Event Preview: O @ Santa Fe Dam

I am offering White, Yellow, Orange, Green and Red courses, point to point. The "as the crow flies" distances are as follows: White: 2.7 km; Yellow 2.9 km; Orange: 5.5 km; Green 4.7 km; Red: 7.4 km. Those of you familiar with Santa Fe know that the actual distances may vary. I consider Orange to be "long", with 14 controls. The Green course started out as a Brown course, but when I considered the actual distance, I felt I needed to properly warn you that it is no Sunday stroll. The White and Yellow courses will cover totally separate parts of the map.

You are all going to get a nice tour of the park. I found some trails I've never been on before (yes, they are on the map). Red and Green, beware that in one case what was mapped as a trail has now been paved.

I'm not sure what the weather will be like, but Santa Fe has been warm the last few events. Bring water; there is none on the course. Those of you Orange - Red would do well to start early to beat the heat.

I will feed volunteers; this means if you help pick up, register, Start or Finish, you will get a hamburger, chips and a drink. Not a bad deal, eh?

Sharon and I will be setting the courses on Friday and Saturday. If you want to help with that, let me know at dws4law@pacbell.net.

I am quite excited about these courses, as I believe we have not recently seen some of this terrain. I expect a large crowd, if our past Santa Fe meets are any example.

Now here are some advisements:

1. Parking per car is $10. You can park outside the park and walk in by proceeding South on Irwindale, then right on First, then left on Peckham. It is a fair walk, so don't plan on carrying a cooler. A bike would be nice.

2. This is not a good park for shorts and flip flops. A lot of the upper courses cover vast areas filled with cactus and those wonderful round river rocks which can sprain or even break an ankle if you are not careful . . . Gaiters or long pants are essential, in my opinion. And so is a hat and sun tan oil.

For map/directions, check out the Event Details page.

So there you have it; be safe and I hope all of you enjoy your Tour de Santa Fe.

Don Sieveke, Coursesetter