The Roche's Rumble setters, vetters and helpers. Oliver Bain, Jaymee Knoll, Gav Johnstone, Rowan Tilley, Bridget White and Maddy Hendy.
By Rowan Tilley and Jaymee Knoll
After a crash course from Simon Allen in setting checkpoints using Avenza Maps, we were let loose on Lauderdale. Chomping at the bit, we were perhaps a little too enthusiastic in our early setting sessions, dishing out checkpoints left and right before realising our pin density was blocking out important navigation features on the map! Once we reined it in - and figured out how to contend with the constraints imposed on the course by the shape of the land and many dangerous sections of road - the route options started to take shape. We tiptoed around answers involving colour and counting higher than 10, and were mindful not to repeat questions from the Hit or Miss Metrogaine of 2020. Somehow, the two of us managed to independently set identical questions based on the same sign in two locations (which we quickly rectified!). After worrying that we had set too large a course and that many of the southernmost checkpoints may not be visited, we were pleased to learn that only one control was not visited on the day. We suppose enduring deep, soft sand for only 30 points was not particularly enticing.
Jaymee tackled the setting on foot and the less glamorous battle with paperwork, venue bookings and administrative tasks, with valuable support from Gary Carroll. Rowan tackled some of the Tangara Trails on an electric onewheel. The rocky trails were hard on the legs, and there were steep sections where the board became a 20kg burden that he had to carry. It was the first bike event we've had since the Lindisfun Metrogaine of 2022, and it was wonderful to see so many teams take on the event on bikes, including a tandem! A foot, bike and non-competitive ebike division, but we were wishing we could have squeezed a horseback division in there too!
It was a great opportunity to get to know a place we knew little about, as neither of us had previously spent much time exploring the Tangara Trail or South Arm. Now we feel we know the area inside out! Along with beautiful vistas there were some strange and memorable moments during the setting. We saw countless brown bandicoots, a mob of emus, a wrecked boat being salvaged near Cape Deslacs, and a blue-tongue lizard wash ashore on a beach.
A big thank you to our dedicated team of vetters: Charlotte Blake, Gav Johnstone, Bridget White and Michael Battaglia. We took on their helpful feedback, made tweaks and adjustments, revisits to various checkpoints, and at last, the day was upon us.
Last minute pumping up of tyres, broken mud guard removal and seat adjustments, and the teams were away. With enthusiastic competitors, friendly locals and the help from our hard working volunteers the Roche’s Rumble was pulled off without a hitch. Well, save some issues with disappearing flower pots, some debate over whether an orca is a dolphin or a whale (Fun fact: it’s both! All dolphins are whales.), and a shed transforming into a silo.
The mysterious disappearing shed. It was there when we set the course. Honest.
An enormous thank you to Simon and Gary for their mentorship, mapping expertise and patience with our ad-hoc setting style. Thank you also to Find Your Feet for generously donating spot prizes, John Dawson for valuable local knowledge and assistance with the map, members of the Rogaining Tasmania committee for assistance with proofreading and various tasks, Rebecca Risely from the Clarence City Council for assisting with the hall booking and permissions, and Duncan Oliver from Knuckle Sandwich for a very successful first time catering for a Rogaining Tasmania event. Thank you to our incredible team of on-the-day volunteers, including our vetting and mapping team, plus Maddy Hendy, Oliver Bain, Sean Carroll, Nicolë Carpenter, China Mug, Margaret Yam, Bronwyn Fuller, Judy Davis, Liz Canning and Hugh Fitzgerald. Without the dedication and effort from our volunteers, the success of the event would not have been possible.
Congratulations to the category and overall winners. Finally, thank you to every single one of the entrants. We admired your enthusiasm and high spirits, even if you arrived back a little late or struggled to find that mysterious buoy hanging in a tree! We hope to see you at future Rogaining Tasmania events, as competitors or volunteers.
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Full results and the routes of the winning bike and on-foot team are on the RT results web page. Photos from the event can be viewed here.