Anyone heard of this "Turf" game?

[Edwardoka]

Looks lovely. Greenock?

One is the path round the back of Silverburn, the other is a path between Nitshill and Barrhead

 

[DCLane]

New round tomorrow. Bike and rider are both ready to smash it. 236th best player in Scotland.

As long as it's not icy tonight, I'll be out the door the moment the round starts.

It's gotten me out and about a few times and only caused people to look alarmed by my presence a couple of times, and taken me to some really lovely areas.

I've had a go, and was 8th in Yorkshire when I last checked. Lots of zones have popped up locally, although one other keeps taking them back as soon as I get any.

A few oddities though, including the private car park of the largest mosque being a zone.

I may be out this week, but not on day 1.

 

[Edwardoka]

I've had a go, and was 8th in Yorkshire when I last checked. Lots of zones have popped up locally, although one other keeps taking them back as soon as get any.

A few oddities though, including the private car park of the largest mosque being a zone.

I may be out this week, but not on day 1.

Yeah there are a couple of baffling zones here. One is right in the middle of a newly built house. No idea how my local rival logged that one.
He refuses to let anyone capture any of his. When I was last out about a week ago I captured a few of his and half an hour later he'd retaken them and a whole bunch more.

I was so convinced that he was cheating that I wrote a tool that requests the map status every 5 minutes and I was able to work out exactly how long it took him to get from zone to zone. He wasn't cheating, it just turns out that he's much faster than me.

It's a fun rivalry but I don't have the energy nor the inclination to get into a Pink Panther-esque paint-off a la:

 

[HLaB]

Yeah there are a couple of baffling zones here. One is right in the middle of a newly built house. No idea how my local rival logged that one.
He refuses to let anyone capture any of his. When I was last out about a week ago I captured a few of his and half an hour later he'd retaken them and a whole bunch more.

I was so convinced that he was cheating that I wrote a tool that requests the map status every 5 minutes and I was able to work out exactly how long it took him to get from zone to zone. He wasn't cheating, it just turns out that he's much faster than me.

It's a fun rivalry but I don't have the energy nor the inclination to get into a Pink Panther-esque paint-off a la:

I'm told that one of the local KOMs round here finishes behind a secure gate

 

[Edwardoka]

I'm told that one of the local KOMs round here finishes behind a secure gate

There is a KOM in the Sidlaws where you have to negotiate a shut gate and, depending upon the time of year, a field full of cows. Craigowl Hill. I never did get up it, because after a geocaching incident I have a minor fear of cows.

 

[lazybloke]

I'm told that one of the local KOMs round here finishes behind a secure gate

My best KOMs were achieved on a lovely bit a freshly laid tarmac (in both directions).
I'd have slipped down the leaderboards years ago if not for the speedbumps that were added the next week!

 

[lazybloke]

But back to Turf, I went out to play, and submitted a new zone request or two. That was weeks or months ago - just not interested in outdoorsy things in the depths of winter.
Maybe when it warms up again...

 

[Edwardoka]

My best KOMs were achieved on a lovely bit a freshly laid tarmac (in both directions).
I'd have slipped down the leaderboards years ago if, not for the speedbumps that were added the next week!

Reminds me of the stretch of road on the west coast of Arran, 5 miles that are perfectly flat, usually with a tailwind. Right after the traditional CC rest stop, though. One time I left the rest stop early to try to KOM it, came second by a hair's breadth but a couple of years later some riders came along in an organised, disciplined group and smashed it. Now the surface is a rough, leg-sapping mess and any chance of getting a clean run is gone.

But back to Turf, I went out to play, and submitted a new zone request or two. That was weeks or months ago - just not interested in outdoorsy things in the depths of winter.
Maybe when it warms up again...

I may have gone for a 2 hour walk last night at 11pm because my bike doesn't have clearance for 30mm studded tyres so I'm restricted to walking (ugh, can you imagine?!) until the ice clears up. My 2 rivals are not similarly restricted.

Before the snow and ice came I encountered one of them after hauling my bike up some stairs, they had arrived on their very chunky-tyred MTB from the other direction, but they had GPS off so by the time they activated it I'd already captured the zone.

 

[DCLane]

Before the snow and ice came I encountered one of them after hauling my bike up some stairs, they had arrived on their very chunky-tyred MTB from the other direction, but they had GPS off so by the time they activated it I'd already captured the zone.

I've been out this week on studded tyres over lunch on a couple of days and picked up over 60 zones.

My local rival's clearly on foot - he's driven to a few (I've got them now) and done a walk getting a handful. Normally he's on an electric MTB and covers huge distances at speed. He also has GPS switched off - not sure why or the benefit? - so I only picked out who he was when he got the zone near my house.

However, I'm fully expecting him to sweep up all mine next week once it gets warmer. The advantage (disadvantage?) is that there are a LOT more zones near where I am now because between us we keep getting and trading them; there were under 40 within 5 miles but now it's well over 100. That brings in competition from further afield.

 

[Edwardoka]

My rival braved the snow and ice tonight and took a whole bunch of my zones, including one within 200m of where I sit. I'm not having that, says I, and went out about half an hour later, doing part of his route in reverse. Based on the (lack of) footprints or tyre tracks in the snow at places they *must* have visited, my rival is an elf. And they averaged 7mph between zones. In the dark, on snow and ice... 🤔

 

[Slick]

My rival braved the snow and ice tonight and took a whole bunch of my zones, including one within 200m of where I sit. I'm not having that, says I, and went out about half an hour later, doing part of his route in reverse. Based on the (lack of) footprints or tyre tracks in the snow at places they *must* have visited, my rival is an elf. And they averaged 7mph between zones. In the dark, on snow and ice... 🤔

Sounds like @Pat "5mph" is back on the bike then.

 

[dodgy]

I'm not having that, says I, and went out about half an hour later, doing part of his route in reverse.

If this is the kind of person you are, do not get into Ingress, it will take over your life. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Edwardoka]

If this is the kind of person you are, do not get into Ingress, it will take over your life. 🤷‍♂️

I tried it a few years back, didn't really enjoy it (though I was still geocaching at the time)
If he'd taken zones further away I'd probably not have bothered but there was no way he was getting to keep my home zone. And once you're wrapped up for a walk you might as well go for one

 

[Edwardoka]

Sounds like @Pat "5mph" is back on the bike then.

If it were Pat on a bike the tyre tracks would have been very visible in the snow. I've met some of her bikes.
As there were no tyre tracks at places he must have visited, my rival must have been on foot.

7 mph doesn't sound like much, but the distance is calculated as the crow flies and the routes between zones are anything but, as zones are usually on paths and shortcuts. Time spent navigating and stopped at a zone while you capture really drags the average right down. Doing so on foot, on ice/snow and in the dark... I'd call shenanigans if I wasn't a very poor baseline for what is physically possible.

 

[DCLane]

My rival braved the snow and ice tonight and took a whole bunch of my zones, including one within 200m of where I sit. I'm not having that, says I, and went out about half an hour later, doing part of his route in reverse. Based on the (lack of) footprints or tyre tracks in the snow at places they *must* have visited, my rival is an elf. And they averaged 7mph between zones. In the dark, on snow and ice... 🤔

Mine was out this morning. So I got most, but not all of his zones this afternoon. Found out where he lives as his 'turfer' popped up on screen briefly after I'd got back ... I'm guessing he got a shock

He's a lot closer than I thought and will get a shock again tomorrow when I go get a set of 7 zones near his house .

It's a bit of retribution after he kept getting all mine last month . I left him a handful in the dodgier areas of south Leeds and I was getting cold & wet to hot-footed it home past a couple.

If it were Pat on a bike the tyre tracks would have been very visible in the snow. I've met some of her bikes.
As there were no tyre tracks at places he must have visited, my rival must have been on foot.

7 mph doesn't sound like much, but the distance is calculated as the crow flies and the routes between zones are anything but, as zones are usually on paths and shortcuts. Time spent navigating and stopped at a zone while you capture really drags the average right down. Doing so on foot, on ice/snow and in the dark... I'd call shenanigans if I wasn't a very poor baseline for what is physically possible.

I do wonder about that, but just how could someone fake it. A drone with their phone attached? It'd make some of the zones near me an awful lot easier to get to.

My average speed's atrocious when I'm going through zones - 28 miles today at 10mph.