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Keep on Tri-ing LbNA #20048 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Jan 16, 2006
Location:
City:Fayetteville
County:Onondaga
State:New York
Boxes:3
Planted by:artichoke
Found by: party pig (3)
Last found:Sep 23, 2006
Status:FFFFFr
Last edited:Jan 16, 2006
***This series has been pulled until further notice.***


Green Lakes State Park
7900 Green Lakes Road
Fayetteville, NY 13066
Phone: (315) 637-6111

Open year round, pets welcome, leashed and cleaned up after. There is a fee to enter the park during spring, summer and fall.

From the Thruway (I-90): Thruway (I-90) west to Exit 34A (I-481 south); to Exit 5E (Kirkville Rd. east) follow Kirkville Rd. right on Fremont Rd.; left on NYS 290. Follow signs to Park.

There is no ink or pen in these boxes, so be sure to bring your own.

There are other letterboxes in this park that a clever, well-planning letterboxer can get simultaneously with this series!

Every year in June, 300 local athletes descend upon Green Lakes State Park for the annual YMCA triathlon. Most people think of the IronMan race when they hear the word ‘triathlon’, there are, however, shorter distances. The Green Lakes triathlon is known as a ‘sprint distance’. The swim leg is 800 yards (approximately ½ mile), the bike leg is 12.4 miles and the run distance is 3.1 miles (5k). By comparison, IronMan distances are 2.4 miles for the swim, 112 miles for the bike ride and 26.2 miles (a complete marathon distance!) for the run. While the idea of completing a triathlon is intimidating for most people, a sprint distance triathlon is well within the ability of most healthy, fit people with some training. This letterbox series will take you around the park, highlighting the major areas of the Green Lakes Triathlon.

Enter the park off of Rt 290 and continue past the entrance booth and down a hill. Pull into the first parking lot entrance. The Green Lakes parking lots are 3 separate but connected parking lots. The middle parking lot is where the transition area is set up. Between each leg of the race, the racers return to this transition area to change gear needed for the next leg. On race day, this middle lot is lined with bike racks. Each racer sets up a personal space for their gear by the bike racks.

Walk out of the transition area to the beach area. Across the lake you will see a low-slung building. Head over to this area. On race day, the participants check in at this building. They receive their swim caps (color coded to which swim wave they are in), their race ‘swag’ (that bag of goodies donated by the race sponsors) and participant t-shirt. They are also marked here with their race number. This is permanent marker-ed on their right upper arm and their right thigh. Once race time gets close, the racers start grouping up on the beach. Green Lakes has two separate starts based on racer’s estimated swim times. Right before the start of the race, the officials move the swimmers into the water as this race is an in-water start. At the sound of the horn, the swimmers are off – all 150 of them. They will swim for a buoy in the middle of the lake, round it and return alongside the edge of the lake that is closest to the parking lots. Once the first wave is off, the back half of the swimmers enter the water for their start and then they are off. It is an impressive sight to see hundreds of swimmers taking off in an open water swim.

Walk around back of the check-in building, past the basketball court, on the tarmac path to a Y intersection. There will be picnic grounds in front and to the right of you. Stay left and go the road intersection. Turn right and head up a slight incline. The picnic area will to the right of you. Up this incline, about where the picnic area ends, you will see 2 large, hollowed-out tree stumps off the road to the right. Go to these. With your back to the road and the picnic area to your right, stand alongside these trees and look straight ahead for a large tree with a dead branch coming out of the trunk at a 90 degree angle. This tree also has another branch coming up from the trunk and curling around. With your back to this tree (picnic area to your right, road to your back) look for a dead log at approximately 1:00 and 18 steps ahead of you. ‘Swim’ is located here. When you have stamped in and rehidden it carefully, retrace your steps to back to the ‘check-in’ building and head towards the transition area.

As you are walking away from the ‘check-in’ building towards the transition area, look for the path that goes through the trees close to the lifeguard station/chair (to the right of the brown building). Swimmers exit the water just past the lifeguard station, pulling off their wetsuits as they run up this path towards the transition area. Here they will dry off, put on their footgear and hop on their bikes to begin the second leg of the race. When you get to the transition area/parking lot, head out the middle driveway for the main road. When they hit the main park road, cyclists turn left and head up the hill for the main entrance of the park and Rt 290. They exit the park and ride a circular route that brings them around to the back entrance of Green Lakes. For our purposes here, pause for a moment, envision the waves of brightly dressed* cyclists heading up that hill, wish them well and head in the opposite direction (right out of the parking lot).

Hike up this road. Shortly you will pass another parking lot on your right. Head up the hill, there should be a brown wooden guardrail on your right. After re-entering the park through the back entrance, the cyclists return to the transition area on this road, going opposite of us. While you are walking uphill, this is a long gradual downhill for the cyclists and the bravest (or most foolhardy) will hit speeds easily over 40 mph. Continue walking uphill, Tulip Picnic area will be on your right and there will be a service road here running parallel to the main road. Follow this service road past the Tulip Picnic area, veering right just before a set of brown wooden guardrails on both sides of the main road. Down this service road, you will see a cut log, very close to the path. ‘Bike’ is here. After stamping in and rehiding the box carefully, retrace your steps to the transition area for the last leg of your triathlon.

At the end of their bike leg, the cyclists will approach the transition area, being directed to a dismount area by officials and volunteers. After dismounting, the participants walk their bikes back to their area and prepare for the run leg of the race. There is no riding in the actual transition area and doing so is grounds for disqualification.

Situate yourself in the transition area, facing the lake. The run starts to the right, past the lifeguard stand. Enter the woods on the trail, keeping the lake on your left. The complete distance of the run leg is 5 K or 3.1 miles around both lakes. Walk on this main path, keeping the lake to your left side. There are information placards along the trail with interesting facts about the lakes and area. Read these until you come to one explaining the itty-bitty, microscopic life forms in the lake. Continue on the trail, past a small, flat rock in the path. On the right of the path is an area with downed large trees. Face the largest downed tree, lying parallel to the path with the lake at your back. At its right end is a stump with lots of nooks in its roots. Climb up to this stump, being careful (it is steep!). ‘Run’ is located here in the front of the stump. After stamping in and rehiding, continue on the path which will shortly lead you back to the ‘check-in’ station. From here you can return to the parking lots and your vehicle. Congratulations on completing the Green Lakes Triathlon!!!

*Over the years, cyclists have taken a lot of teasing for their lime green bike shorts and neon pink bike jerseys. The reason for this brightly colored clothing isn’t all just personal preference. Wearing these colors increases the visibility and consequently the safety of a cyclist on a 15 lb. bike with only a helmet for protection on the same road with multi-ton vehicles.