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Incorporated Association Registered Number A0003225B Committee Members Debbie Dodd, Allan Miller, Pat Miller, Denise Pike, Ilze Yeates, Chris Riddiford, ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10 – SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER!
The 2013 AGM will be held at Mingarra Village, 77-115 Mt Dandenong Road, Croydon. Enter off WicklowAvenue and head to The Pavilion, at the far end of Chevalier Drive and behind the bowling green.
After a short meeting to elect office bearers, our guest speaker LANITA STEER will share her excitingJWOC experiences with us. Get this into your diary now! Notice of Special Meeting: The Committee has recommended that DROC adopt the new Model Rulesfor Incorporated Associations as its Constitution. A Special Meeting will be held immediately prior to theAGM to vote on this adoption. A copy of the Model Rules is available from Peter Hobbs (President) orPeter Grover (Secretary), or from www.consumer.vic.gov.au/clubs-and-not-for-profits/incorporated-associations/running-an-incorporated-association/rules#model-rules WELCOME TO SPRING!
Winter is finally over and Spring is here. There’s so much to look forward to besides the sunshine. Our
next big event is the Croydon EndurO on Sunday September 15. Can you score 1000 points? Be
entertained, amused and educated by the fun Q&A format as you spend 2 hours or 75 minutes on the
specially prepared long distance, 40 control score course.
Start: Eastfield Park, Eastfield Road, Croydon (Melway 50 J7)Start times: 10am for 2 hour Run or Walk, 10.30am for 75 min Run or Walk. Registration opens 9.30amEntry fees: $8 adults, $ juniors (under 21)Please support this event as our fundraiser for the Dalwood Trust (see story inside).
COMING EVENTS
Get ready for the inaugural Sprint Into Spring series! Consisting of 6 events on Saturday afternoons in
October and November in Melbourne, and a full weekend of races in Ballarat, this is hugely exciting.
DROC is organising race 3 at Darebin Parklands on October 26, with our own Pres Peter Hobbs as
course setter. Visit the new website www.parkstreeto.com.au/sprint for all the details, or see the back
page.
The annual Club Relays are on Sunday October 13 at Plenty Gorge. Once again we want DROC to put
on a strong showing by entering as many teams as possible. Even if you’re a novice bush orienteer,
there’s a course option to suit. And with the venue so nice and close, there’s no excuse not to have a
go! Check the enclosed flyer and keep an eye on your email during September.
The famous DROC Christmas Party will be on Wednesday December 18 at Eley Park, Blackburn South.
Details next issue.
CONGRATULATIONS VIC!
Vic Sedunary teamed up with regular rogaine partner Merv Trease to win the Men’s Supervets categoryat the Australian Rogaine Championships! Held in far north Queensland on the Atherton Tablelands,the map covered 200 + sq km and 80 checkpoints – and some steep contours. The hilly sections werealso rocky, and the flatter bits near watercourses featured tall grasses, rushes, and other things thatstuck to you. Despite Vic having a persistent “bug” the week before, the boys made no navigationalerrors and stuck to their plan, covering 77 kms and returning 25 minutes before the finish. They weredelighted with their win – and so are we! Vic is also to be highly commended on the courses he set at our state series at Jim Crow in August. Theywere suitably challenging, luring even the best orienteers into mistakes, and taking us to some beautifulparts of the forest. Vic received many well deserved compliments for his efforts (which included a veryrainy Saturday putting the bulk of the controls and water out).
LANITA AND ASHA TO REPRESENT VICTORIA
Hot on the heels of their trip to Europe, Lanita and Asha Steer were again selected for the Victorianteam to compete at the Australian Schools Orienteering Championship, to be held in September in theACT. Lanita is also the co-captain, and is in her final year in the team. We wish both girls a successfuland enjoyable competition. Our various fundraising efforts have enabled the club to provide financialsupport for the trop.
MEMBER NEWS
Please extend a warm welcome to our new members: Michael and Leah Lillycrapp (and Willow thedog); and the Manson family. We hope you enjoy. Michael and Leah are keen cross country skiers whohave been getting fit at streetO, and the Mansons have been regulars at this year’s MelbushO.
Our youngest member is Ava, and here she is with mum Amanda, and proud grandparents Lyn and IanGreenwood. Ian’s not sure if he wants to be known as Gramps, Grumps, or Pops! DROC POLO TOPS ON SALE
After our annual stocktape we discovered a surplus of our blue polo tops. So they’re on sale at thenever to be repeated price of $15! They are perfect for after-event wear, any time on club duty, or justfor when you want to look good.
Peter Yeates is the man to see. Pete also has a range of other clubwear for all seasons.
RESULTS
Jay and Phil both achieved a perfect score of 600 points after dominating their divisions! Congratulations to our 2013 Champions Ian Davies, Sarah Davies, Asha Steer and Lanita Steer.
Placegetters were Janine Steer, Martin Steer, Pam King, Debbie Dodd and Ilze Yeates.
Orienteer of the Year (to end August). Leading their age groups are: M45A – Martin SteerM55AS – Peter YeatesW12A – Sarah DaviesW16A – Asha SteerW20A – Lanita SteerW45A – Janine SteerW60A – Pam King DROC is currently 6th on the Rockhopper tally. We have a big job ahead to overhaul Eureka and YarraValley, but with the all important Relays on “home turf”, we’re in with a chance. All the more reason tosign up! PREZ SEZ – Peter Hobbs
It is a rather novel experience to be simultaneously grocery shopping at Woolworths in Carnegie andmonitoring a live splits feed of the JWOC long distance event in the Czech Republic. Such is technologynow days. Congratulations again to Lanita Steer for doing so well at JWOC, finishing the long and sprintdistance events as the top ranked Australian female. Being the youngest member of the team, wesuspect future JWOC appearances are just around the corner and wish her every success.
From the warm Czech summer, we move now to the foggy and substantially damp confines of the JimCrow Map near Daylesford. Here, several of the DROC faithful were busy setting up the scene on theSaturday prior to the State Series event on Sunday 4 August. Upon arrival around midday Saturday, themain street of Daylesford resembled Bourke Street in peak hour whilst the fog had well and truly set in,allowing only 20m visibility if you were lucky. Control deployment began in cold and damp conditions.
This deteriorated to cold, windy and wet conditions by the time Treasurer Dodd and the Presidentconfirmed the location of the phantom control #77 and deployed the required hardware.
A nightime house party in Bendigo inclusive of wood fired pizzas and chocolate cake (ok Tina, perhapsone or two drinks….) kept the President well fuelled and rested for the next day’s long distance event.
Thankfully warmer and drier conditions greeted us on Sunday. As they say: many hands make light work,and so it was with setting up the registration and start/finish areas. Despite being labelled as “just anoffice worker”, apparently incapable of completing even the simplest of physical or practical tasks, itwill be noted that the President completed a myriad of tasks such as shifting several fully laden 20 litrewater containers, digging holes with a shovel*, tying knots associated with the finish chute and breakingtree branches to clear the start and finish areas – to name a few. The President also completed the M21long distance course and rounded off the day assisting pack up and pick up controls afterward. Amyriad of physical and practical tasks completed. Wonderful how water slides off a duck’s back, isn’t it.
The event itself was well set by Vic. The terrain was open and fast although care was required underfootwith some fallen branches and slippery areas. Gentle spurs and gullies were punctuated with technicalerosion and rock areas. Tracks provided some handrails but, as Pam and I discovered whilst putting outcontrols, could not be completely relied upon. The M21 course included a range of long and short legs.
Unfortunately I made two errors; one at control 13 apparently running straight past the control andonward to the wrong gully; and another error approaching control 16 by coming up the wrong gullythen becoming disorientated in a boulder field which looked identical to the boulder field amid whichcontrol 16 was actually located. Apparently Bruce Arthur made the same mistake so at least I wasn’talone there.
Lastly, I could not help but notice that virtually every rock wall and rock field on the map seemed to beorientated north/south. How could this be? Some internet research revealed this phenomena to bepaleomagnetism or the study of the earth’s magnetic field in rocks. It has been found that minerals inbasalt and other igneous rocks can preserve the direction of the Earth's magnetic field when the rockscool. This explains the rocks’ north/south orientation. Interesting.
* ed’s note: digging holes with shovels is a time-honoured Presidential task. Way back in the mists oftime, the first job assigned to then newly-elected Pres Dodd was to dig the holes for the pit toilets atWatsons Glen, for the NightO Champs. A ROUTE TO SELF-ENLIGHTENMENT – GPS by Mark Korvin
Some club members appreciate the self-improvement opportunity provided by viewing GPS capturedtrack logs overlaid on event maps. The availability of GPS technology in small form factor devices suchas phones, sports watches and data loggers at affordable prices coupled with freely availablesupporting software tools means that pretty well anyone can avail themselves of this opportunity. Thisarticle looks at a couple of low cost devices and some analysis tools with this purpose in mind.
Device Profile: - Crane GPS Sports Watch
Source: ALDI Supermarket, Initial July retail price was $99 but subsequently discounted to $79 and
apparently even lower in some stores. The product set included a watch, a heart rate monitor with
chest strap, USB connectivity cable, a bicycle mounting bracket and a manual which included
reference to some internet based resources - instructional video, downloadable software package
(GPS Master) and instructions on uploading to the social activity site, STRAVA. The product has a two
year warranty, supported in Australia.
This is a general purpose sports watch offering a number of different operating modes:date/time/alarm, GPS Training, GPS Navigation and Compass mode. Each mode has multiple displayviews which allow some user customisation of what gets displayed for each mode. The GPS Trainingmode offers further specialisation through 5 different profile options: running, cycling, hiking, sailing and‘user’ (user defined). Aside from track-log (position) information the unit can display data on variousparameters - altitude, distance, direction, speed (km/hr), pace (mins/km), elapsed time, pulse, calories,laps etc – with current, maximum, minimum and average metrics available where relevant plus a fewother metrics depending on mode, profile and parameter. There is also the concept of training zoneswhich primarily relate to heart rate ranges.
The watch has a built in rechargeable Lithium battery and operating time in GPS modes is nominally 16hours. The battery is recharged via the cable which has a proprietary clamp style connector on oneend and standard USB on the other. The same cable is used for downloading data and uploadingsettings from the software.
The complimentary software, GPS Master, is fairly basic but performs the required tasks of down loadingtrack log data and making device setting changes. Device settings such as logging rate can bechanged and A-GPS reference data can be refreshed. One useful control feature is the ability to setwatch display items for each view of a training profile – the views are lined up side by side so you cancompare and pick what display items you want to set for each view. The tool has a display pane foroverlaying a selected track log on Google maps (if you are connected to the internet). A second pane holds a customisable graph which can display distance, altitude, speed, pace and heart rate overtime. Most importantly, the tool supports the export of track log data in multiple formats including GPX.
A quick scan of internet forum reviews revealed limited practical experience. There was some negativefeedback about the deep nesting of control functions in menus and some gripes about getting theheart rate monitor working with the watch. This latter point was reflection that people had watched thevideo and not read the manual (RTFM !). There was a useful tip offered on one forum about puttingmoisturising cream on your chest and a little water on the strap based sensors if the unit was failing to“pair” with the watch. Questions were raised about durability of the watch but the two year warrantyperiod was considered to be a reasonable safeguard.
Device Profile: - Transystem photoMate 887 Lite Mini GPS Recorder
Source: EBAY vendor Navi-World, $41 + $10 postage (from Taiwan).
The product set includes the recorder, a USB connectivity cable and software disk which includes a
driver, GPS View control/reader program, Photo Tagger program and user manual. The unit has an in-
built lithium battery.
This unit is just a basic GPS data logger providing track logging and waypoint capture functions. A littleblack box (44 x 26 x 15mm) with a few leds to indicate GPS, logging and battery status, a button foron/off and waypoint capture and a mini-USB socket for connecting the cable, which is used for bothbattery charging and data transfer.
The GPS View program is very basic and provides limited control and monitoring facilities. A few devicesettings can be changed, A-GPS data can be queried and updated, and real time logging (back toPC) can be enabled and disabled. The monitoring function shows basic position info and availablesatellites with relative signal strength.
Because the photoMate device is based on the MTK chipset a better software option is BT747, which is
freely available from the internet. BT747 provides far greater control capabilities and provides the ability
to convert and export track log data in a variety of formats including GPX. BT747 can provide a tabular
representation of downloaded track data and it will also display the track overlaid on OpenStreetMaps
in a viewing pane.
Road test: Accuracy
Both devices were trialled in a number of conditions (various cloud and vegetation cover
combinations) and generally behaved well. Being smaller (i.e. having smaller aerial), the photoMate
was found to be more susceptible to wandering accuracy when used in proximity to denser forest
vegetation (e.g. tall eucalypts like Mountain Ash) in low/thick cloud conditions. Carrying high on the
body seemed to reduce errors (the manual did say provide good view of sky).
Analysis Tools
Having used a device to capture a faithful of record of where you went the main game is to overlay
this on the associated event map. There are a number of programs available that will support this and
one of the better options is QuickRoute, a program built specifically for orienteering. QuickRoute will
combine a representation of a GPS track (taken directly from some devices or imported in GPX format)
with an image of a map (imported from any of the popular formats: jpg, png, tif etc). Sections of the
track will be coded in different colours to indicate different speeds.
Viewing a track in this manner is useful for analysing where and why mistakes occurred and also forgauging whether for your running ability you actually get real benefits in one particular route choiceover another (e.g. taking a longer “easier” route around a hill instead of the shorter “harder” route overthe hill may not be quicker if you are only a plodder).
The greatest learning opportunity comes from looking at other competitors’ route choices, particularly ifthese are cross referenced with leg/split times. With associated timing It becomes easy to see whichroute choice proved to be best. There are a couple of facilities available locally for this purpose.
A map archive is available at http://doma.orienteering.asn.au/users.php . For a given course/map youcan see where someone else went. Most maps on this archive are generated from QuickRoute(QuickRoute has a ‘publish’ function) and include publishing competitor’s comments. QuickRoute can also work with another tool, 3D Rerun. 3D Rerun supports leg-by-leg analysis with split time and routesshown for multiple runners.
An alternative comprehensive facility is provided by RouteGadget on Bendigo Orienteers website site.
This allows competitors to upload track logs for a given event and will present these along with relevantsplit times. StreetO-ers please note: you can upload tracklogs to the STRAVA website to capture andcompare routes. This facility overlays tracks on Google Maps and also provides some basicperformance analysis.
Some References
QuickRoute – http://www.matstroeng.se/quickroute/en/ Guide to using QuickRoute - http://o-training.net/blog/2011/04/13/gps-analysis-for-orienteering-the-basics/ (The author wishes to acknowledge the advice and guidance provided by fellow DROC memberSimon Rouse.) LANITA GOES TO JWOC
In July, Lanita Steer travelled to the Czech Republic to represent Australia at the Junior WorldOrienteering Championships. Lanita was selected to the team after her brilliant performances this yearin Junior Elite (17-20 year olds) National League races. She was accompanied by mum and dad Martinand Janine, and younger sister Asha (also a future JWOC aspirant).
Lanita competed in the Sprint, Middle Distance, Long Distance, and Relay – a very full week indeed!Prior to JWOC there were training races, so it was a very busy time, especially for someone undertakingVCE this year too.
First up was the Long Distance. The terrain was very hilly and physically challenging, but Lanita copedadmirably to finish mid field in 73rd, the best performance of all the Aussie girls! Her comment afterwardswas “Clear run, hills a bit tough. Happy with my first result!” Next was the Middle Distance qualifier. Lanita finished 22nd, coming oh so close to a place in the A final(the top 20 in each heat went through). The terrain was steep and covered in rock, with narrowcrevices. Lanita was happy with a consistent run in the B final.
The Sprint race was held in the old city centre of Hradec Kralove with lots of steps and terracedgardens, a race where seconds lost or gained can move you dramatically up or down the results.
Lanita finished strongly in 66th (17 mins) and again was the best Aussie girl.
The week wrapped up with the excitement of the Relay, and Lanita was the first runner in the AustralianGirls no 1 team. A mistake half way through dropped her down a few places but she was happy withher run.
Janine sent us this email after the first race, which gives you an idea of the tension and excitement ofbeing a JWOC parent! Hi Everyone, What a great start to JWOC yesterday. The weather was kind, low 20's the forest was lovelybut very steep, a lot of longer route choices on tracks were the order of the day. Lanita was very happy with her race and she finished strongly. A terrific result. If you could harness theemotion, tension and,nervousness of the waiting parents I think you could fuel a power station for ayear. Lanita started in the middle block of runners so we had one third of the runners finished and wehad an idea what a reasonable time would be, so we were expectantly waiting for her to appear outof the forest. What a relief to see the flash of yellow appear out of the fir trees and Lanita run stronglyup hill to the finish. Finished just in the first half and first Australian, and only one Kiwi got the better ofher! The gold medal of the day went to Martin. Arriving at the start to the JWOC Tour races after a 1.1kmwalk up hill we find there are no clue sheets at the start and they are not printed on the map. The cluesheets are at the assembly area! So with 16 mins before our start times Martin runs back to assembly,locates the clue sheets for about 5 Aussies and runs back Uphill and makes it with 1 minute to spare.
The Aussies were not the only ones who didn't know the secret of the clue sheets.
After such a great week of strong performances, Lanita’s confidence is sky high and she now knowswhat she is capable of, and what she needs to do to improve. She is also featured on the cover of theSeptember “Australian Orienteer” magazine. Look out Bulgaria 2014! DROC was delighted to be able to provide funding for the trip, with money raised from the sales of our“Think” tops, and our contribution to the Australian Easter Carnival. Next year we’re running a DuO Run-Ride-Run in February as a major fundraiser, and the Steer family will be course setting.
Make sure you come to the AGM to hear all about Lanita’s JWOC experience – see front page fordetails.
TRAVELS WITH PETER DALWOOD
In June, Peter flew to Kenya to visit Kenya, and to present a scholarship with funds raised by theDalwood Trust. He then travelled to Iceland, Sweden, and Russia, where he competed in the WorldRogaine Championships. Oh, and took his DROC top to new heights! Kenya: Father Jason drove me home to Kariakomo, where I met the other household members. As wellas Jason, there were 3 curates and several seminarians in the parish. There seemed to be no shortageof priests in Meru diocese. Every parish I’ve been to in my time here has a plentiful supply. Spent thenext day with Jason meeting people and taking photos. First up was a tour of the school. Met twobrothers being sponsored and gave them their t-shirts. Took photos of the cows, and toured the villagevisiting the families with milking goats. Drove to another parish and visited their accommodation forphysically handicapped children.
The following day we visited Winjoy and her family at their home. She has had multiple operations overseveral years to straighten her legs. Her right leg is now fairly good. Left leg is in plaster after her mostrecent operation. The plaster comes off in several weeks. Next we travelled to Meru (about 50kmsaway) for the Rotary club’s final meeting for 2012/13. Lots of visiting Rotarians turned up – several groupsfrom different clubs in USA, plus one from Nairobi. The intended speaker was late arriving, so we tookover the meeting talking about who we were and why we were there. We each presented clubbanners at the end of our talks.
Went to 7am Mass. I didn’t understand the Kiswahili songs, but loved the musicality and enthusiasm ofthechildren’s beautiful a capella singing. Jason asked me to stand up at the end of Mass and say a fewwords in farewell. Then back in the car for the drive back to Nairobi. As we were getting close I rang mypick-up driver for the next leg. There had been a mix-up in booking, he thought I was coming onSunday and was at that time doing another job from Nairobi back to Nakuru. Arranged to meet at theVillage Market shopping centre later in the afternoon. Parking there was chaotic. Finally met up withDennis at about 3pm, after he had driven at high speed back from Nakuru. I shudder to think about it!Eventually arrived at Johnny and Helen Onslow’s place around 6pm. Johnny took me to see the newbuilding that has just been opened to house visiting volunteers. The volunteers are usually eitherteachers or secondary school students and/or ex-students in their gap year prior to starting uni. We meta group of secondary students who have been here for two weeks and are about to return home.
Scholarship presentation at VGGS at about 11am. Johnny and I met Wagaki and her father and wechatted for a while before moving to one of the classrooms for the official ceremony. Many speeches,including moving talks by Wagaki and her father. He does not speak English, so he spoke to girls inKiswahili, telling them to seize the opportunity provided to them by being at the school. I was surprisedand pleased that the student I sponsor, Tabitha, spoke on behalf of the girls. Then, after I handed overthe cheque and the official bit finished, we all moved outside and gathered around the tree planted inChris’s memory and had some more photos taken handing over the cheque.
Johnny showed me around the new developments, of which there have been many in the three yearssince I was last here. The grounds are rapidly filling up with classrooms, staff and studentaccommodation, enlarged dining and kitchen areas. The newest development, about to start, will be acombined chapel and assembly area/performance space. The school is close to full capacity now.
On Tuesday afternoon Dennis drove me back to Nairobi to catch my plane, to Iceland via Glasgowand Edinburgh. Met up with Col and Rob in Reykjavik for dinner. There was a noisy bar over the roadfrom our room that threatened to keep going all night, but eventually went quiet around midnight andwe were able to get some sleep (still not dark - sundown is about 1:30 and sunrise about 4:00am).
The last few days have been the most memorable ones, but every day we have had amazing sightsand experiences. Yesterday's excursion in a Zodiac boat across a huge lagoon filled with icebergs tothe edge of a glacier was probably the highlight event of the trip. It will be hard to top that experience.
Our time in Iceland was a succession of wonderful and unique experiences. It is definitely on my list ofplaces everyone must try to visit at some point in their lives. On our last day we started off lookingaround Reykjavik, including listening to a very good recital on the magnificent organ in theHallgrímskirkja (cathedral). Then we headed out to the Blue Lagoon for a dip in the warm water on ourway to the airport. Very expensive, but a must do experience.
We spent four days in Stockholm for the last four days. The hostel we are staying in includes a floatingsection on a sailing ship. We tried to get accommodation on the ship, but they didn’t have 3/4-personrooms available, so we had to stay in the land-based section. We did get to eat dinner on the ship onenight. We have been getting around on public transport, which includes trains, buses and ferries. Someof the places we have been include the royal palaces, the old town, the Vasamuseet (the Vasa was a17th century Swedish warship which sank 1 km into its maiden voyage. It was raised in the 60s and hasbeen restored and turned into a museum) and the outer islands of the archipelago. Tomorrow we leavehere and fly to St Petersburg, then Rob and I are heading off to compete in the rogaine.
There are more stories and photos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pedalwood SPRINT INTO SPRING!
Victoria University St Albans Campus, McKechnie St, St Fairbairn Park, cnr Newsom and Woods Streets, Ascot Vale West (park in Stanford St car park) Race 3 Sat Oct 26 2013 Darebin Parklands Darebin Parklands, Separation Street, Alphington Westgate Park, Todd Road, Port Melbourne Royal Showgrounds RAS Showgrounds, Epsom Road, Flemington LaTrobe University Car park 6, Ring Road, Bundoora Melbourne events: Start any time between 2 and 3pm. Registration opens 1.30pm Damascus College, Ballarat-Buninyong Road (C294), Mount Clear College, Olympic Avenue, Mount Clear, Ballarat Grammar School, Forest Street, Wendouree Victorian Sprint Champs – pre-entry REQUIRED Ballarat events 7-8: Check website for start times. Race 9: Pre-allocated start times from 10am.
Courses: Choose from the classic “Mo Farah” – approx 3.5km, 25-30 controls; the short ‘n’ sharp “SallyPearson” – approx 2.5km, 16-20 controls, or the “Usain Bolt” – also approx 2.5 km, 16-20 controls but lesscomplicated! Pre-enter on Eventor and save! Newcomers can enter on the day. Eventor entries will close theWednesday night before each event. All payments are made on the day. Pre-enter athttp://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events. Pre-entries for all events open September 16 and close theWednesday night prior to each event.
Individual entry fees:Pre-entered - $6 adults, $3 juniors (under 21) Enter on day: $8 adults, $4 juniors (under 21) Series tickets will be sold at the first 3 events, which are valid for races 1-8:Pre-entered - $30 adults, $15 juniors (under 21) Enter on day - $40 adults, $20 juniors (under 21) Think on your feet: sprint distance orienteering involves fast paced racing in small complex areas, usinghighly detailed colour maps. SportIdent electronic timing will be used (timing devices are available forhire). Newcomers are most welcome, and our friendly team will get you started.
Full details at www.parkstreeto.com.au/sprint. Enquiries: [email protected],

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