

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  my card

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  celebrating inwardly