January's Virtual Winter Event 2021 (Covid lockdown edition) Jan 9th and 10th

[adjustablewench]

Late to the party but put me and the Gasman down (he doesn't know it yet and it will be knee dependant for him) :)

[Tonto]

Me too please.
Paul - Daventry
After zero bivvies in 2020 it will be nice to restart slowly.

[JohnClimber]

Late to the party but put me and the Gasman down (he doesn't know it yet and it will be knee dependant for him) :)

For the front page where are you based please?

Are you and Gasman riding together or need 2 entries?

[benp1]

JC - please can you add me to the list? You skipped me (accidentally I hope )

benp1/Ben - Whetstone, London

[JohnClimber]

JC - please can you add me to the list? You skipped me (accidentally I hope )

benp1/Ben - Whetstone, London

Sorry, added now

[adjustablewench]

Late to the party but put me and the Gasman down (he doesn't know it yet and it will be knee dependant for him) :)

For the front page where are you based please?

Are you and Gasman riding together or need 2 entries?

We're Sheffield based and will be together

[Jay_ACWR]

Thanks to Stuart & John for the tech help. Sounds fun, I’m in.

Halifax, West Yorkshire.

I'm the Jason Hemingway youre still waiting for BTW...(on your front page list)

[Copperbottom]

Hi Stuart,
Can you confirm I have been added to the list, if not add me please.
Thanks Nick (Copperbottom)

[JohnClimber]

Hi Stuart,
Can you confirm I have been added to the list, if not add me please.
Thanks Nick (Copperbottom)

Cheers Nick, but please can you tell us where you are roughly based?

[Copperbottom]

Hi Stuart,
Southampton Hampshire:
Thanks Copperbottom.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Hi Stuart,

Hey, this nowt to do with me. You've got John and Reg to blame, I'm in the clear.

[JohnClimber]

Hi Stuart,
Southampton Hampshire:
Thanks Copperbottom.

Me and RIP are to blame for this one

Don't forget to tune back in here on December 13th to find out who your virtual partner is

[JohnClimber]

For the new joiners, what's going to happen from today.

Hopefully we will have more people joining us.

Between now and midnight Saturday 12th Dec, draw yourself a map of your area with the boundaries that YOU don't want to cross.
Here's mine

You will see I've cut off the Wirral, it's a great place to ride but I don't want to use public transport crossing over or under the River Mersey and it's too far for me to be bothered to ride around to and from.

Sunday 13th Reg and I will draw half of the list of riders out of a hat each, matching the 2 riders together.
We will announce your virtual partner on Sunday afternoon on here.

From Sunday 13th you have a week and 4 days to contact your virtual partner through the forums message service, please keep your eye out on your in box and communicate the best ways that you want to keep in touch with each other.
You can keep it touch on the forum message, swap emails or phone numbers to whatsapp or facebook messenger, it's up to you.

Simple find out the street or estate or what3word place of your virtual partners house/base.
To get their 10 Grid References around their home but within their boundaries you can use what ever method you want to.

Personally if I don't have the right map I use http://www.geograph.org.uk/

To get your Grid Refs,

Type in a town/village in the area that you are looking in to the search box, it's up in the top right hand corner of the web page and press enter.
Click on a picture you like the look of that appears on the next page.

Scroll down and click on this map


Then a pop up map appears, this is a great page for you to use


Scroll your mouse/pointer over the map and you will see the full grid ref appear in the left hand corner.
For example if you chose this spot for your virtual partner their Grid Ref will be SE 07907 26051.
Your partner may sent you a Grid Ref with just 6 figures, in this case it would be SE 079 260
Both are counted as target points.

For finding more Grid References in and around your virtual partners area use this zoom and scroll function on the left of the map


Once you have your virtual partners 10 Grid References send them over to them.

When you have your 10 Grid References you have until Saturday 9th January to work out your own personal perfect route.
Remembering you ARE allowed to bivi in your own back garden or even your bothy shed, or out and about.
Just one rule, it can't be in your own house.

Any questions please just ask? or if you think I've made a mistake above please let me know ASAP so I can edit it.

[RIP]

Nice recap there John - compliments on all the work so far.

Remembering our Virtual WRT earlier this year it was great fun - fun to try and choose some unusual or surprising GRs for one's partner and fun to visit the ones chosen for you. A couple of the ones I got from Bob really made me stop and think about them when I arrived, and they were only a few miles away! It'll be good to hear people's stories - highest point anyone rode to, lowest point, highest weight of cake eaten en route, most slugs inadvertently eaten overnight, etc etc.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Using Geograph's a great idea John. It's 'nice' to be able to see exactly where you're sending someone

[JohnClimber]

Using Geograph's a great idea John. It's 'nice' to be able to see exactly where you're sending someone

Especially when I'm too tight to buy any more OS maps than many dozens of them that I already have

[Dave Barter]

Between now and midnight Saturday 12th Dec, draw yourself a map of your area with the boundaries that YOU don't want to cross.

I don't have any places I'm not prepared to go to. My virtual partner can fill their boots but I'd hope they'd appreciate I might not be visiting one in Orkney.

[sean_iow]

My boundary is easily defined by the sea around the Island, but the references will need to be places it's legal for me to get to. I'm not being shot at by game-keepers on 10 occasions just to collect references

[ScotRoutes]

My boundary is easily defined by the sea around the Island, but the references will need to be places it's legal for me to get to.

Unfamiliarity with the legal conventions of access in Englandandwales is the one of the reasons I've not entered this event.

[sean_iow]

Unfamiliarity with the legal conventions of access in Englandandwales is the one of the reasons I've not entered this event.

I did think of you as I typed it... It's easy really, if you look at a 1:25,000 OS map and the line looks like this

- - - - - - - You'll be ok

If it looks like this

. . . . . . . . . . you might be as long as no one sees you

[Moguy]

I’m keen.

Mo Guy/ Dorset - Wimborne/ Poole area

[thenorthwind]

My boundary is easily defined by the sea around the Island, but the references will need to be places it's legal for me to get to.

Unfamiliarity with the legal conventions of access in Englandandwales is the one of the reasons I've not entered this event.

This is one of the few arguments I've heard against better access laws: that it stops you getting out

I suppose another might be the obligation to mention them at every possible opportunity, a bit like the old vegan joke, "how do you tell if someone has better access laws than you?"

[JohnClimber]

I’m keen.

Mo Guy/ Dorset - Wimborne/ Poole area

Added, tune back in on Sunday Dec 13th to find out who your virtual partner is going to be

[RIP]

I’m keen.

Mo Guy/ Dorset - Wimborne/ Poole area

Added, tune back in on Sunday Dec 13th to find out who your virtual partner is going to be

Hopefully your partner will stick a grid reference smack in the middle of Sandbanks, and then some rich footballer will come out and take pity on you and offer you a bivvy spot in their garden with use of all facilities (jacuzzi, wine cellar, etc)

[JohnClimber]

Another option is if you and your virtual partner want to you can use Bing Maps but best do this from a PC or laptop as it doesn't work on my android phone the way I say if does below

Open this page
https://www.bing.com/maps

Top right of the page, change the map over to Ordnance Survey



Then go to your chosen area and look around.
Zoom in to find the spot you want to give to your virtual partner
To find your "Grid Reference"
Right click to bring up the information banner as shown above

this gives you the option to copy the number such as this

53.474211, -2.818077

Copy and paste it (Ctr C then Ctr V on windows) to your partners list

To find the Grid Reference as given by your partner
https://www.bing.com/maps
change the map over to Ordnance Survey
Then Copy and Paste the number give to you into the Bing search bar
53.474211, -2.818077

There you go.