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 a 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 was 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 plan 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, bicycle,

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

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