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    [RC] maping, marking and GPS - Linda B. Merims


    Charles" <cdy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:
    
    >1) Are maps of the trails provided?  I tried orienteering
    >years ago, and they provided a map for us to use.  Turns
    >out the Orienteering group had cartographers and
    >cartographers friends who would go out and make
    >maps or update old maps
    
    LOL!   I, too, am a map addict.  However, as a Ride
    Manager one of the things you quickly discover
    is that the ability to read a map is actually quite
    rare.  Most people have no clue where they are,
    and couldn't find their starting place on a map,
    much less keep track of where they are during
    a ride using a map.  It's actually been one of the
    big challenges of recruiting trail markers.  Many
    of the people who volunteer to mark trail can't
    read and follow the map showing them where
    to mark!
    
    Again, one can't make the mistake of assuming that
    one's riders have the same map-reading skills that
    you do.  Odds are that they don't.
    
    'Sides, in endurance, most people don't want to
    stop to look at maps to figure out where they are.
    
    2) Is there a standard marking system?
    
    No.  Even just here in Massachusetts, there are *at
    least* two flag-based marking systems in common use.  I
    once came to an intersection of *four* marked trails
    where, by the marking system I was familiar with,
    any one of the four trails was a valid turn.  I
    wasn't aware that this club used a slightly different
    marking system and--under their system--the
    four-way intersection was unambiguously marked.
    Now I *always* ask before I go out.
    
    Linda B. Merims
    lbm@xxxxxxxxx
    Massachusetts, USA
    
    
    
    
    
    
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