Orienteering at Dorothea Dix Park!

On August 16, the Greenway Gear Collective Adventure Series explored Dorothea Dix Park with an introduction to orienteering.

First, what is the Adventure Series, and why is it being promoted by a bike shop? Back when The Bike Library started with just a cargo container on Lake Raleigh, friends of TBL, Debra and Jeff Rezeli, were asked to develop outdoor activities to help draw people to the amenities at Lake Raleigh and on Centennial Campus. With their background in adventure racing, they designed outings focused on the major disciplines—biking (mainly mountain biking), running (on and off trail), and paddling—while navigating using a map and compass. After a year of monthly events, it was finally time to host an orienteering day.

When Debra and Jeff started adventure racing in 2014, they quickly learned how critical navigation skills were to success. They joined the Raleigh-based Backwoods Orienteering Klub (BOK), which greatly improved their racing results. Starting in 2017, their team, Irate Booty, climbed the US Adventure Racing national rankings from #6, to #4, to #2, and eventually to #1 in 2020. Having such an active local orienteering club is rare; in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, the only comparable club in size and quality is in Quantico, Virginia.

For the Dix Park event, Debra and Jeff borrowed gear from BOK and set a course with 21 flags. The format was a “Score-O,” meaning participants could find the flags in any order within a 60-minute limit. Ten participants, most with little or no orienteering experience, took part. An hour-long lesson covered map features, legends, and compass navigation. Equipped with maps and compasses, participants set off into the park.