Location and Schedule

On Saturday, 15 September 2012, two event durations will be offered: 3 hours and 90 minutes. You can do either on foot or on bike. VENUE CHANGE: The headquarters will be at Larkin Park, not at Monterey Youth Center as previously announced. This location is more central to the course, but also limits participation; register quickly! We will announce it here if the event fills up, and whether we will have onsite registration.

This is the inaugural Monterey Street Scramble. Check out the description and our calendar of Street Scramble events!

This event is the third in the 2012/2013 Urban Adventure Hunt series, and your next chance to collect points and win a trip to the series Final, the San Francisco Night & Day Challenge.

Event schedule: 12:30 Registration and check-in open, Larkin Park 13:00 Maps are available for route planning 13:40 Briefing and instructions 14:00 Start, all divisions, foot and bike 15:30 Finish, 90 minute divisions 15:45 Afternoon tea service begins 16:00 Awards, 90 minute divisions 17:00 Finish, 3 hour divisions 17:30 Awards, 3 hour divisions
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Transit directions: From out of town, take Amtrak bus, Greyhound, or Monterey-Salinas Transit Bus 55 to Monterey Transit Center. In Monterey, find your bus to the Transit Center. From the Transit Center, walk two blocks north to Franklin St., seven blocks west to Monroe St., and three blocks north to the park (a total distance of 1.2 km).

You will score checkpoint visits by texting us the answer to the question on your scorecard. Checkpoint visits will be instantly tabulated, and scores available upon the teams' return. If you'd rather not use the cellphone for any reason, you can instead circle answers on the paper scorecard. More details are here...

This is the map that was used for the 2012 Mill Valley Street Scramble; the map for this event will look similar. In particular, note that the map won't show most of the street names:

The Street Scramble Experience

Street Scramble races can be enjoyed by anyone who (a) can travel under their own power for 90 minutes—walking, running, biking, or moving in a wheelchair; (b) can follow a street map; and (c) likes to explore.

(Strollers and power wheelchairs are OK for those who need them. If you can't read a map, you can be on a team with someone who can.)

When you arrive at a Street Scramble event, you will check in (some events don't sell out and allow onsite registration). Then, an hour before the start time, you will receive a map with thirty (or so) checkpoint locations circled. Each circle has a number between 10 and 99. The point value of the checkpoint is equal to its number rounded down to the tens; for example, Checkpoint 35 is worth 30 points; Checkpoint 12 is worth 10 points. The back of your map will have a description of a feature to be found at each checkpoint, such as "Statue" or "Pier". You will also receive a scorecard with the same information as on the back of your map; use this scorecard if you are not using electronic scoring.

You (together with your team, if you have a team) will then plan which checkpoints you will try to visit, and in what order. You can visit as many or as few checkpoints as you want, and in any order. Your team will need to stay together at all times. You can change your plan as you go along, but it's very helpful to at least start with some kind of plan.

About 20 minutes before the start there will be a pre-Scramble-race briefing, at which the event director will review rules and safety. There will be a countdown to the start, after which you will head out to visit checkpoints. Again, your team must stay together at all times. Checkpoints are found at the precise centers of the circles on the map. When you arrive at a checkpoint location, look for the feature described on the back of your map.

At most locations, you will need to answer a simple multiple-choice question, found on the back of your map and on your scorecard, to prove you were there. Example:

35   Statue, NE side: What is the last word on the plaque?
(a) Arts   (b) Commission   (c) Space

If you are not using the electronic scoring system, circle the correct answer on your scorecard and proceed to another checkpoint. Also write down the time of your checkpoint visit.

We offer two electronic ways to record your checkpoint visits. One option will only be available at select checkpoints that are at locations of participating businesses, and only to those entrants who have a smartphone capable of recognizing QR codes, and the necessary phone app. Simply snap a picture of the code and get on your way!
If you don't have the hardware or the app, just answer the multiple-choice question.

The other electronic option is available at all checkpoints, and involves sending us, the organizers, a text message with your answer to the question on the back of the map. For example, suppose you are Team 191 and the correct answer to the question at Checkpoint 35 is (a), "Arts". You will send, to the phone number we provide at registration, a message with the text

35 A

—or—

35A

—or—

a35

and you will get back a confirmation message that says

Team 191 Checkpoint 35 Answer A at 10:31:23.

To participate in the 90 minute division, you must return to the event center within 90 minutes. To participate in the 3 hour option, return within 3 hours. You can decide which option you want while you're out there. Returning on time requires planning!

Our maps run the gamut from specially surveyed and produced city and wilderness maps to improved USGS topographic maps, and sometimes include off-the-shelf (off-the-screen?) maps. We use information from a variety of sources. Our maps only have a few street names on them, so it will be important for you to keep track of where you are on the map.

It is perfectly fine to utilize other maps you may bring, or to look at a map on your smartphone. You can also use the phone's GPS; any GPS units, altimeters, and pedometers are all fair game—but please don't get so distracted by the gadgets as to lose track of vehicle traffic!

When you return, you will turn in your scorecard; if you used electronic scoring, your score will be ready and waiting for you. (In case your phone turns out to be less sweat-resistant than you thought, we can handle answers that are partially submitted electronically and partially handwritten.) All team members must finish together at the same time; your official finish time is when the last team member arrives at the finish line. It is important to be on time because you will lose points for each minute you are late. We will keep your scorecard, but you get to take your map home with you. If your answers are handwritten, we will tally your score while you enjoy refreshments, included in your entry fee. After refreshments, awards will be given out for those with the highest scores in different divisions and categories.

As a minimum, we will award the best men, women, and mixed teams in the following categories: Juniors (each team member must be 20 years of age or younger on 31 December 2012), Masters (40 or older on 31 December 2012), and Open. Awards will also be given to the best family teams; a family team is one that has anyone 20 years of age or younger, and also someone 21 years of age or older.

If you have further questions, you may be able to find answers to them on the Equipment and Detailed Rules pages.

Entry and Registration

The first 50 teams to enter get technical-fabric T shirts with the Street Scramble design. That's right, a complimentary shirt for each and every team member! Please select the shirt size during the registration process. These shirts can be obtained at the event only if we do not sell out, or if there are cancellations. If you would rather not have another shirt—even as cool as this—we offer a discount.

Pre-registration is open. Team members may enter together (be entered by the same person), or separately. If you would like to go with a team, but don't know your teammates' names yet, you can enter yourself and other members can join the team at a later time.

As with all events by Get Lost!!, fees for teams, including families, are capped. Three, four, or five people enter at the team price; each team member gets a map. The fees are:

90 minute event	Individual	Team	Cal-ARA Team
Enter and pay on or before Monday 03 September	$39.00	$74.00	$66.60
Enter and pay on or before Tuesday 11 September	$49.00	$94.00	$84.60
Enter and pay on or after Wednesday 12 September	$59.00	$114.00	$102.60
3 hour event	Individual	Team	Cal-ARA Team
Enter and pay on or before Monday 03 September	$39.00	$74.00	$66.60
Enter and pay on or before Tuesday 11 September	$49.00	$94.00	$84.60
Enter and pay on or after Wednesday 12 September	$59.00	$114.00	$102.60

Fine print: Each team member of the first 50 teams that enter must be entered by the last entry deadline in order to be guaranteed a shirt in her/his size. Because of the lead time involved in printing the shirts, it is not possible for us to provide shirts to late-entering participants.

More fine print: Team member additions after the deadline increase the price, so as to account for the extra cost associated with providing supplies and insurance to the participants at the last moment. Team member substitutions are always free.

Extras!!

Please add $10.00 if you would like us to manually tally a handwritten score sheet for your team.

Discounts!!

On top of these prices, we offer the following discounts:

Bay Area OC member registering her/himself	–	$5.00
Active-duty military (at least one member in a team)		early fees apply through the day of the event
No shirt(s)	–	$7.00 individual,	$14.00 team
Family (at least one participant age 20 or under)	–	$10.00 per team

The BAOC discount only applies to individuals, not teams. That is, a registration for two people who are both BAOC members will cost less than the team price. A three-person team is always best off taking the team deal.

Examples:

• California ARA team of 4, standard registration including shirts: $21.15 per person
• BAOC member going solo, early registration, no shirt: $27.00
• Family of 3, day-of-event registration, no shirts: $30.00 per person

These discounts are taken and combined automatically by the registration system. Make sure to indicate the team association, individual participant's club membership, and the correct (or at least approximately correct) ages for the team members.

We accept credit cards online through Google Checkout, and cash, checks, and credit cards on site.

Go register!!

Event-Day Information

1. Directions and Parking

VENUE CHANGE: The event headquarters will be at the Larkin Park, not at Monterey Youth Center as previously announced. This location is more central to the course. There is ample street parking. Park on Clay St., Anita St., or Monroe St.

2. Safety

Safety is our first priority. All cyclists must wear a helmet and stop at all stop signs and red lights. No freeways bisect the course, but some high-traffic streets do; please be careful and cross at dedicated pedestrian crossings.

We strongly encourage you to wear a Street Scramble safety vest to enhance your visibility. You can borrow one from us at no charge.

3. Urban Adventure Hunt series 2012/2013

This event is the third one one in the series. Here is last year's announcement, but in brief, it works this way: Each Street Scramble event is worth a maximum of 1000 points, and Mill Valley and Santa Cruz Street Scramble events, with their 7-hour competition, are worth 1600 points. We will add together the points from the 12 events that are scheduled between late June of 2012 and late May of 2013. If your team participates in the 90-minute division, we will multiply its points by 1.5; if it is in the 7 hours, there is no penalty, enjoy all the extra points that a long run or ride in the city entails! In order for event scores to count for the series, your team should keep the same name, compete in the same age/gender category, and maintain at least one common member for the Street Scramble events it participates in.

Prizes: In each category (foot and bike; Open, Masters, and Juniors; Men, Women, and Mixed; and Family), there is a single first-place award to the best team, and it is a free entry to San Francisco Night & Day Challenge in 2013. A team has to participate in at least three Street Scramble events in order to be eligible for the award. But furthermore, we'll combine your points from the Street Scramble events and SFND, and a few very lucky—or fast—teams will win an expense-paid trip to the Seattle Night & Day, which occurs about a month after SFND!! We will showcase one or two categories for this award.

4. Event rules

Each team must stay together throughout the event. It is not allowed to split up to cover more ground. The finish time is taken when the last team member crosses the finish line.

Travel under your own power only. It is not allowed to take buses or cabs.

It is not allowed to look up answers to checkpoint questions without actually going to the checkpoint; in particular, you cannot use Street View, Panoramio, or the likes. Using Street View would be just like driving past everyone in a car at a running race! You can, however, use the map on your smartphone, and GPS. You are welcome to use any and all maps of the area you may bring.

Please stay off private property. Some of the streets and roads on the map are private, or otherwise have restricted access. We believe that with the exception of Pebble Beach, access to which is described in the next section, all restricted-access roadways are shown with OpenStreetMap's striped symbol (see symbols below). The course will not lead you along private streets on which you aren't allowed to be. If it says NO TRESPASSING, please turn around.

5. Access

This area includes two large pieces of land with restricted access: The Presidio of Monterey and related properties, and Pebble Beach. The Presidio is an active military installation. It is fenced off, and out of bounds for us. It is shown as such on the map. There are gates, and some of these gates allow general public through, but we ask that you don't use this privilege. Even if all of your team members have access, you aren't allowed to go on the installation while on the Street Scramble course.

There are other military-related properties with restricted access within the bounds of the map, such as the Naval Postgraduate School, but the course will not lead you to their perimeters. In all circumstances, please don't scale any high barbed-wire fences!

Pebble Beach is a different story. It is a private community. Public access is allowed during the daytime. There are several entry gates that charge an entry fee for vehicles of nonresidents. Pedestrians and bicycle riders do not have to pay this fee; moreover, several streets of Monterey and Pacific Grove come to the city boundary and end, and a private street starts on the other side, so that pedestrians and bikes can go right through but cars cannot. Please only stay on mapped streets while in Pebble Beach, and do not disturb the residents! in particular, please don't step on any golf courses.

There is a difference in park access between Monterey and Pacific Grove. Most areas mapped in green as parks in Pacific Grove are in fact golf courses. Some are true parks, but large portions of those have trail-only access, and most of these trails are not on our map. So, we will ask you that if you go through parks in Pacific Grove, please stay on mapped streets and trails!

Monterey, on the other hand, has a multitude of forest preserves. A lot of them aren't shown on this map; some look like easements around properties, some like vacant lots, some are canyons in-between developments. The ones that made it on the map are in green. We believe it is OK to access the mapped parks and preserves in Monterey from any point on an adjacent public street (but not an adjacent school campus—this is important!) Furthermore, you can go in and through the unmapped parks and forest preserves if public access is clearly posted. All Monterey checkpoints are directly accessible from streets and trails.

The municipal boundaries between Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Pebble Beach are shown on the map; Monterey is in the northeast, Pacific Grove in the northwest, and Pebble Beach in the southwest. We start in Monterey, and most of the checkpoints are in Monterey.

A few more words about Pebble Beach... there are several two-level street intersections between Monterey and Pebble Beach that in fact aren't; there are no ramps and cars cannot turn, only go straight through, staying on the same level, so in essence the lower level is Monterey and the upper level is Pebble Beach. It is possible for pedestrians and bikes to get between the levels, and in fact in most cases we found well-beaten or official trails to do just that. You may have to carry your bike. Keep your eyes open!

Near these overpasses, some streets of Monterey and Pebble Beach come close, but do not connect; there are houses in-between. You are not allowed to shortcut through these developments, however "close-and-I-can-see-it" things may seem. You can only cross between the municipalities when the streets are shown connecting on the map, or in the immediate vicinity of the two-level intersections.

The unpopulated part of the county around Pebble Beach is known as Del Monte Forest. One of the checkpoints is on a trail in an open space preserve in the Forest. You must stay on trails and forest roads in Del Monte Forest; some trails aren't mapped, but are signed and posted, and it's OK to go on these. These trails and fire roads do not allow bikes.

6. Bikes

All checkpoints except one are reachable by bike. A road bike is recommended over a mountain bike, but there will be some places in which you will want to carry or wheel a road bike for a short while.

The one checkpoint not reachable by bike is in Del Monte Forest. We insist that you carry, not wheel, your bike while going to and from this checkpoint; the portage is between one and two kilometers each way, depending on your chosen route.

7. Dogs

Dogs are not allowed in City of Monterey parks, including Larkin Park where we start and finish, but are OK in most of the city's forest preserves. So, this may not be the best event to bring your pups.

8. The map

The map for this event is an off-the-shelf (off-the-server?) OpenStreetMap, with unmodified, default colors and slightly modified symbols. Please take your time to study them: on the main OpenStreetMap page, select "Map Key" in the lower left-hand corner, then zoom most of the way into an area (say Monterey) so that the Map Key panel displays all of the symbols. We also copied this symbol panel here, and it will be on the map.

The quality of OpenStreetMap around Monterey is acceptable. Which means it's not great. All streets appear to be represented correctly, but many trails are missing, and in some cases parts of, or entire, parks and forest preserves. In some cases these missing parks and preserves provide a good way to go between checkpoints—keep your eyes open, read the signs, and use common sense!

We took off street names from OpenStreetMap and added elevation contours. The map is at 1:20,000 scale with 10 meter contour interval. Compared to the symbols for Get Lost!!-made maps, the most important difference is that the meanings of grey and pink/purple colors are reversed. We use grey to show passable built-up areas, and purple to show the impassable ones. OpenStreetMap uses grey for residential, which usually isn't passable, and various shades of pink and purple for commercial and retail, which usually are.

The few school campuses (light yellow-green) are NOT accessible from the adjacent parks, only from the adjacent streets (there is a thin boundary line on the map indicating that). Please keep this in mind while planning your route!

9. Course notes

The optimum actual distance to travel in order to get all checkpoints is 50.0 km. The course has 35 checkpoints worth 1000 total points, picked by Vladimir. We believe it is possible for a very fit cyclist to get to all checkpoints by bike within 3 hours, but certainly not on foot. Twenty-two of the checkpoints are in Monterey, nine are in Pacific Grove, and four in Pebble Beach.

The late penalty is 10 points for each minute, or fraction thereof. Remember, you can switch from the 90 minute division to the 3 hour division at any time, even while you are on the course.

10. Cellphone scoring

Cellphone scoring will be offered for this event, and here's a short tutorial.

Our receiving phone number is +1 503 567 8924. (It spells out LOST X24. Hope you aren't.)

Start with registering your team's cell phone number. You can send us answers from more than one cell phone. We don't pull the phone number information from your registration, so this step must be done for at least one phone. From this phone, send us a text message that says T followed by your team number. You will find out your team number at check-in, or if you would like to complete this step early, e-mail us and we'll let you know your team number. For example, if your team number is 142, text

T 142

You will receive a short confirmatory message. It may take a few seconds for the system to issue a confirmation to each of your commands and answers, sometimes up to about half a minute, more if your phone moves in and out of coverage.

After you have registered your team number, you're clear to head out on the course! One of the neat features is the ability to retrieve checkpoint questions and answer choices as you go. Just say Q? followed by the checkpoint number, like this:

Q? 42

And now to the most important part—sending us answers to checkpoint questions! Just send us the checkpoint number and the answer choice, in this order or answer first, with or without a space; the answer (as all commands) is case-insensitive. For each answer, you get a short confirmatory message.

Please take care in answering the questions. Sometimes, teams give a literal answer, for example if the answer choices are (A) 1; (B) 2; (C) 3, a team can text 2. This answer will not count as a wrong answer and the system will simply ask you to try again. Only the first valid answer choice counts. If you send in a wrong answer choice, for example if the correct answer is B and you say A, the mistake cannot be corrected.

You can find out how many checkpoints you have visited, and how many points they are worth, by texting S?. This score is not graded; that is, the points are calculated without take into account whether your answers are correct or not.

The full command set is

Q?  R?  S?  T/T?  U  W?

We already went over most of those. The remaining commands are: R? tells you how long your team has been on the course; T? replies with your team number on record; U is used to unsubsribe the phone number; and W? lets you know which ones you got wrong.

The system is currently on Eastern time. We may or may not be able to fix that before the event. Finally, if you encounter an error message, please let us know after the event.

Please do not send praise, comments, blame, bug reports, missing checkpoint notes, or status updates to this number—they are all quite welcome, but use +1 971 998 0321 instead. They will all be read and acted upon.

We will not be using QR codes at this event.

11. Pen-and-paper scoring

When you mark your answer, please also make sure to write down the time you visited each checkpoint. Doing this is not mandatory, but allows for some entertaining post-event route analysis. Your finish time will be taken when you hand in your score sheet.

Event staff:
Lani and Vladimir

We maintain a discussion board for all our events on Attackpoint. Popular among adventure-sports athletes in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries, the site is the one to go to for the latest adventure-running news, schedules, discussion, and gossip.

Forum for the Monterey Street Scramble.

We also post updates to our Facebook pages:

Facebook event for the Monterey Street Scramble.