The Tortoise and The Hare – The Smith Brothers Great Travelbug Race 2009
Geocachers:
- WVAngler – Tortoise Travelbug
- Rabbit of Caerbannog – Hare Travelbug
Goal: To win the race.
Destination:
The hare travelbug must begin its journey from a Rabbit of Caerbannog cache of his choosing. The cache must be owned by R.O.C. The tortoise travelbug must begin its journey from a WVAngler cache of his choosing. The cache must be owned by WVAngler. Each participant’s travelbug must complete their journeys at the caches that their opponent’s bugs began their journeys from. However, the travelers must first visit the following destinations (subject to change/approval):
- A cache within 20 miles of the Atlantic Ocean
- A cache within 20 miles of the Gulf of Mexico
- A cache within 20 miles of the Pacific Ocean
- A cache within the greater Rocky Mountains (i.e., reasonable distance…eastern Wyoming doesn’t count)
Once above destinations have been reached in any order, tb may complete its journey at its final destination cache. If at any time the tb makes it into the final destination cache prior to completing the above intermediate destinations then it is not considered completed and may continue with the race unless the tb owner decides to “FREEZE” the tb. If the tb owner “FREEZES” the tb at the final destination cache then points are also frozen until after opponent’s travelbug is also frozen or race completed. No points awarded for the final destination cache reached until intermediate tasks completed. The travelbug owner MAY transport their own travelbug ONE time during the course of the race after initial release. The purpose of this is so that if a travelbug gets “stuck” bouncing around a single area within reach of the owner he may move it out of that area OR if a tb has sat for too long in a cache or is thought missing the owner may check on it and get it out of the travelbug prison. The travelbug owner may also expect to be taking a long trip and may wish to use their ONE time move to transport the traveler for long distance. Competitors may not move their opponent’s travelbug, but may discover it physically for extra points for themselves. Movement of travelers by colluding partners is perfectly evil, nefarious, distasteful, disrespectful, poor sportsmanship and is perfectly legal.
Points:
- 500 points – Achieving all destinations and returning to final cache before competitor
- 300 points – First to achieve all 4 intermediate destinations
- 200 points – First to achieve each intermediate destination
- 50 points – Second to achieve intermediate destination.
- 15 points – Logging discovery only log on competitor’s travelbug (must physically discover)
- 5 points – Each cache visited
- 5 points – Visit to cache with a Monty Python theme (only caches not belonging to tb owners count)
- 5 points – Caches with difficulty + terrain levels adding to 6 stars or higher
- 1 point – Per photo uploaded by discovering/moving geocachers
- 1 point – Geocacher discovered tb log
Penalties:
- 15 point penalty – TB owner moving their TB after using their ONE time free move card.
- 15 point penalty – TB replacement (if TB is confirmed to be lost, a replacement traveler may be restarted from original cache. Intermediate missions cannot be revisited for additional points in this scenario.)
- 5 point penalty – Visit to any cache with a Virginia Tech, U. of Pittsburgh, U. of Michigan or Ohio State themed cache.
Travelbug Descriptions:
Both competitor’s descriptions for their travelbugs must be identical with only the following exceptions:
- Photos
- Intermediate destinations may be removed from description after being reached
- Title or Description of specific traveler referred to
