Building the Map
Most adventures start with a line on the map. I've been know to joke about following lines on the map for many of my big races. A printed course map, a GPX file uploaded - something to guide you along your way. I love the old fashioned course maps where I can transfer the data to my bigger maps - but even the GPX downloaded to my mapping programs work. To me, there’s nothing like showing up to a race with my paper maps all marked up with the course, knowing I’ve done all the research needed. I can spend hours studying my maps, considering the topo intervals and terrain contours. All those details allow me to build fairly accurate race plans. But what happens when there is no line on the map? That’s when the fun begins. I get to build the map and create my own line.There are still maps that I can study and write my notes on, but no one big map that contains the entirety of the course. I have five different paper maps and each map has one little piece. There’s some overlap bet...