The Sketch
Time to get 2022’s caching efforts up and running. Well, aside from the previous day’s event anyway. I spent ages planning a trip down “That London” but eventually decided against. There was a possibility of train strikes and I couldn’t bring myself to drive an hour just to get on a train for another hour. So I decided not to bother with that. Anyway, I have literally thousands of caches I can do within a one-hour drive. In particular, there are hundreds that are designed for biking. That also means they are ideal for walking without getting knee-deep in sludge. That’s my New Year’s caching resolution. No muddy fields until it’s dried out a bit. So for this day I decided to go to Yaxley and begin poshrule’s peloton.
The peloton is a fairly large series of caches (over 300) which are simple puzzles based around professional cycling. The icons draw pictures of cyclists. Cool. Anyway I’ve had them solved for ages and I know they are all accessible by bike.
But Before That
There’s always a “before that” and today was no exception. The pre-walk jaunt today was to complete a set of Adventure Labs in Yaxley itself. They are quite spread out and, if I walked them, it would add about 3km onto the walk. However, the points were all accessible by car so I decided to drive. It was early on a Sunday morning, so why not. You can tell from the first photo here that it was still before 9 am when I parked.
Anyway, the first three parts of the Ad Labs could be done as drive-bys and the fourth was at the church, where I’d decided to park. Job done. 4 finds up before even walking away from the car.
On to the Main Business
The main business for today was to get above 50 total finds for the day of January 2nd. When I started that required 32 finds. So when I left the car I needed a further 28.
The walking route for the Yaxley part of the peloton is a triangle to the west of Yaxley that I’ve walked at least three times before (see Yaxley to Conington, Yakkety Yaxley and Tour de Haddon). I therefore more or less knew what to expect and knew it would be a quick and easy way to get the required number of finds. There were 44 caches on the triangular walk (plus 5 labs), so more than plenty.
I set off walking at just before 9 am and I got back to the car at 12:15, having found the 44. No particular hazards or issues apart from the regular batches of cyclists passing. I even had time for a short chat with another cacher who was sitting at the PoW Memorial at Norman Cross trying to solve the multi there. I could tell they were cachers. Normal people don’t usually examine memorials in so much detail. Anyway, nice to meet you.
What Now Then?
I sat in the car for a while contemplating what to do next. It was a bit early for going home but I didn’t think I had enough time for another full loop from the peloton. However, there are a few “stragglers” down the old A1, plus a nice-looking group of six in the village of Holme. So I went for those. I missed a load down the old A1, either because I didn’t like the parking or because I just couldn’t find the cache. I guess there’s other days. Holme was a pleasant little walk around a nice-looking village. I was able to park at the front of the primary school (it’s Sunday, so nobody around).
So, below are the results of my trip to Yaxley to start the peloton. I made a total of 61 finds, including 47 from the peloton series. That’s a decent start for a winter’s day.