The Moving Cache Race for 2010/2011

[pwags]

There are over 200 gnomes racing around the country.
I'm overwhelmed by the response this year.

I might have to capture one or two to take the US next week
Of course they may sit there for a month before I get to bring them back but they will accumulate some significant distance points.

Anyone want to offer a bribe?

With the way Homeland Security is searching travelers and their bags at the moment, it could be an interesting exercise. We know they are harmless, but those TSA guys might perceive a filled garden gnome to be a little sus!

[Snuva]

With the way Homeland Security is searching travelers and their bags at the moment, it could be an interesting exercise. We know they are harmless, but those TSA guys might perceive a filled garden gnome to be a little sus!

Or it could be a good distraction if the TSA guys spend their time feeling up the gnome and leave C@W alone!

[mundoo]

I got a 'plug' in for the gnome race on the geocaching podcast recorded yesterday.

You can download the podcast at http://geocachingpodcast.com/episode-18 ... -holidays/

[CraigRat]

I got a 'plug' in for the gnome race on the geocaching podcast recorded yesterday.

You can download the podcast at http://geocachingpodcast.com/episode-18 ... -holidays/

I heard that this morining while driving in the car.

Thanks for letting them know!!

[blossom*]

If you take one of my gnomes with you, I'll custom make a gnome costume for you! Then you won't have any pesky questions on the plane when you carry it on and insist it has the seat next to you; obviously it is your son!

This should be a "Dare" to C@W for the Locationless Truth or Dare cache

Well, anyone would do actually, it doesn't have to be C@W

[Yurt]

I just wish the symbol on the map would change to show a gnome's been gnabbed! Put a few into the GPSr in a hurry by looking at the map only but of course a couple of them were gorn!

One thing's for sure most of us won't spend long on a DNF as we jump to the conclusion the gnome's been kid-gnapped! Could be wrong though!

[Keeper of Time]

With the way Homeland Security is searching travelers and their bags at the moment, it could be an interesting exercise. We know they are harmless, but those TSA guys might perceive a filled garden gnome to be a little sus!

Or it could be a good distraction if the TSA guys spend their time feeling up the gnome and leave C@W alone!

You never know ..... C@W might enjoy a feeling up

[Tuena]

I'm quite sure that somewhere within this site there would be statistics to match my calculations.

I was going to mow when it started to rain again so I thought what to do. Ahh stats are always entertaining.

Distance travelled by our Gnomes.

(Although the caching games site indicates there are 208 gnomes in play, it only lists 193) so:

Travelled <10Ks 107 gnomes representing 55.4% of actual total

Travelled 10 - 50Ks 65 gnomes rep. 33.7% etc

Travelled 51 - 100Ks 8 gnomes rep. 4.1% etc

Travelled 101+Ks 13 gnomes rep. 6.7% etc

This was as at 1355 EDST.

Has stopped raining so time to mow.

[caughtatwork]

208 vs 193.
There are 15 gnomes that are "invalid" in that they are still in DRAFT or a bogus cache (GAnnnn) numbers.
So I've auto DQ'd any cache that has 0 stops. If they get released into the wild they will start to show up on the ladder automagically.
A cache MUST have 1 stop which is the PUBLISHED log with the start co-ordinates, so anything less than 1 stop is not a valid cache for the game.

I've also had to restrict the updates to hourly as they were hammering my webserver with 200 or so caches to pull from GCA everytime someone sorted or viewed the ladder. Sorry about not being absolutely up to the minute, but I think hourly should be fine. Next race we might have to drag it into the GCA site so I can grab the data from the DB rather than copy it across to cachinggames.com

[caughtatwork]

I just wish the symbol on the map would change to show a gnome's been gnabbed! Put a few into the GPSr in a hurry by looking at the map only but of course a couple of them were gorn!

One thing's for sure most of us won't spend long on a DNF as we jump to the conclusion the gnome's been kid-gnapped! Could be wrong though!

We had the same challenge last year.
We can never know when a cache is found and in the hands of someone or found and relocated.
So you need to check the cache logs and make your own decision.

I suggest you bookmark this link.
http://geocaching.com.au/my/query/scree ... t=Distance

It will sort them from your home base.
Then look at the logs column.
A green tick is found. It MAY have been found AND moved on the same log, so check the log for information.
A blue arrow is moved. More than likely it's now in place ready to be found again.
Remember that someone may have found it 2 minutes ago and be on the run with it.
That's all part of the fun and challenge of the race.
It wouldn't be any fun if you were guaranteed a find now, would it.

[J_&_J]

I had 5 gnomes lined up for a find on my way home to Wallaroo for the weekend. Luckily I had the laptop online in the car as 4 of the 5 received found logs between leaving Hahndorf and finding the first one! Saved a lot of wasted time finding a park and searching for something that was already gone.

[emily~angel]

Sadly I injured a gnome today

The second gnome we found was ok...

The 3rd gnome was a melted mess.....

not a good gnome day here.....doctor working hard

[pwags]

I had 5 gnomes lined up for a find on my way home to Wallaroo for the weekend. Luckily I had the laptop online in the car as 4 of the 5 received found logs between leaving Hahndorf and finding the first one! Saved a lot of wasted time finding a park and searching for something that was already gone.

That's the beauty of a moving cache race. You never know if it's still going to be there when you arrive. All part of the fun (and frustration) of the game!

[rogerw3]

I just wish the symbol on the map would change to show a gnome's been gnabbed! Put a few into the GPSr in a hurry by looking at the map only but of course a couple of them were gorn!

One thing's for sure most of us won't spend long on a DNF as we jump to the conclusion the gnome's been kid-gnapped! Could be wrong though!

All part of the fun mate!
At least you don't have to travel 3 hours on the train (and 3 hours back) to start hunting and then come up empty because Blossom* has been there before you that's what happened on Wednesday, and it was raining.
Did it again today and guess what, Blossom* Gnabbed my first choice at Circular Quay, but it improved from there and I ended up with 3 finds, including the one I beat you to in Annandale.

[waterlogged]

I just wish the symbol on the map would change to show a gnome's been gnabbed! Put a few into the GPSr in a hurry by looking at the map only but of course a couple of them were gorn!

One thing's for sure most of us won't spend long on a DNF as we jump to the conclusion the gnome's been kid-gnapped! Could be wrong though!

I find the mobile site for GCA a good fast way to check the status of Gnomes while out, as the text only loads very fast.

http://mobile.geocaching.com.au/

Would it be possible to include a link to the main cache page from the mobile caching page. This way you can search quickly to the cache page to read what the latest logs are, then go to the main page to log your find or move while out.
Or even a link directly to the 'log the cache' on the main page?