No sooner has Hediya entered The Great Travel Bug Knockout than she has placed her Love and Peace (Maan) Travel Bug into this cache in the Nottinghamshire section of the controversial, but generally excellent and much-visited, multi-Cache Owner Skeg to Ness mega-series. At the same time Happy Humphrey took the opportunity to place his Scary Halloween Monster TB into the same cache. Could this be a mistake or masterstroke? Two TBs in the same cache could attract more finders, but maybe the finders will choose one TB over the other...
Intriguingly enough, castlegrice have also chosen to place their George's Fun Bus 2 Travel Bug into another cache in the Skeg to Ness series, only 6 caches further along! Will all three entries be retrieved by the same cacher?
So much for the safe options, cooper troopers have taken the risky move of placing their the noble traveller TB into an unpublished cache off of the B5057 near Darley Dale. If the cache is quickly published then there will be guaranteed visitors, but if the cache is not promptly listed at geocaching.com, then it could sit in limbo for some time... a risky gamble, but it could pay-off.
EDIT: 1/1/10; As the cache has now been published, I've edited out the link to the map and added a link to Darley Dale. STP
Sunday 31 October 2010
And the Lucky 13th entry is...
The latest, and most hippy-tastic, entry in The Great Travel Bug Knockout, entered by (very) infrequent Nottinghamshire cacher Hediya, wife of fellow entrant Happy Humphrey.
As the thirteenth entry, this means that The Great Travel Bug Knockout is now guaranteed to last for a year. I hope that no-one gets bored!
Saturday 30 October 2010
Two more entries dropped off
Smart451 have placed their Smart Car 10 rather cheekily into my own BPJC: M1 Junction 29 cache, east of Chesterfield, Derbyshire's largest town.
Not to be left out, thejellybabies have placed their My Little Eye Travel Bug into this cache in neighbouring Nottinghamshire.
Not to be left out, thejellybabies have placed their My Little Eye Travel Bug into this cache in neighbouring Nottinghamshire.
That makes a dozen!
Nottingham cacher Jacaru has entered a Travel Bug with instructions in its name;
I'm sure that the rest of us will try very hard to oblige! Of course with twelve entries received, just one more will guarantee that The Great Travel Bug Knockout will last for a whole year, so who will be lucky entry no.13?
First placement
My own The Exterminator! has become the first entry in The Great Travel Bug Knockout to be logged into a cache when I placed it in this TB Hotel between Middlesbrough and Hartlepool in the UK at 7:20 BST this morning (still Summer Time, surely not?!).
How long will The Exterminator! have to wait to be picked up and, more importantly, dropped off somewhere?
Now, which entry will be second to be logged into a cache?
How long will The Exterminator! have to wait to be picked up and, more importantly, dropped off somewhere?
Now, which entry will be second to be logged into a cache?
Wanna see something really scary?
In that case, here's the 11th entry for The Great Travel Bug Knockout, longtime cacher Happy Humphrey's Scary Halloween Monster;
Oo, I can hardly bear to look!
Wednesday 27 October 2010
The Smartest entry?
Derbyshire cachers Smart451 have submitted the 10th entry for The Great Travel Bug Knockout, and of course it is a Smart car;
Well, what else could Smart Car 10 be?
Ve8 is no.9!
Monday 25 October 2010
Meet the first overseas entry in The Great Travel Bug Knockout
Ohio, U.S.A. based cacher fuzziebear3 becomes The Great Travel Bug Knockout's first overseas challenger with her entry,
How long will it be before Hoppy loses that inane grin?
The 7th entry into The Great Travel Bug Knockout is just asking for it!
We all know Who The Exterminator! would really love to exterminate, so are Derbyshire caching family cooper troopers asking for trouble by entering a miniature TARDIS as their TB in The Great Travel Bug Knockout?
Meet:
Saturday 23 October 2010
Is the 6th entry a myth or a hoax?
Actually, it's neither as
Is quite real and has been entered by longtime Midlands cachers Grizzly Pair. Will this Big Foot be leaving his footprints around The World or will he soon be just a half-forgotten legend?
Will BraveHeart win fair trophy?
Nottingham cacher Blid435 has, unlike oceanblue07970, been whole-hearted in support of The Great Travel Bug Knockout by entering
as the fifth Travel Bug in the competition. Now I just can't wait for it to be eliminated so I can use a "The Knockout Is Heartless" type pun!
Thursday 21 October 2010
Last date for acceptance of entries
As I have received comments that the ten days or so until the start of The Great Travel Bug Knockout is too short a time for some prospective entrants to prepare their Travel Bugs, I will allow entries to be placed up to November 30th. The first elimination will take place on December 1st, and after this time no new entries will be accepted, except for replacements for TBs that have definitely been muggled.
You can place your TB into it's first cache at any time from October 30th until November 30th, but the later you leave it, the less time it will have to move.
Also, just to reiterate that your TB can be any item, but must be attached to a standard Travel Bug Dog Tag. This is to make it fair to every entrant that anyone who retrieves the TB will receive the same icon, and to avoid an entrant entering a geocoin or tag with an unusual and rare icon.
If you have any questions at all, just post a comment. It won't appear immediately as I am moderating them to avoid annoying spam appearing, but I'll okay them as soon as I can.
Happy racing, STP
You can place your TB into it's first cache at any time from October 30th until November 30th, but the later you leave it, the less time it will have to move.
Also, just to reiterate that your TB can be any item, but must be attached to a standard Travel Bug Dog Tag. This is to make it fair to every entrant that anyone who retrieves the TB will receive the same icon, and to avoid an entrant entering a geocoin or tag with an unusual and rare icon.
If you have any questions at all, just post a comment. It won't appear immediately as I am moderating them to avoid annoying spam appearing, but I'll okay them as soon as I can.
Happy racing, STP
A fourth race entry received
Derby caching family oceanblue07970 have entered their Half Hearted Travel Bug into The Great Travel Bug Knockout. Hopefully they won't be broken hearted when they're eliminated!
Half Hearted
Wednesday 20 October 2010
Off to a flyer?
This is a flyer that I distributed at EmCache's 2nd Birthday Bash event last night. Hopefully it will bring in some additional race entries!
Wednesday 6 October 2010
Monday 4 October 2010
Second race entry received
The (short) wait is over to find out the second entry in The Great Travel Bug Knock-Out. It is:
Owned by Nottinghamshire teen cachers thejellybabies, closely related to castlegrice, owner of George's Fun Bus 2, if I'm not mistaken :-)
Leaderboard to the right
If you look to the right of this post you will seea small "badge" of George's Fun Bus 2. This represents The Leaderboard. The Travel Bug at the top will be leading, the one at the bottom will be "on the bubble" and facing elimination. Once a TB has been eliminated from the race, it will appear on an Eliminated board. The TB owner may then edit it's page to create a new mission for it as it is no longer a part of The Great Travel Bug Knock-Out.
As you can see, as the distance travelled by each TB is shown, it makes it much simpler if an entrant could enter a Travel Bug with zero starting milage.
Happy caching, STP
As you can see, as the distance travelled by each TB is shown, it makes it much simpler if an entrant could enter a Travel Bug with zero starting milage.
Happy caching, STP
First entry received
Nottinghamshire caching family castlegrice are the first entrants in The Great Travel Bug Knock-Out with their entry:
Who will be the second?
Sunday 3 October 2010
So, when does the race start?
November 1st 2010.
If you would like to enter the race, just leave a comment in the comment box for this post giving the tracking number of your Bug and then wait. The race starts officially on Monday, November 1st, but as I realise that some cachers only cache on weekends you may place your TB in it's first cache on either October 30th or 31st without penalty.
This isn't gambling, so there is no prize for the winner, but I have had made up an engraved trophy (photograph to be uploaded after the race has started!) which I will present as a gift to the owner of the winning entry.
If you have any questions at all about the race, please either email me at slightlytallpaul@yahoo.co.uk or post a comment.
If you would like to enter the race, just leave a comment in the comment box for this post giving the tracking number of your Bug and then wait. The race starts officially on Monday, November 1st, but as I realise that some cachers only cache on weekends you may place your TB in it's first cache on either October 30th or 31st without penalty.
This isn't gambling, so there is no prize for the winner, but I have had made up an engraved trophy (photograph to be uploaded after the race has started!) which I will present as a gift to the owner of the winning entry.
If you have any questions at all about the race, please either email me at slightlytallpaul@yahoo.co.uk or post a comment.
Get ready for a race!
Followers of my other blog, EmCache Race will be aware of my enthusiasm for Travel Bug races! That particular race has a set finishing date, but has run into various problems due to a lack of foresight regarding the rules prior the start.
I'm starting a race organised by myself, with the following rules;
1. Only Travel Bug Dog Tags with hitchhikers attached allowed. Reason: Each entry will be equally attractive to viewers of the cache page, and anyone retrieving the TB would receive the same icon. This would stop someone entering an unusual GeoCoin which would attract the attention of icon-hunters.
2. No-one with an entry in the race would be able to move any entry, including their own. Reason: No-one would be able to help their own entry of hinder anyone else's. This would not stop anyone creating one or more sockpuppet-type GC accounts in order to move their own TB along, but hopefully cachers will play the game fairly.
3. Only the first move by a cacher will count. Reason: This will not stop "dippers" from doing their thing, but it does mean that only their first dip counts.
4. All Travel Bugs must have a picture on their page. Reason: So that a "badge" can be made so that the race positions can be easily checked. Help will be given to any cacher unable to upload a picture of their TB.
5. A stolen/lost/muggled TB can be replaced, but the new Bug would start from 0 miles unless the original Dog Tag is found. Reason: Muggling are unfortunately part of geocaching.
6. One TB per caching i.d. only. Reason: No-one wants the race to go on forever, or for the same cacher to end up racing against themself!
7. In the event of two or more TBs ending a month with equal milage, a Golden Move rule will come into play, meaning that the next one to move goes through.
8. Late logging of TB moves by cachers will only be taken into account if that TB is still in the race. Reason: Some cachers take TB's from caches and then months later post logs reading "Found in the bottom of my caching bag" or similar. If this happens to a TB that has already been eliminated from the race, it is unfortunate, but one of those thing that can happen in geocaching.
Basically my idea is that the race would be a knock-out with the bug with the shortest distance travelled each (period to be determined) would be elimated until only one remains. How this would work is that if 10 Bugs were entered for the race and the race started November 1st, and the time period was determined as 1 month, then the Bug that had travelled the least distance by December 1st would be out, then the least travelled of the 9 remaining Bugs on January 1st would be eliminated until just 1, the winner, remained.
I'm starting a race organised by myself, with the following rules;
1. Only Travel Bug Dog Tags with hitchhikers attached allowed. Reason: Each entry will be equally attractive to viewers of the cache page, and anyone retrieving the TB would receive the same icon. This would stop someone entering an unusual GeoCoin which would attract the attention of icon-hunters.
2. No-one with an entry in the race would be able to move any entry, including their own. Reason: No-one would be able to help their own entry of hinder anyone else's. This would not stop anyone creating one or more sockpuppet-type GC accounts in order to move their own TB along, but hopefully cachers will play the game fairly.
3. Only the first move by a cacher will count. Reason: This will not stop "dippers" from doing their thing, but it does mean that only their first dip counts.
4. All Travel Bugs must have a picture on their page. Reason: So that a "badge" can be made so that the race positions can be easily checked. Help will be given to any cacher unable to upload a picture of their TB.
5. A stolen/lost/muggled TB can be replaced, but the new Bug would start from 0 miles unless the original Dog Tag is found. Reason: Muggling are unfortunately part of geocaching.
7. In the event of two or more TBs ending a month with equal milage, a Golden Move rule will come into play, meaning that the next one to move goes through.
8. Late logging of TB moves by cachers will only be taken into account if that TB is still in the race. Reason: Some cachers take TB's from caches and then months later post logs reading "Found in the bottom of my caching bag" or similar. If this happens to a TB that has already been eliminated from the race, it is unfortunate, but one of those thing that can happen in geocaching.
Basically my idea is that the race would be a knock-out with the bug with the shortest distance travelled each (period to be determined) would be elimated until only one remains. How this would work is that if 10 Bugs were entered for the race and the race started November 1st, and the time period was determined as 1 month, then the Bug that had travelled the least distance by December 1st would be out, then the least travelled of the 9 remaining Bugs on January 1st would be eliminated until just 1, the winner, remained.
So, what can be attached to your Travel Bug Dog Tag? Anything! I've posted pictures of a few of my TBs to give you an example of what can be attached, but the only limit is your imagination, although I would suggest that something small enough to fit in a small container may have an advantage.
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