This topic contains 17 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by 
Jenniferw2011 6 years, 11 months ago.
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Everyone has been waiting and with the glitches announced at the WGA fall picnic details have been worked out. The race will start soon enough. This year there will be no fee. Please get your travelers to a WGA member asap so we can get there started.
There 2018 to 2019 rules are as follows:
1) All travel racers must have the traveler deposited to a board member by October 12.
2) The WI BOD or geocacher designated by the BOD will move all WGA racers to begin the journey.
3) Miles will only be counted when trackable is physically moved from one cache to another cache. (dropped)
4) Any miles as a result of “visiting” a cache without being dropped into the cache will NOT count.
5) Only one move per travel bug per geocacher will count.
6) Miles will be recorded with each move and the standings will be posted to the WGA website monthly. In addition, an update will be provided in the quarterly newsletter.
7) The Grand winner will be the travel bug with the most total mileage at the end of the race at the 2019 WGA fall picnic. Their caching name will be displayed on the WGA trailer.
Other winning categories are in discussion:
a) most countries visited (tie breaker)
b) most drops (tie breaker)
c) travel bug closest to WGA fall picnic at final destination
d) least miles
e) best photo.
Please get your travelers in so we can get the started in one large group.
So there is not a fee this year? Is the race open to only WGA members? And, one person is welcome to enter any amount of TBs in the race as they wish?
So there is not a fee this year? Is the race open to only WGA members? And, one person is welcome to enter any amount of TBs in the race as they wish?
Okay, I can’t answer the second question, but I just handed off mine, so I can answer the other two –
Correct, there is no fee this year to enter.
You can submit any number of TBs you want. I’m entering two myself, as I want to test out a theory that came about when deciding on a TB to enter.
However, any entries need to be recently created TBs with no mileage on them. And, they should be dropped into GC7V7F9, “2018 WGA FALL PICNIC” online. They’ll all be dropped into the physical cache at the same time.
(Hope I’m not stepping on any board member’s toes by answering!)
Thanks Bennycams. The answer to the second question is yes, you must be a WGA member to enter.
All opinions, comments, and useless drivel I post are mine alone and do not reflect the opinions of the WGA BOD.
I’m sure the WGA would appreciate everyone’s support by purchasing TB tags from the WGA for the race rather than supporting Groundspeak with several TB tags for a “members only” race! I would hate to see the WGA start charging membership fees to help out with expenses, like TB Race prizes.
Food for thought…
I’m sure the WGA would appreciate everyone’s support by purchasing TB tags from the WGA for the race rather than supporting Groundspeak with several TB tags for a “members only” race! I would hate to see the WGA start charging membership fees to help out with expenses, like TB Race prizes. Food for thought…
Noble idea, but I can see a couple of issues with it.
First, what if a racer can’t get a WGA tag in time? I happen to have one because I haven’t activated the one I bought at the WBCB yet, but I couldn’t make the picnic because I was committed to going to another event, so I would have been out of luck otherwise. This site isn’t set up for merch sales, so unless you were a WGA board member with access to the supply, or like me, have one yet to activate, there’s really no time to get one set up before it needs to be submitted for the race.
Second, can you imagine being a random geocacher coming up to the starting cache to grab a bug? If they’re all the badger tag (or, if the racer is a hoarder, the state tag), and all have the same goal, which one do you take? Will it depend on what it’s attached to? And, what about a cacher who’s not familiar with TBs yet? They’ll see a cache full of what look to them to be badger keychains, and assume they’re swag because there are so many in there, it must be the swag theme of the cache.
Getting the TBs to Europe for safer travels is nice, but they can get pirated from there, too. Starting them at the Picnic is proper; just don’t restart them ALL in 1 cache somewhere else, even Europe.
The bigger point was supporting the WGA for the race that THEY are sponsoring. If there are suddenly 75 racers compared to 20, no entry fee (of $3) makes no sense. We have 2 unactivated TB tags that we have won as door prizes. I wouldn’t even consider using one for the race, as it doesn’t support the WGA in it’s efforts to provide quality activities for it’s membership. I could have entered 3, I suppose, but it will just create more work for a volunteer that stepped up at the last minute. There can only be 1 winner anyway.
Sometimes, it feels like the focus of “winning the race” overshadows the time and effort of who is officiating the contest, IMHO. The WGA TB Race was started as a fun activity for the members, with some trash talk on the now rarely visited WGA website. Enjoying the race for the full year was more important than winning the race.
I remember when we (the BODs) were discussing what the winner should receive as a prize for 1st place. This conversation took place AFTER the race had started. That means that the 1st year racers entered the TB Race WITHOUT KNOWING the prizes. We then chose to present an annual State Park sticker to the winner. Someone (I think it was TeamBlackCat) joked that we should put the winners name on the side of the WGA Hauler. We all had a good laugh, and then it was silent for about 5 seconds as we all looked at each other. It suddenly made perfect sense!
It is now a great tradition to get your name added to the trailer, which can cost more than the entry fees, depending on the number of entries. NO FEE means the WGA foots the whole bill, so I hope members are buying other WGA items to support the race.
Didn’t mean to get so long winded.
I almost feel like there’s a part of the conversation that’s missing here. Maybe it’s because there’s another conversation about the race going on via the Facebook group.
I have no problem paying an entry fee. $3 really isn’t all that much, considering. I was all prepared when handing off my 2 TBs to pay the entry fee for each. I was also all set to do the race without knowing what the prizes would be, because I’m a TB lover who thinks the race itself is a fun thing. I would just hope that mine don’t become one of the missing before the race ends!
To explain why I decided to enter more than one – when I put the first TB together, I texted a photo to another geocacher, who I don’t think is entering the race, and I’m not even 100% sure they are a WGA member. They are just a cacher who has been at this longer than I have (though, it’s rare for me to find someone who hasn’t), and who has a lot of experience with TBs. The tag is a Cachekinz tag attached to a keychain, and they suggested that for a race, I should try something smaller that could be put into a wider variety of cache containers. So, I activated another shaped tag, with nothing attached. But as I thought about it, I wondered which really would go furthest in a race, so I decided to enter both as an experiment. For me, that’s going to be the fun of this race, no matter how I finish overall. I may even try the experiment on my own with a couple of other TBs, as I somehow ended up with a good number of unactivated tags.
If a WGA board member – especially the one who has my entries at the moment – wants to work around my work schedule & the Brewers post-season schedule to meet me, I’ll gladly sub out the unattached tag I entered for my WGA tag. I was just saying that other racers may not be so lucky as to already have one, or be able to get one by the time the race starts.
Bennycams-
Being in the Milwaukee area, Lacknothing might be able to help you out if you want to swap your tag. PM me and I will get the two of you in contact if you don’t know her already.
The WGA decided not to charge a fee this year because at first it was cancelled and then a member stepped up and encouraged us to keep it going and add miles by hand to keep the tradition.
Those who paid $3 for entering their own TB into the race haven been contacted and that fee is being refunded. Those that paid $7, it was for the cost of the cachekinz and entry into the race was free.
There will be a lot of twists and turns in this year’s race! Stay tuned for monthly updates on this page as well as in the quarterly newsletter.
Good luck everyone!
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
-Henry David Thoreau
I know Lacknothing. In fact, she presently has my two entries into the race.
This race will be the first WGA member competition event since I became a member earlier this year. And, my knowledge of previous events such as the Geo-Hunger Games and “Who Is The Great White North?” is limited to the caches that still exist that were part of those games. I did not know that the purpose of the race was to promote the WGA, nor did I consider that tags purchased through HQ or another vendor such as Space Coast Geocaching may be counterproductive to the game’s intent. I just assumed it was a fun game among those like me who enjoy the trackables aspect of geocaching.
I know Lacknothing. In fact, she presently has my two entries into the race. This race will be the first WGA member competition event since I became a member earlier this year. And, my knowledge of previous events such as the Geo-Hunger Games and “Who Is The Great White North?” is limited to the caches that still exist that were part of those games. I did not know that the purpose of the race was to promote the WGA, nor did I consider that tags purchased through HQ or another vendor such as Space Coast Geocaching may be counterproductive to the game’s intent. I just assumed it was a fun game among those like me who enjoy the trackables aspect of geocaching.
You can use whichever TB you’d like whether a WGA cachekinz, HQ, CacheAdvance, or SpaceCoast, or whomever’s.
CacheAdvance liked our design so much that they are now offering a similar version in their offerings (without the WGA logo of course).
All WGA merchandise that is sold, goes to fund our association, including the website, which comes with a pretty hefty price tag. So yes, anyone purchasing a WGA cachekinz is greatly appreciated.
The WGA is one of the only organized state groups that offers a free membership to its members. Most others are around $30/year.
The WGA Picnic to Picnic TB Race is the only event we offer outside of the Chili Feed, LCG Awards, Campout, Picnic, and most recently the GIFF event. The other events (caches) you mention above are put on solely by our awesome members!
The WGA has three series of caches that have been put out: the State Park Series, the WGA Geoart, and the 15 Year Strong Series in Door County. The 15 Year Strong Series will be archived by the end of this year however.
We do also support and promote the WGA Lonley Cache Game, which are yet again not WGA caches, but rather caches that haven’t been found in our state for a significant period of time.
Feel free to use whichever TB you’d like in the race. This year it’s free to our members thanks to a member that stepped up and wants to see it proliferate throughout the years, as is tradition. That person has taken on a Herculean task this year and it’s greatly appreciated.
Again, this is going to be a great year in the race rather than the same old thing. Good luck everyone!
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
-Henry David Thoreau
You can use whichever TB you’d like whether a WGA cachekinz, HQ, CacheAdvance, or SpaceCoast, or whomever’s.
Yes, I am aware of that. I’m sure that if the intent was to send out WGA tags, Lacknothing would have asked me ahead of time if I had one, or needed one. But, JimandLinda’s post above made it sound like any tag that wasn’t a WGA tag was not in the spirit of the game.
CacheAdvance liked our design so much that they are now offering a similar version in their offerings (without the WGA logo of course).
I saw that. I assumed it was the other way around. So, go WGA tag/GC designer, whoever you are!
The WGA Picnic to Picnic TB Race is the only event we offer outside of the Chili Feed, LCG Awards, Campout, Picnic, and most recently the GIFF event. The other events (caches) you mention above are put on solely by our awesome members!
Being new to the WGA scene, and relatively new to geocaching in general compared to most, I just assumed that the events I mentioned were part of the WGA, since most of the cachers I noticed had been involved were the “big names” in WI geocaching. I apologize for the assumption.
Bennycams, my comments were not directed to you individually as much as they were meant to give an overview to all members reading this thread. I’m glad for your input on this webpage, as are those that regularly visit. As a WGA member, new or veteran, all the comments by the members are extremely valuable to the Board of Directors, even if we disagree on items from time to time.
I’m a big believer in DOING rather than discussing for months on end with no action. The present BODs are getting things done and I commend them on their actions!
Good luck in the race! Let’s see who gets to ink up the Hauler in 2019.
We have a great WGA – and anytime we can support it – we should. I think it is important that the WGA be supported on several different levels.
We can support the WGA financially by purchasing clothing (I personally am sporting an awesome new zip-up sweatshirt that I love!) and other WGA items (lanyards, cachekinz, etc.)
We can support the WGA by purchasing path tags and putting the WGA log on the back! How easy is that!
We can also support the WGA by participating in the different events they sponsor during the year (all mentioned in a post above). More travel bugs in the WGA race means more cachers participating in a WGA event. Hopefully, these geocachers (especially those newer to the sport) will be exposed to these other WGA events as a result of being a part of the WGA TB Race and will attend some of those events – especially the Fall WGA Picnic which is always well organized!
We can support the WGA by volunteering to help with the events sponsored by the WGA. Volunteering makes any organization better and stronger.
We can support the WGA by running for the Board (elections take place every January) and if that is not your thing, find a place in the WGA that is and volunteer!
Like bennycams and so many others, I love travel bugs! I look forward to the WGA Race each year. Sometimes I do well and sometimes I don’t do well. But I always have fun and I always talk BIG about everyone else taking second place.
Once the WGA TB launches – I encourage everyone to get to know their competitors – so that you expand your geocaching circle of friends. Let’s cheer each other on – and let’s have some trash talking too!
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
Okay, so I’ve been guilted into entering my WGA tag instead. I’ll work with Lacknothing to ensure it’s there in time for the race to start, and in regards to the racer it’s replacing.
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